Michael Stewart: Giovanni van Bronckhorst doesn’t know his best Rangers team
Michael Stewart can’t tell who Rangers’ best defensive line up is and neither does manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, says the BBC pundit.
The Dutchman has switched his back line repeatedly over recent matches, during a period that has seen inconsistent form from the Light Blues, with particular upheaval in the centre.
Connor Goldson has been a mainstay, but injury to Leon Balogun and Filip Helander has meant both have featured in the last month, as has Calvin Bassey, and even midfielder John Lundstram.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene on Wednesday (2 March) after Gers’ 1-0 win over St Johnstone, Stewart said: “Over the course of the last couple of years there’s been a couple of [centre-back] partnerships that have looked, at one time or another, to be the strongest.
“It’s difficult to say at the moment, and I think you can see with Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team selection, I don’t think he’s 100% sure.
“Bassey’s played a lot in there, he’s back out to left back tonight, Balogun’s back in. Helander’s come back from injury but he’s not played too much.
“It’s difficult to see at the moment, and with ten games to go it will be interesting to see if he settles on one of those.”
Elephant in the room
Questions were raised over the defensive form of the defending champions at the weekend, when Motherwell pulled two goals back to snatch a draw at Ibrox.
The surprise decision to play Lundstram in a back four, whilst leaving Balogun on the bench appeared to contribute to a confused performance.
The Nigerian had returned to good effect against Dortmund as part of a back five, but went unused back in the league.
Bassey had started in the centre in Europe, with Borna Barisic out wide, but the Croatian has suffered from a loss of form since the Old Firm derby defeat, and appears to have lost the confidence of his manager since.
But the continual chopping and changing, coupled with the loss of authority for Allan McGregor that The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell recently detailed, has lead to uncertain showings from many.
Helander returned from injury in the comfortable cup win over Annan Athletic and quickly received a league start, but was badly exposed in the draw with Dundee United.
Whether performances are affecting the manager’s confidence in his players, or vice versa, it is not comfortable for Gers to be using this trial and error approach at such a crucial stage of the season.
When the team arguably needs more rotation in attacking areas, van Bronckhorst seems preoccupied with the defence, and his meddling there is not paying off.
In other Rangers news, a normally vital man was slammed against the Saints last night.