Michael Beale told he will be managing a Rangers ‘crisis’ if he does not solve striker problem
Rangers boss Michael Beale could be set for a “crisis” if he does not quickly get his strikers firing, according to Keith Jackson.
The Gers scraped through their UEFA Champions League qualifier against Swiss side Servette, drawing 1-1 away and winning 3-2 on aggregate after their initial win at home.
It was James Tavernier who bailed Beale’s men out with a 50th-minute header, which cancelled out Dereck Kutesa’s 22nd-minute goal that had seen Rangers pegged back on aggregate.
It was another night of struggle for the club’s frontmen and Jackson, writing in the Daily Record, has warned that something must change, and change fast.
“Beale’s tactical tweaks at the interval steadied the ship – keeping the shape of his team the same but instructing his players to move the ball forward more quickly and with greater purpose,” Jackson wrote in the newspaper’s print edition (16 August, page 49).
“That’s what led to Tavernier’s equaliser. With Raskin and Cifuentes pressing higher and wider, Servette became suffocated and unable to respond. At a moment of stress, Beale worked out what had to be done.
“But, if his strikers don’t start to find their feet, he could soon be back in the same position of attempting to manage in the middle of a crisis.”
Improvement needed
It has by no means been the smoothest start to the campaign for Beale and his squad. While they have got the results over the line in some matches, qualifying from their fixture against Servette, performance-wise there is plenty of room for improvement.
Of the four matches they have played so far this season, the only convincing result has been the 4-0 win against Livingston at Ibrox on Saturday 12 August. During this match summer signings, Sam Lammers, Danilo and Abdallah Sima all got on the scoresheet.
Despite this, those same players clearly didn’t take any of the confidence they would have gained from the Livingston result with them to Switzerland. Danilo missed a sitter when provided with the opportunity to bring his team level and neither Lammers nor Sima could find the back of the net either.
Time will be needed for the new players to gel and find their feet in Scotland, unfortunately, they don’t have too much of that.
In other Rangers news, a report has emerged, offering an update on the club’s pursuit of one particular defender.