Andy Halliday stunned by Rangers change in 4-0 win v Hibernian
Andy Halliday was stunned by the changes Philippe Clement has made already at Rangers, with the tactical shape of his side completely different to what it was under Michael Beale.
Halliday shared that Clement’s team dropped deep out of possession to challenge their opponents to beat the low block, before winning the ball back and springing forward on the counter-attack.
This change is something the former Rangers man claims is never seen by either of the Old Firm teams domestically and hinted it could work in their favour as it did against Hibernian.
Speaking on the Open Goal podcast on 23 October, Halliday shared: “He’s changed Rangers off the ball as well, Rangers are now defending in a 4-4-2. They get after it really quickly. You see when Hibs beat the press, mate Rangers were deep.
“I’m talking about dropping right back in which, Rangers and Celtic you would never say that domestically. They were still trying to get after the ball weren’t they, trying to force teams into an error.
“That probably coincides with Hibs having quite a lot of possession in the first half because any time Hibs beat the first press, Rangers were just back saying ‘Go on, try and beat us’.
“What that did was get Hibs’ full XI up the pitch so when Rangers won it, bang, they would hit on the counter-attack quickly.”
Improvements already taking shape
The new manager’s first Ibrox game is already getting people talking about the way his teams will set up, with the new style paying off emphatically in that 4-0 win, and proving he can make a difference to the team despite their struggles this season.
As is quite often the case when a new manager arrives, you start to question whether the players are actually good enough and whether they would adapt to a new style and direction, but those concerns have been put to bed at least in the early stages here.
Particularly given the fact that most of this squad was assembled by Clement’s predecessor, he showed a more evident and structured tactical style after one week with the players than Beale had all season.
It will be fascinating to see how the style matches up to some stronger sides, with the Europa League clash against Sparta Prague looming, and whether Clement will see fit to make any tweaks for that fixture.
In other Rangers news, Neil Lennon was surprised by Clement’s early impact.