Philippe Clement sends ‘Extra powers’ message after what he saw at Rangers
Philippe Clement has insisted that the work his Rangers side have done during the winter break will give them “extra powers” in the coming months.
The Gers squad were sent out to La Manga, Spain, for warm-weather training, planning friendly fixtures against Hertha Berlin there and FC Copenhagen at Ibrox.
Although his side fell short in a 1-0 defeat to a Bundesliga 2 side, the Belgian is confident that his players will take positives from the winter break as they attempt to catch up with Celtic in the Scottish Premiership and aim for Europa League success.
“We saw good things on a pitch that was not the best. We tried to play with a good tempo on a pitch that also wasn’t the biggest, to create space against a team that didn’t want the ball and waited for transitions,” he said to Football London on Monday (15 January).
“So those are the circumstances that make it more difficult to score the goal. I see the good intentions with a lot of players and I saw the effort, which is what we need for the moment.
“They will have the profit of that in the next couple of weeks because the players are going to go really deep this week and in the week to come. But it will give them extra powers for the next couple of months.”
Finding the positives
To still feel confident after losing to a second-tier German club in a friendly is a surprising outcome, especially having deployed a nearly-full-strength starting XI which included the likes of John Lundstram, Leon Balogun, Nico Raskin, and new signing Fabio Silva.
However, heading back to the Scottish Premiership, they are in brilliant form, other than a slip-up to rivals Celtic in the Old Firm derby. The Gers went on a 16-game unbeaten run after employing Clement in October, returning to winning ways against Kilmarnock after the loss at Celtic Park.
Clement will hope his players have found a new gear out in La Manga, with there still an eight-point gap between themselves and the league leaders with games in hand.
The friendly matches will have been important for Silva’s transition into the Rangers squad, having arrived at Ibrox last month. All eyes will now be on the return to domestic action, with points needed straight off the bat.
In other Rangers news, Manchester United transfer leaves door open for Gers to sign new left-back.