Rangers have a great chance to put right their second league defeat of the season by beating FCSB in the Europa League.
It wouldn’t solve all Philippe Clement’s problems, but it would be a start in terms of his need to claw back faith in his ability as a manager and that he is the man to get the best from a bruised and battered squad.
One of the accusations thrown at the Rangers boss recently is that there is no pace to the attack, it is one dimensional, to the extent that David Martindale would rather face Rangers than Falkirk.
- READ MORE: Rangers Europa League Squad 2024/25
Tom Lawrence reacts to “boring” Rangers accusations
Speaking ahead of the visit to Ibrox of FCSB in the third round of the Europa League league phase fixtures, Tom Lawrence faced the press and was given the chance to respond to the “boring” claims.
When asked if the current Rangers side was slow and one-paced, he said:
“I think that’s fair for the game on Sunday. I don’t think it’s fair for the previous games, I think we’ve created enough chances in previous games.
“On Sunday, I don’t know why we performed like that. But we need to make sure we don’t perform like that ever again at this club while we’re here.
“Like I said, me being a creative player. I have to create chances, score goals. We need to be quicker.
“We were too lacklustre and I’m sure we’ll be a lot better on Thursday night.”
“It shouldn’t just be on the manager. It’s us as players,” said Lawrence of criticism of Clement from a section of the Rangers support.
“We need to step up. We can’t have performances like we did on Sunday.
“Like I said, we need to do everything we can on Thursday to put it right.”
Why Rangers should follow Real Madrid example
Lawrence said that he doesn’t know why Rangers performed as they did against Kilmarnock.
It’s never one reason, but Real Madrid’s remarkable comeback against Borussia Dortmund is the perfect example of how big a role mentality plays in elite level football.
Losing 2-0 at half-time, a star-studded Los Blancos side put the foot down with Vinicius Jnr leading from the front.
Madrid had been hopeless in the first period, there was no intensity to their play and Dortmund simply outfought their opponents from last year’s Champions League final.
Vinicius Jnr typified Madrid’s change. He was visibly more intense, chased every ball, hassled every defender and tormented Dortmund’s defence by being fearless and direct.
Rangers were none of these things against Kilmarnock and Lawrence, as the No.10, must take more responsibility.
Getting beaten by the better team is one thing, getting beaten because the opposition has worked harder and wanted it more, is never an acceptable excuse – especially at Rangers.
