Michael Beale has chosen to use this pre-season to get Rangers players fitter with tactics taking a back seat.
A 2-2 draw with Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim brought to a close a strange run of friendlies where mistakes at one end and a lack of cutting edge at the other proved costly.
In a strange revelation, Michael Beale informed the media that he had implemented a new game plan for the trip to Germany despite it being the final pre-season fixture, as reported by The Daily Record.
The Gers gaffer has spoken a lot about how hard the players are being pushed rather than about tactics and structures.
Michael Beale chooses wrong time to tinker with Rangers
Speaking after the draw with the Germans, one line from Michael Beale was enough to surprise more than a few about Rangers display:
“We tried something new tactically. I thought second half we were very good, there were chances at both ends but the least we deserved was to come away with a draw.”
If the “something new” was to be shapeless in defence then it worked perfectly.
Surely the time to try out new tactics is in the early pre-season games and then fine tune them as you go?
Not in a team that has one defender without a senior appearance to his name in Johnly Yfeko and another who is currently fifth choice on paper in Leon Balogun.
There has been a recurring theme in Rangers pre-season.
Only two goals scored from open play that have come from created chances rather than from an effective press or penalties.
As with last season, box-to-box isn’t an issue, we can progress the ball well and get into the final third.
The problems are in either box, which he knew before revamping the team and yet, despite the turnaround of players, not much seems to have changed.
Maybe it wasn’t the players that were the problem after all.
Either way, Michael Beale needs to find a solution to Rangers problems, and fast.
