Rangers fans feared the side’s fitness had dwindled under Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale has now been talking about some “red flags” in this department.
The Ibrox club have visibly lacked the same intensity that defined the latter half of last season, where the club, admittedly under Van Bronckhorst, went the distance in several high-profile extra time clashes.
Rangers’ fitness last season was part of the reason how they reached the Europa League Final and won the Scottish Cup but this year there have been complaints the club’s athletic approach has dramatically fell off.
Rangers fitness fears intensified by comments of Michael Beale
This was intensified by the comments of Scott Arfield after pre-season, where the senior Ibrox star claimed Gio and his staff had focused on being “football fit” instead of the gruelling schedules the ex-Canadian international had been used to.
But whilst Van Bronckhorst was defensive amid questions on squad fitness as his side continued to toil on the park, the latest comments of Michael Beale also give an inclination into the feeling the Rangers team is not up to scratch in this regard.
“There’s been a lot of change around these players in the last few weeks and there was enough to give me confidence, but at the same time, there were a couple red flags to iron out,” said Michael Beale, speaking after Rangers’ 3-0 friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen.
“We want to press and be more aggressive and that takes a different kind of fitness than perhaps what we have right now.”
Couple this with the suggestion in the Athletic that there were murmurs in the training ground regarding the team being “undercooked” and it appears that the feeling Rangers’ fitness hasn’t been up to scratch is also felt within the club.
Meanwhile, one Scotland international has opened the door to a Rangers switch despite signing a new contract at his club.
