Games are coming thick and fast for Rangers now with Philippe Clement needing to rotate players to keep them fresh.
Against Hibernian, there were a lot of tired legs after the exertion of the away trip to Sweden, however, the squad is starting to look stronger ahead of Lyon’s visit to Ibrox.
The manager rested a few regulars against Hibs but injuries mean that options are restricted in terms of players who can play on the wing with Vaclav Cerny lucky to be keeping his place.
Vaclav Cerny solution has to be Rangers boss priority
The Czechia winger hit the ground running after joining Rangers in the summer, but his form since the September winter break has been poor.
Clearly frustrated, the 26-year old reacted to fans who had grown weary of him constantly cutting back rather than driving towards the opposition penalty area.
When asked after the game if he had spoken to Cerny about the incident, Clement was quick to play it down:
“No, I just spoke with him about the game and the story we’re making better and better.
“He didn’t play too many games last season, so we need to raise his level in that way to be able to perform every two days and that’s a normal story.”
What didn’t help, was Ross McCausland on the other side doing exactly the same thing.
This meant that in counter-attacks or if the full-backs didn’t overlap, there was no width and play became congested.
There is nothing opposition teams love more than when play is in front of them rather than getting turned and having to defend facing their own goal.
Clement needs to lose stubborn streak to get best out of Cerny
Rangers caused Hibs more problems when Jefte and then Nedim Bajrami got to the by-line rather than coming infield.
With Cerny struggling on the right and McCausland offering nothing on the left in the first half, Clement had the option of swapping them over which would have changed the dynamics of Rangers play straight away.
Clement isn’t scared to make alterations and took McCausland off at half time and brought the more attack-minded Kieran Dowell on for Nicolas Raskin too.
He has shown that he can be versatile in terms of tactics with how he has shifted Mohamed Diomande and Tom Lawrence in recent weeks, he has also played wingers on their “stronger” sides when he knew that his full-backs would be playing deeper.
Cerny is one of Rangers best ball carriers, which makes his passive display against Hibs all the more frustrating.
As with Bajrami, if Cerny wants to get fans back on side, he has a simple solution, start beating defenders and creating chances – whatever wing he is on.
