Former Rangers assistant coach Michael Beale said this in autumn 2020:
“Players give you options – that’s the biggest thing, and sometimes you have a squad where you don’t have enough options in the building and certain players have come in the building and given us more options. This season in general, we have played completely differently to last year, but it’s maybe not always visible on the eye to maybe people on the outside. But the way the team is set up this year is completely different. Joe Aribo is a big part of that, and him being missing for the last two games has given other people an opportunity and they have stood up and taken it.”
What he was getting at was the 4-2-3-1 (sound familiar) that Rangers had built in summer 2020 was actually to get the best out of Aribo.
It was sadly abandoned totally when he got injured not long after it was devised, and was forgotten.
Within a couple of days of getting in the door, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has already sussed this system out, rebuilt it, and is putting it around Aribo in the 10 slot, as he once was for his ex-manager.
This is the kind of wise manager Rangers now have.
Under previous management, it took them over a year to devise a system to see the best of Aribo and everyone else – Gio comes in and rebuilds it in 48 hours without necessarily knowing the tactical history of the club.
We’re sure the man has done his homework, he’s far from stupid, but he won’t know everything.
But he cottoned onto this pretty quick.
A formation which gets the best out of the players you have. Rather than forcing ill-fitting players into your preferred formation. Aribo on the right wing, anyone… face palm
So, we can tell this is a manager who will built his empire around the tools he has, and one of those is Aribo.
Definitely the right way to go.