Giovanni van Bronckhorst worked miracles finding a way around the loss of arguably Rangers’ most important player in Alfredo Morelos.
He adjusted the system and played to Kemar Roofe’s strengths to compensate for the loss in the way, for example, Ally couldn’t in 2011 when he lost his equivalent in Steven Naismith.
However, Gio’s going to have to dig even deeper because not only has he lost Morelos, but Roofe himself is now out injured for at least two weeks, and he adds to Aaron Ramsey who is now as good as finished at Ibrox himself being laid off for at least a fortnight.
But Gio is many things, and a wise tactician is one of them.
If there is one thing this boss has shown us since taking over, it’s flexibility and versatility, and the ability to overcome adversity.
The only aberration to this was at Parkhead, with a horrible first half performance – but we all learned from it, and in the past week Gio’s found a way.
But now he has to do it again.
Aaron Ramsey, a starter, is no longer at his disposal, and Roofe will not be up front till next month either.
Which means shuffling the pack again, and bringing in players who might not have expected to play.
An increased role for Alex Lowry? Fashion Sakala the new striker?
These are puzzles for GVB to figure out, and if there is one thing to be grateful for it’s the ‘weakest’ opponent tomorrow he gets to test things out on in Motherwell.
We trust the man – we trust him to find the way, because he’s so good at that.
And we will need every ounce of his acumen over the coming weeks.
Aribo CF lol. Me and Bill agree we should mabay try this. Hes strong, athletic, can finish and hold up play. I think its worth a gamble. Mabay try it this weekend first and see how it goes, even play him up there with Sakala ? Just an idea. I know its a bit out there but we are running out options.
Dutch is right , we hope that GVB will deploy an alternative using possibly Aribo in a more forward role, then using Sands or Steve Davis to fill the hole and support across. I would also like to see Kent more central too as he has the amity to damage defences on both flanks
I have faith in Gio finding a way through this from a tactical POV but it’s up to the players to do his selections justice and actually get . Personally for me Lowry for Ramsey would be a like for like swap. The little I have seen of Lowry reminds me of Durrant’s emergence and showing some faith in him at such a vital stage might sway his future decisions. Lowry would actually be favourable given the lack of dynamism Ramsey has shown so far. Up front there are many options but not many good ones. I’d rather keep a midfield three with Aribo in it than try and bundle him into a false 9 position despite his good ariel presence. Seems little point having 35+ goal Weston and 40+ goal Wilson available and not be given at least an opportunity from the bench. Form counts for a lot and when you look at Itten as an option you’d have to say he is very far down the list. Sakala might not have been prolific so far but as first pick he can run defenders ragged, might nick a goal or two along the way but more importantly his industry can create room for the likes of Kent, Lowry, Aribo, Lundstram and Wright to exploit. Plus we have Tav, the best secret weapon you could wish for. Roofe is a big blow but the right tactics could still see us take some silverware.
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