Rangers ready to put full faith in Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Rangers' Dutch manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst gestures on the touchline during the UEFA Europa League Quarter-final, second leg football match between Rangers and Sporting Braga at the Ibrox Stadium, in Glasgow, on April 14, 2022. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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.