Rangers season can be termed as good as over as they succumbed tamely to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals replay at Ibrox. The fans were seen leaving the stadium even before the 80th-minute mark, and that showed that they didn’t have the belief that their team could manage a turnaround.
The Gers were poor on the night as they failed to create any clear cut opportunity. Even more shockingly, Aberdeen without the ball were comfortable for the most parts. Rangers often were unable to win crucial duels on the pitch, and the midfield was more or less bullied on occasions.
Barring a significant upturn of events, we don’t see Celtic dropping eight points from now until the end of the season. Moreover, Rangers would do well to win all the game from here onwards in the Premiership. Therefore we feel Gerrard has the opportunity to try out a few things this season to see what he can do to make sure such mistakes don’t happen in the upcoming season.
Trying the two striker formula
One of the major problems for Rangers this season has been that they have been unable to beat teams that sit back and defend in numbers. They often don’t seem to have the quality to create right moments in the final third. Rangers could have played for another hour last night, and they still would not have scored.
Alfredo Morelos’ overall performance makes him a guaranteed starter but Gerrard has two able strike options in the form of Jermain Defoe and Kyle Lafferty. We would like to see a target man like Lafferty being partnered up with a more mobile forward around him. Gerrard’s selection has often been predictable and he needs to bring some changes in the upcoming fixtures to find out the best formula.
Giving Nikola Katic a go in the first team
The Croatian put in some decent performances but has been out of favour for quite a while. Worrall is not going to be there for the upcoming season, and Connor Goldson too looks shaky on occasions. Therefore it is vital for Gerrard and Co to develop a centre back, and Katic should be given a go in the first team from here onwards.
Learn from his mistakes
It was always clear what Gerrard would bring at Ibrox. Passion, desire and a commitment to improving the club. However, there was always going to be a question mark over his tactical nuances as he never had a full-fledged managerial job before. There is no doubt that he was outwitted by Dereck McInnes twice in Cup competitions and Gerrard needs to be much smarter in setting his team up for games of this nature.
