A sigh of relief

Rangers have in the recent past been known for sending shockwaves around Europe however the noise that sounded out across the continent last night wasn’t the tremor from the fall of a European giant, it was the enormous sigh of relief breathed from Geneva following our narrow aggregate victory over Sevette FC.

It was a tie that could have been out of sight at Ibrox when Sam Lammers contrived to miss a chance that you’d have backed Fashion Sakala to score. As the first-half developed in Switzerland we were all wondering just how costly our inability to kill the tie at home might prove to be.

Michael Beale would have expected the Swiss to come out because they simply had to at some point. But the aggression and directness of their attacks perhaps took him and his team by surprise as we started to creak under the waves of pressure being applied by our opponents who often sprang into something resembling a 4-2-4 which stretched our back-line way beyond their comfort zones.

If you are not going to control the ball then you at least have to control the space and in truth we accomplished neither before half-time. Jack Butland made a phenomenally good stop early on to keep us level on the night before an all too familiar comedy of errors occurred to gift Servette the lead, albeit with an excellent finish.

And it could have been worse. With our defence like statues on the halfway line Servette went over the top and raced through on goal. A square ball would have seen the easiest of tap-ins for 2-0 however composure deserted the attacked who opted to shoot and Butland saved with his legs. Phew.

The break came at a good time and Rangers regrouped, asserting more control in the second-half and conceding far fewer opportunities to Servette’s quick, direct play. Nicolas Raskin deserves a mention for his second-half showing and his energy and drive helped lift those around him. Cantwell too had moments where he would provide the spark to kickstart an attack but we lacked cohesion and quality in the final-third.

And it was not the new attacking players who opened things up for us, it was the familiar and faithful double act of one full-back crossing to the other. Borna Barisic flighted a terrific cross to the back-post for James Tavernier to head home with the keeper caught in no-man’s land. The captain had struggled on the night amidst a run of questionable form but there he was again in the big moment when the team needed dug out of a hole.

We could have killed it too had substitute Cyriel Dessers not hit the post perhaps with a glance off the goalkeeper and so we had to endure a long, nervy end to the game, although with hindsight we handled it relatively well. With that we progressed to the next qualifying round where we will again face PSV Eindhoven who demolished Sturm Graz 7-2 on aggregate.

With four competitive games played then we’ve seen a bit of everything from this newly assembled side – the good, the bad and the ugly.

There have been some green shoots of recovery from the scorched astroturf that was our opening day abomination at Rugby Park, however positives have been intermittent and accompanied by areas of concern. After spending nothing on our midfield for what seemed like a century we have now added quality in Raskin, Cantwell and Cifuentes who look like our strongest three and with the best balance for most domestic games. Either side of that however are where the questions marks are starting to appear.

Three of the back-four are still Tav, Goldson and Barisic, two of whom are not playing at the levels of a few years ago. Meanwhile we are still short of quality and depth at centre-half, as has been shown by some of our defending from pre-season into the competitive stuff. Some of the goals are reminiscent of the comedy sketches from last season and with familiar faces perhaps that’s what we’re destined to witness if we don’t upgrade certain positions.

Ahead of that I very much have early concerns about Sima and Dessers. That’s not to write them off or throw them in the bin this early into a season but simply an acknowledgement that what we’ve seen so far doesn’t appear to be an upgrade on those who have departed.

Some players take time to adapt to a new environment or get their full match-sharpness up to the desired level but we need both to be contributing more if we are to rely on them over the course of a challenging season.

Danilo too has to show more. Where we may salvage something is in that he seems like a more natural striker in terms of putting himself into goalscoring positions. But he has to take chances like last night more often than not going forward and I think, similar to Colak, is a player we are going to have to carry in the sense that his all-round game isn’t Morelos-esque.

Time though is something we may not have. On the horizon we have a hugely difficult tie with PSV who look very dangerous in attack and then the Old Firm game at the start of next month. Pitchforks were already being sharpened after the Kilmarnock defeat and so these represent huge tests for the team and potentially for the fans’ patience.

On the training ground some work has to be done on the new formation too it seems. It can occasionally look too narrow when playing against a low-block with full-backs having no width ahead of them with which to stretch the opposition. And last night out of possession we saw in the first-half a lack of control and shape which caused us problems which were only solved after the interval and thankfully before it was too late.

Beale then has his work cut out. The midfield I think is looking good in terms of personnel and will get better with familiarity however the attack lacks cohesion and while flexible in terms of playing with two strikers or two 10s the chopping and changing perhaps hasn’t helped. With three new forwards though it was never going to be an overnight wave of the magic wand to click everything into place. And the defence looks as it has done for too long – shaky.

Last night though was a big result in a high pressure game, something Beale arguably hasn’t managed since his return and so due credit should be afforded. I hope also it will give belief and mental strength to a team that has been put under heavy pressure early doors and perhaps bring the players closer together as a group.

Saturday gives us an opportunity to rotate certain players against Morton but also to continue to develop partnerships and relationships across the pitch with some of the new faces. It should represent a lower pressure match with which to continue working on the shape and passages of play which can only come with time and games. Because after that it all starts to get very serious very quickly.

We’ve shown in the past that we can rise to the occasion in Europe and we will definitely need to against PSV.

If we are to progress though we need to see a bit more of the good and a bit less of the bad and the ugly.