BlueSuedeSambas 53,782 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 We always see threads and posts with members berating him for our lack of attacking football, however we rarely see anybody within our support actually praising him for turning our team into an almost regimental like unit when it comes to defending. It appears to have some sort of stigma attached to it now, mainly due to Mr Messi's anti football rant and if anybody dares to focus on it then they are branded as boring and uninventive. Don't get me wrong, attacking football is truly a thing of beauty, after all football isn't called the beautiful game for nothing. And I fully agree when people say that at times we were a bit too defensive, but I am also a firm believer in defending being an art, and for that reason I think that seeing numerous world class players trying and failing to break down a team who are nowhere near as good as they are by defending as if their lives truly depend on it is also a thing of beauty. Last season was a transitional season, so hopefully this season we see a Rangers team that is a bit more pleasing on the eye, but also able to defend like they did this year. Our defensive displays deserve more credit than they get. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy 68 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 I totally agree with the approach we took against far superior opposition in Europe. But to put almost every man behind the ball against the likes of Dundee United!? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
minstral 5,375 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 playing a lone striker at home is an admission of fear, its running up a white flag and unacceptable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSuedeSambas 53,782 Posted July 4, 2008 Author Share Posted July 4, 2008 I totally agree with the approach we took against far superior opposition in Europe. But to put almost every man behind the ball against the likes of Dundee United!? Yeah that was frustrating. However I can look past it on the basis that it was a transitional season. If we see it again, I'll be more vocal about it than I was last year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMWWBK 0 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Ive no problem with the defensive system. As ive said before, if we tried to fight fire with fire in Europe we would have been destroyed. Simply, Ferguson, Davis and Thomson arent going to outplay partnerships like Veloso and Moutinho and Montolivio and Donadel. However, the lack of ambition we showed at times was disheartening. I just dont think that the one up top is needed at places like Pittodrie and Easter Road. We played our best football at Tynecastle when we went with the Naismith/Darcheville combo. Again though, theres no doubting that we are/were a well oiled defensive unit and Smith must be given credit for constructing this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GersDude90 1 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Playing the way we did last season was fine as long as we won. The Uefa cup final was terrible, because we didnt give it a go. The russians we're there for the taking and we didnt go for it. Also playing that way against teams like St. Mirren and ICT, teams we really should be beating by a good few goals. Being able to defend isnt a bad thing no, you cant just defend! We couldnt channel they great defensive plays into strong attacking situations because too many people we're back defending. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam 0 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 We always see threads and posts with members berating him for our lack of attacking football, however we rarely see anybody within our support actually praising him for turning our team into an almost regimental like unit when it comes to defending. It appears to have some sort of stigma attached to it now, mainly due to Mr Messi's anti football rant and if anybody dares to focus on it then they are branded as boring and uninventive. Don't get me wrong, attacking football is truly a thing of beauty, after all football isn't called the beautiful game for nothing. And I fully agree when people say that at times we were a bit too defensive, but I am also a firm believer in defending being an art, and for that reason I think that seeing numerous world class players trying and failing to break down a team who are nowhere near as good as they are by defending as if their lives truly depend on it is also a thing of beauty. Last season was a transitional season, so hopefully this season we see a Rangers team that is a bit more pleasing on the eye, but also able to defend like they did this year. Our defensive displays deserve more credit than they get. absolutely but the fundemental aspect of the game is to put the ball in your oppositions net we seem to sit and let the opposition attack our goal thats suicde IMO and towards the end of the season we were caught out - I mean Gretna put 2 past us at Ibroz FFS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMWWBK 0 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 We always see threads and posts with members berating him for our lack of attacking football, however we rarely see anybody within our support actually praising him for turning our team into an almost regimental like unit when it comes to defending. It appears to have some sort of stigma attached to it now, mainly due to Mr Messi's anti football rant and if anybody dares to focus on it then they are branded as boring and uninventive. Don't get me wrong, attacking football is truly a thing of beauty, after all football isn't called the beautiful game for nothing. And I fully agree when people say that at times we were a bit too defensive, but I am also a firm believer in defending being an art, and for that reason I think that seeing numerous world class players trying and failing to break down a team who are nowhere near as good as they are by defending as if their lives truly depend on it is also a thing of beauty. Last season was a transitional season, so hopefully this season we see a Rangers team that is a bit more pleasing on the eye, but also able to defend like they did this year. Our defensive displays deserve more credit than they get. absolutely but the fundemental aspect of the game is to put the ball in your oppositions net we seem to sit and let the opposition attack our goal thats suicde IMO and towards the end of the season we were caught out - I mean Gretna put 2 past us at Ibroz FFS Always thought we could have upped it a couple of gears that day to be honest. Deuchar did seem to always give our defence a hard time though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSuedeSambas 53,782 Posted July 4, 2008 Author Share Posted July 4, 2008 absolutely but the fundemental aspect of the game is to put the ball in your oppositions net we seem to sit and let the opposition attack our goal thats suicde IMO and towards the end of the season we were caught out - I mean Gretna put 2 past us at Ibroz FFS But we put the ball in their net four times that day. Something that you think is the fundamental aspect of the game! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvager 498 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 There is beauty in a good defensive set up and one that works. We did have a good system last year. I would say that it only worked in a large part due to McGregor, Cuellar and Weir. Mainly Cuellar who was outstanding. The fullbacks were nothing great and you cannot say that Broadfoot was ever a thing of beauty. Papac too to some extent. As for the mid field - ok defensively, but so poor going forward. Losing DMB was a big blow. The number of times we set up defensively against poor SPL opposition was incredible. Even more incredible was the way our 5 man midfield could not gain or keep possession of the ball for long spells in games hence the long ball to Lee or just up the park. We installed fear in no one. The Partick Thistle's and St. Johnstones and QoS proved that beyond any doubt. If we do not add any class and a new CH it will be the same old thing next season. Again we did well defensively most of the time last year, but let's face it without Cuellar would that even have been the case? I Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermopylae 15,286 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Defending is of course half the game but I think as a spectacle it's really only for the purists where as good attacking play is much more accessible to your average Joe or Jill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam 0 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 absolutely but the fundemental aspect of the game is to put the ball in your oppositions net we seem to sit and let the opposition attack our goal thats suicde IMO and towards the end of the season we were caught out - I mean Gretna put 2 past us at Ibroz FFS But we put the ball in their net four times that day. Something that you think is the fundamental aspect of the game! well it is you dont score you dont win and not knowing how the score would turn out at the 80th minute we were all shitting ourself against fucking gretna!! come on man putting in a good shift and letting gretna walk over you at the ibrox is a totally different thing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfc_no1fan 13 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Theres a big difference between producing an excellent defensive performance and setting your team out to defend from the first whistle to the last whistle. Our defending was last ditch at times and we brought alot of pressure on to our backline by approaching the games in the wrong way. We cannot continue to ride our luck...... we have to go out and try to win games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_ni 12 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 all good teams are built on a solid defence, its great that we have a good defence. However attack is the best form of defence. Who honestly thinks celtic have a better defence than us???? yet we conceded more because we sat back and let other teams attack us. THAT is what i didnt like about our defensive tactics last year. We conceded loads of goals just because we were camped in our own box and any wee deflection or stroke of luck gifted the other team a goal. Nothing wrong with being defensive but there is something wrong with barely attacking at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boab 73 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Theres a big difference between producing an excellent defensive performance and setting your team out to defend from the first whistle to the last whistle. Our defending was last ditch at times and we brought alot of pressure on to our backline by approaching the games in the wrong way. We cannot continue to ride our luck...... we have to go out and try to win games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jelle1880 225 Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Defending and only defending is not the Rangers way. I can undestand it when you play against Barcelona, but we can't even take the small chances they offer us. If you want to play defensive football, use the Italian style. Ultra-defensive but when you get the chance: Break and score. The last part is something we lack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimenez 1 Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Best form of defense is attack. Even with the king and co we shiped in more goals than the scum last season. Why? 'cause celtc were prepared to attack for the majotiy of games searching for goals instead of getting involved with physical battles Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasily09 0 Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 playing a lone striker at home is an admission of fear, its running up a white flag and unacceptable. I actually do not mind one up front, as long as it is augmented with 2 pacy and skillful wide players and at least one flair player and willing runner from the middle of the park. The system only worked with Naismith, Cousin and Burke last season, but Walter abandoned that as soon as Lee McNoability came back from injury Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitch 364 Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Our defence last season was brilliant. Our defencive tactics worked well. I'll accept playing like that against bigger, far better teams. I'll even accept the transition season explanation of playing like that in SPL games. But I wont accept a lack of any attacking ambition for a 2nd season. The transition is over. This season we need to be a complete team in both defence and attack. Our signings to date dont fill me with joy. Spot on Kev. Last year was fantastic in the way that it looked as if we were making some progress. We got it half right with the defensive tactics. I will also not accept another season like it though. The transition is indeed over. We need to move forward in every sense of the word and a defensive formation against the likes of Dundee United will not be acceptable. I pray that there're a few more signings to come. I hope for at least a good midfield player and a decent replacement for Broadfoot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowcross 5 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 We always see threads and posts with members berating him for our lack of attacking football, however we rarely see anybody within our support actually praising him for turning our team into an almost regimental like unit when it comes to defending. It appears to have some sort of stigma attached to it now, mainly due to Mr Messi's anti football rant and if anybody dares to focus on it then they are branded as boring and uninventive. Don't get me wrong, attacking football is truly a thing of beauty, after all football isn't called the beautiful game for nothing. And I fully agree when people say that at times we were a bit too defensive, but I am also a firm believer in defending being an art, and for that reason I think that seeing numerous world class players trying and failing to break down a team who are nowhere near as good as they are by defending as if their lives truly depend on it is also a thing of beauty. Last season was a transitional season, so hopefully this season we see a Rangers team that is a bit more pleasing on the eye, but also able to defend like they did this year. Our defensive displays deserve more credit than they get. I couldn't agree more with this post. Absolutely spot on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest therabbitt Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 We were fantastic at the back last season, no doubt, and that played a very big part in how far we got in all competitions. Our ultimate downfall, however, did not in my opinion come from the defensive unit, but from the lack of ambition and creativity from the offensive unit. I hope that Walter is addressing this problem, and in my opinion the purchase of three strikers is a step in the correct direction and a signal of intent. However, if the offensive unit is to be finished correctly, we need the purchase of at least one attacking midfielder, a notion which is not lost on the majority of the fans and hopefully not on Walter. There is time for him to find some more players to augment the squad, but time is slowly slipping away, with the squad returned to training and our plans for next season already being put in place players need to be brought in as quickly as possible. This is especially true if we are to purchase an attacking playmaking midfielder as they need to know the players around them and we all know that the player will require the respect of Barry Ferguson if he is to get trusted with the ball. This post has gone a bit warbly but what Im really getting at is that we are making moves in the right direction, but these moves need to be undertaken quicker to ensure a settled squad in time for th estart of the season and the important Champions League campaign Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
port_bear 86 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 We always see threads and posts with members berating him for our lack of attacking football, however we rarely see anybody within our support actually praising him for turning our team into an almost regimental like unit when it comes to defending. It appears to have some sort of stigma attached to it now, mainly due to Mr Messi's anti football rant and if anybody dares to focus on it then they are branded as boring and uninventive. Don't get me wrong, attacking football is truly a thing of beauty, after all football isn't called the beautiful game for nothing. And I fully agree when people say that at times we were a bit too defensive, but I am also a firm believer in defending being an art, and for that reason I think that seeing numerous world class players trying and failing to break down a team who are nowhere near as good as they are by defending as if their lives truly depend on it is also a thing of beauty. Last season was a transitional season, so hopefully this season we see a Rangers team that is a bit more pleasing on the eye, but also able to defend like they did this year. Our defensive displays deserve more credit than they get. Ok so how do you explain the fact that we conceded 33 SPL goals last season and despite the fact that they play more attacking football and have had their defence criticised, the scum only conceded 26 SPL goals? A stat that played a huge part in us losing the title. I have heard people on here defend Walter’s negativity by saying things like “he has set is stall out properly” and that he has “made us hard to beat” etc etc but I can’t agree with that. Most of the teams we played this season (even domestically) played us off the park and despite having an extra man in midfield most of the time we were still dominated and overrun. Had it not been for the heroics of two players last season (McGregor and Cueller) and the fact that we carried an enormous amount of luck, our season would have been even more of a shambles than it turned out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
minstral 5,375 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 We always see threads and posts with members berating him for our lack of attacking football, however we rarely see anybody within our support actually praising him for turning our team into an almost regimental like unit when it comes to defending. It appears to have some sort of stigma attached to it now, mainly due to Mr Messi's anti football rant and if anybody dares to focus on it then they are branded as boring and uninventive. Don't get me wrong, attacking football is truly a thing of beauty, after all football isn't called the beautiful game for nothing. And I fully agree when people say that at times we were a bit too defensive, but I am also a firm believer in defending being an art, and for that reason I think that seeing numerous world class players trying and failing to break down a team who are nowhere near as good as they are by defending as if their lives truly depend on it is also a thing of beauty. Last season was a transitional season, so hopefully this season we see a Rangers team that is a bit more pleasing on the eye, but also able to defend like they did this year. Our defensive displays deserve more credit than they get. Ok so how do you explain the fact that we conceded 33 SPL goals last season and despite the fact that they play more attacking football and have had their defence criticised, the scum only conceded 26 SPL goals? A stat that played a huge part in us losing the title. I have heard people on here defend Walter’s negativity by saying things like “he has set is stall out properly” and that he has “made us hard to beat” etc etc but I can’t agree with that. Most of the teams we played this season (even domestically) played us off the park and despite having an extra man in midfield most of the time we were still dominated and overrun. Had it not been for the heroics of two players last season (McGregor and Cueller) and the fact that we carried an enormous amount of luck, our season would have been even more of a shambles than it turned out. good post port bear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowcross 5 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Ok so how do you explain the fact that we conceded 33 SPL goals last season and despite the fact that they play more attacking football and have had their defence criticised, the scum only conceded 26 SPL goals? A stat that played a huge part in us losing the title. I have heard people on here defend Walter’s negativity by saying things like “he has set is stall out properly” and that he has “made us hard to beat” etc etc but I can’t agree with that. Most of the teams we played this season (even domestically) played us off the park and despite having an extra man in midfield most of the time we were still dominated and overrun. Had it not been for the heroics of two players last season (McGregor and Cueller) and the fact that we carried an enormous amount of luck, our season would have been even more of a shambles than it turned out. In my opinion it was the European games that really proved Walter knew how to defend against teams full of talent and flair. Teams like Red Star, Panathaikos, Werder Bremen, Fiorentina, Sporting Lisbon - even Barcalona - struggled to score against us. Consider the riches in their teams - multimillion pound players abounding with talent etc - and the comparative poverty of our own squad essentially containing journeymen type footballers. It was an incredible run from the Champs League qualifiers through the Champs League and then in UEFA Cup all the way to Manchester - and it was all achieved by defense - and tactics that utilised defense and the away goal rule to progress. So, I do think Walter “made us hard to beat” etc and the European games are the proof for me. In addition you have to consider the defensive mess that Walter inherited from PLG and the little time he had to get things right before going into last season. And, finally, the loss of the title (and the stats you point out) - in my opinion - was purely down to the European run (eg CFC game played sandwiched between two Fiorentina games etc) and the resultant fixture congestion. If we hadn't had such a heroic European run then we would have won the league and the defensive stats domestically would give a truer reflection of our defensive ability/success last year. So, IMO, Walter's defensive achievment last year is indisputable - a thing to marvel at - and I still concur completely with DBBTB's original post. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbm26896 995 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 we defended superbly in europe but in the last 6 games in the SPL we were conceding soft goals in nearly very game , but we did not change style or formation in europe we got it right , but we got it wrong in the SPL, IMO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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