This is an updated version of an article originally published in October 2020.
After his first two games in charge, Michael Beale’s message was that the dramatic, chaotic comebacks over Hibernian and Aberdeen had shown him just how much work was required if he is to remould Rangers into a team who control games and keep clean sheets.
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He has seen progress on that front, but Celtic — who have lost just one of their last 51 league games — pose a completely different challenge compared to the other 10 teams in the Premiership.
Ange Postecoglou’s side visit Ibrox on Monday and try to dominate this first Old Firm derby of 2023. Beale may refuse to cede ground to Rangers’ big local rivals given his team will have home advantage, but in his three and a half years as Steven Gerrard’s primary coach at Ibrox before their departure in November 2021, they were often content to allow the men in green and white more possession in these games.
By the time he followed Gerrard to Aston Villa 13 months ago, Rangers were two years unbeaten against their fellow Glasgow giants. It was a run of seven games that saw only three goals conceded and that period of success, which also saw Rangers stifle so many big European teams, was underpinned by the 4-3-2-1 defensive structure Beale trained the players in relentlessly during his first spell at the club.
The shape he is using now he’s back in town and sitting in the manager’s seat is slightly different, as the front-three triangle has been flipped to create a 4-3-1-2, but the broader off-the-ball mechanisms are still applicable.
If he opts to lean into this previous defensive strength on Monday afternoon, the fact that 22 of the Rangers squad (and probably at least nine of their 11 starters) are carryovers from Gerrard’s reign means muscle-memory may kick in.
Defensive organisation and a deep understanding of positioning and responsibilities were qualities that players felt gave them an edge on opponents during that period.
Beale would regularly employ the ‘human tactics board’ drill to ensure every player understood both their individual role and the overall shape to within an inch of their lives.
He has already reintroduced the drill in his first five weeks as manager to help the team try to recapture their ‘identity’, but whether it will be used to replicate that old shape this week can only be answered once Monday’s game kicks off.
Old Firm games aren’t supposed to feel comfortable. They should be nerve-wracking and chaotic, which is why it is not a fixture synonymous with the two managers engaging in a game of tactical chess or a spectacle always enjoyed by footballing puritans.
But Rangers’ 2-0 win at Celtic Park in October 2020, which put them on the road to an unbeaten, title-winning league season, was as placid and robotic a derby between these sides as you’re likely ever to see.
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Celtic had 57 per cent of the possession and made 114 more passes than the visitors, but that match was the first time they failed to register a shot on target since May 2009 — a run of 421 games — further highlighting just how secure the Rangers defence had become.
It almost felt like a training game, given how the same patterns of futile Celtic possession played out over and over.
Rangers shifted, squeezed and pounced, putting on a clinic in how to nullify a team.
The phrase ‘Own the ball, own the pitch’ was often used around the training ground to sum up Rangers’ approach.
When they had the ball, it was about imprinting their style but when Celtic did, it was about dictating the game to the opposition. The almost-automatic way the players moved as a unit was how Rangers dominated possession, meaning there were not many times they had to get set in their shape and face a team looking to play through them.
Rangers usually allowed the ball to go wide as they prioritised “protecting the middle” of the pitch. The two No 10s positioned themselves narrowly and, along with the striker, blocked off passes into the middle of the park.
When the ball went wide, the player on the left or the right of Rangers’ midfield three would shift across and apply pressure on the ball. One thing that was noticeable was how they would slide across at the same speed as the ball was moving, to ensure they covered the passing options behind them as they did so.
The two No 10s stayed high up the pitch so that when possession was regained, they were in a good position to attack.
One former player describes it as a “gamble” but says it made sense given how much they spoke about the “maths” when defending.
It is about guiding the ball to areas of the pitch where your team are comfortable and have more men, then limiting the passing options of the opponents’ full-backs by ensuring the distances between players made all the possibilities available to them risky.
Working on the shape in training was done via walkthroughs, which came to be known as the aforementioned “human tactics board”.
It would usually be done towards the end of the week, when the blue fencing at Rangers’ Auchenhowie base was erected to safeguard the sessions going on.
These tend to be carried out on a mini-pitch no bigger than 30 yards (27.4m) in length or width.
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Mannequins will be positioned to mirror the opposition’s expected shape and the Rangers starting XI will shadow where they would be standing in the game.
As the ball moves to mimic the opposition’s style of play, so too would Rangers’ shape; after each pass, Beale would talk through how he wanted it to look and explain to the players why they were doing it, before repeating it at the next stage of the move.
It was usually Beale who started the activity but former Liverpool and England midfielder Gerrard would come in and get hands-on with advice at different points, and this repetition on a smaller scale is what made it second nature for the players against Celtic and in those Europa League games where they gave up more possession.
Rangers focused on “pressing victims” in the lead-up to these big games — a term used at Liverpool too.
It refers to the opposition player they wanted to stop possession revolving around, or someone they thought could present turnover opportunities if they herded the ball towards them. Essentially, it’s a case of prioritising who is least dangerous on the ball and allowing that to guide when your players press and who they allow to have the ball unopposed.
In training, the pressing victim would be represented by a different coloured mannequin to signify their relevance and there were various drills used to work on this aspect.
One consisted of two possession boxes in which a player was secretly nominated a pressing victim in the other team, meaning they could only target winning the ball back when that individual had it. There were also 10-v-10 games that would often happen while playing on only half a pitch, including zones to work on forward running and one-v-one or two-v-one situations.
Video analysis played a major part in reiterating the principles of Rangers’ defensive shape. Clips of previous games showing occasions when they had moved in perfect harmony would be shown to the players. As the footage ran, phrases would also flash on the screen to describe which stage they were in defensively so that it helped visualise the key messages.
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There were also various graphics put up on the wall in the changing room before games for players to look at if need be.
Beale would take the majority of the meetings under Gerrard and would split the pitch into thirds when talking about the game.
The staff wanted there to be no more than 30 to 35 yards between the front and back line of Rangers’ outfield players to deny the opposition space. That collective area was known as ‘our organisation’ and served as the basis of a shape which would adapt as the ball moved about the pitch.
Rangers operated mostly in the middle third, though, which was referred to as ‘our zone’. This short, clear language, used repeatedly, was one thing that was said to be key to the clarity of the messages provided to the players.
Beale’s clarity will be needed if he is to mastermind a win over Celtic and open up this season’s title race again. But if a return to the previous defensive shape can restrict Postecoglou’s reigning champions and give Rangers a platform from which to attack, it might just do the trick.
(Top photo: Mark Runnacles via Getty Images)
