Gio’s Rangers assistant on one technique needed to defeat Celtic
Rangers meet Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final this weekend, hoping to complete their season with a trophy. Philippe Clement must go back two years to the last time Rangers won a major Old Firm game, when Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team won 2-1 at Hampden due to a Scott Arfield strike and Carl Starfelt’s own goal. And in an exclusive conversation with the Rangers Review, Van Bronckhorst’s assistant, Dave Vos, highlighted the one item that changed following a 3-0 Old Firm defeat at the start of 2022, which led to the success at the national stadium.
One of the most important parts [of the European run] came after the first Old Firm we lost,” Vos reasons.
“We were too ‘in the middle’ of the pitch and not pressing opponents all over. From that moment we made a decision together – we will press the opponent all the way. We will keep pressing, winning the ball early and then if they play a long ball [over the press] we can win it. From there on, we have the ball and can make the difference with it.
“When we played Dortmund away, you could make two decisions. You can drop into a block and counterattack but we made a decision together, and from Gio it was a really brave one, to just press the opposition high and create overloads and in a couple of areas on the pitch. We had Kent in one-on-one duels and a dynamic right side with Tav and Scotty Arfield on the right in the half-spaces. The build-up with two sixes, one in a pivot role and the other dropping to make three in the build-up. Everything was connected in that moment.”
Vos believes Van Bronckhorst’s daring in pressing high against Celtic and stifling their build-up contributed to an improvement following the convincing defeat at the start of the year.
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