Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Gavin Berry

Gio van Bronckhorst defends Rangers tactics in Celtic hammering with unwavering belief in his system

Giovanni van Bronckhorst revealed Rangers had a brutally honest Old Firm post mortem but insists he has an unwavering belief in his system.

The Dutchman suffered his first defeat as Light Blues boss as they went down to a 3-0 derby drubbing against Celtic at Parkhead.

That has led to some questions over his system with many supporters believing he was too cautious in his approach.

But Van Bronckhorst is sticking to his guns in terms of tactics although could ring the changes int terms of personnel for Sunday’s clash against Hearts.

New signing Aaron Ramsey could make his debut at Ibrox while Alfredo Morelos is back from International duty with Colombia.

Van Bronckhorst wants to see a reaction and said: “We had a debrief and we were honest.

“I believe in my way of playing and our system. It’s a 4-3-3 but we are dynamic and can play inside or with full backs high up.

“I know when the results are not there everyone has questions but we have to keep doing the basics correctly.

“Tracking back, aggression and take the moments to go forward. We have to now bounce back and on Sunday we show the determination from a couple of months ago.

“Our focus is to keep on building and improving. A bad result, but there are 42 points to be won and the challenge is on.

“When we have the ball we have to be brave in possession. We had a really bad start. We have to pick the right timings to push up as a team and press.

“This was an important thing we didn’t do. We were uncertain on the ball. The second and third goals were the basics, not tracking runners and being strong as a team.

“It’s from these moments you learn the most and it has to give us energy going into the next game.

“There is another game to be played on Sunday and we have to improve for a good result.

“This is still a group who are together, they have proven before they bounce back from disappointment and I am confident they will go it again on Sunday.”

On picking his team for the Jambos, he said: “I will take Wednesday into account when selecting the team.

“I want to see a different mentality and intensity. We have to act differently than on Wednesday.

“Last season is gone and this is the season we want to be champions. The challenge is there for us now to achieve.

Alfredo Morelos trained today and will be available for Sunday. Hagi and Helander are the only players missing.

“Ramsey is looking good and we will assess him tomorrow. We have had a lot of centre halves injures. Leon (Balogun) showed how strong and valuable he can be to us, as did Ryan Jack.

“Jack could only do 45 minutes as he picked up his return from injury and is a very valuable player to our team.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.