Keep the zero. That was Gio van Bronckhorst ’s mantra in the early months of his reign. On Wednesday night his team almost kept the zero. The trouble is there was also almost a one in front of it.
Liverpool had 22 shots at Allan McGregor ’s goal, hit the target with nine of them and the back of the net with seven of them. If the game had lasted another five minutes, they might just have got to 10. After all, it took Mo Salah just a little longer than that to score three. Yes, Rangers were up against a team sprinkled with world class performers. There was not a single player in blue shirt who would get near Liverpool’s first team. That’s fine and that’s acceptable.
What should never be acceptable is the manner in which Rangers stopped playing from the minute Darwin Nunez stuck the third goal past McGregor with 25 minutes left. Stopped tracking back, stopped tackling, stopped closing down. This was a team containing seven of the players who beat RB Leipzig, now a quality Champions League team as Celtic can attest, only five months ago in the semi final of the Europa League.
So what has happened to the collective ability and mentality of a group of players who proved last season they could handle the heat of the big occasion? They can’t any longer. And if it goes on any longer, they’ll be looking for a manager because the current one isn’t cutting it.
Not that van Bronckhorst is culpable in isolation. Any time anything positive happens at Ibrox, sporting director Ross Wilson positions himself front and centre.
So where is he when it goes pear-shaped and questions are being asked about why Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent are freewheeling to the end of contracts that should have been extended long ago or both of them should have been punted? Or why, when he is responsible for recruitment, have Rangers been unable to source a right winger worthy of the name in the past four or five years?
He signed John Souttar, a player who is a fine centre back when fit. But everyone knows that the big fella has had a career cursed by injury and so it has proved again.
He was also signed to fill Connor Goldson’s boots, only for the Englishman to surprise him at the last minute by deciding to stay. Again, that’s not the sign of a man who is ahead of the game. But Wilson isn’t out there failing to win headers and tackles.
That’s on the players. James Tavernier is the captain and his goals and assists record is phenomenal for a right back. But when the chips are down and he has to defend?
Look at the first Liverpool goal on Wednesday. Corner to the near post, doesn’t jump and Robert Firmino, who is no bigger, only has to nod his head to direct the ball into the net.
Then look at the second goal Hibs scored in the 2016 Scottish Cup final. Corner to the near post, doesn’t jump and Anthony Stokes, who is no bigger, only has to nod his head to direct the ball into the net. Six years on, it’s the same mistake and it’s not good enough.
These players haven’t consciously turned out the lights and in the bread and butter of domestic football, what they’ve got is usually more than enough. But the minute they see a team with something about themselves on the other side of the halfway line, they shrink from the task.
Celtic at Parkhead last February under the disco lights. Celtic at Parkhead again this season when Rangers looked terrified and unable to cope with the ferocity that came their way. Ajax in Amsterdam. Napoli at Ibrox as soon as they went down to 10 men.
Liverpool at Anfield when they acted as if a 2-0 defeat was okay, with the scoreline masked by McGregor’s brilliance during 90 minutes of utter dominance by the Scousers. Then Wednesday. A bit of up and at ’em to start with but the minute Goldson limped off just before half time you sensed the deflation in the entire team, and the crowd for that matter.
What followed was the biggest home defeat in the club’s history, the manner of which was simply unacceptable to those who have followed Rangers through the worst years and deserve better. The same folk who have forked out £180 for three home Champions League and deserve more than to hear their captain say that playing in this tournament is a ‘bonus’. That reeks of someone who is happy to make up the numbers.
Even if the numbers read: played 4, won 0, lost 4, goals for 1, goals against 16, points 0. Van Bronckhorst takes his team to Motherwell tomorrow and the Lanarkshire team won’t roll over the way Rangers did in midweek.
Forget the two Champions League matches still to be played against Napoli and Ajax. This is shaping up as the most important match of the season for the Dutchman because anything less than a win and he might not get to see them.
Keep the zero? How about zero tolerance of failure?
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