Gerrard's Blueprint , livre ebook

Pitch Publishing Ltd - Adam Thornton

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205 pages

English

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Gerrard's Blueprint provides an in-depth analysis of Rangers' tactical evolution over three years under Steven Gerrard, culminating in a league title win that saw them crowned kings of Scotland for the 55th time. In May 2018, Rangers appointed Liverpool legend Gerrard as the 16th permanent manager in the club's long history. A megastar player but untested as a coach, many wondered how Gerrard would fare at a club like Rangers, especially in light of the team's struggles in the past six seasons. Fast forward to 7 March 2021 and Gerrard's Rangers clinched the club's 55th title in record time, staying unbeaten in all 32 league games to that point. This book delves into the tactical approach used by Gerrard and his coaching team and shines a light on the key principles of their footballing philosophy. Adam Thornton picks out key games and players that have shaped the tactical evolution of the side and helped them become title winners.

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Scotland

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Publié par	Pitch Publishing Ltd
Date de parution	15 août 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781801502221
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2021
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Adam Thornton, 2022
2022, Illustrations by Matthew Wood
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright.
Any oversight will be rectified in future editions at the earliest opportunity by the publisher.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 9781801500579
eBook ISBN 9781801502221
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Contents
Introduction
1. Tactical Philosophy
Tactical Influences
The Management Team
Setting the Tactical Vision
Out of Possession - Own the Pitch
In Possession - Own the Ball
Mentality and Character
2. Formation Evolution
4-3-2-1 Origins
Hibs 5 Rangers 5, 13 May 2018
2018 Squad Overview
2019 Squad Overview
COVID
2020 Squad Overview
3. Player and Tactical Role Evolution
Goalkeeper
Centre-Backs
Full-Back Playmakers
The Number Six
Flat Midfield Three
Free Eights
Twin Tens
Hybrid Attackers
Alfredo Morelos Evolution
Signature Goals
2021/22
Epilogue
Bibliography
Photos
For Lynn, Rosie and Raya. Thank you for putting up with me and for your support throughout this process. I couldn t have done this without you.
Introduction
FIRST AND foremost, I am a Rangers fan. My first season ticket was in the Govan Rear in 1994 - the year Rangers signed Brian Laudrup from Fiorentina six years into the quest for nine in a row. Not a bad time to start the Rangers love affair, was it?
Some 24 years later, in May 2018, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard was appointed Rangers manager and tasked with returning the club to the top of the Scottish pile. The disastrous events of 2012 had seen Rangers demoted to League Two and left with no alternative but to climb back to the top division.
I have poured every emotion felt during Gerrard s three full seasons at Rangers into this book, and I dearly hope that the love I have for football in general but, more importantly, for our great club shines through on every page.
I ve also spent the last four years as the host of Tactics Talk - a podcast on the Heart and Hand Network which attempts to analyse and dissect Rangers tactical philosophy before and throughout Gerrard s reign as manager. This book is the culmination of everything I ve learned about Rangers approach under Gerrard at every step of the journey, from that first Europa League qualifier against FK Shkupi on 12 July 2018 all the way to clinching the title in record time on 7 March 2021.
During this tumultuous three-year period, the podcast was a cathartic experience for myself and my co-host Alistair Bain. Throughout this, we attempted to make sense of what was - or perhaps was not - happening on the pitch and tried to understand the rollercoaster journey we had all been on. I would also like to thank Ally, as his knowledge of football, coaching, tactics, and dedication to his craft is massively inspiring to an amateur enthusiast like me. He has helped me improve my knowledge and understanding of football to a much deeper level than before.
This book will document my understanding of Steven Gerrard s blueprint for Rangers by identifying the critical overarching principles of his tactics. It will also attempt to chart the evolution of Rangers approach on a season-byseason basis over the three years as the visual embodiment of this philosophy. In my opinion, there were clear and noticeable incremental tactical improvements in each of those seasons, and the intention is to capture all of them on the journey to once again being crowned Scottish league champions.
As football fans, we love to talk about formations and tactics, even without realising we re doing it at times. We endlessly discuss whether Rangers should go back to the 4-4-2 glory days under Graeme Souness in the late 1980s or possibly variations of the three-man defences utilised in the 90s by Walter Smith and Dick Advocaat. We yearn for the free-flowing 4-2-4 formation associated with Rangers last treble win in 2002/03 under Alex McLeish.
The word formation as a descriptor has almost become a proxy to attempt to articulate a playing style when in reality, most teams may change shape several times within the same game depending on the situation. How a team lines up on a TV screen pre-game - usually with one or two players listed in the wrong position - is a tiny part of a much more detailed story. Essentially, a team formation is too restrictive and lacks the nuance to give a detailed enough indication of the way they play. The word shape is a more contextual descriptor, as a team s shape can be dynamic and fluid depending on in-game situations and each team s overarching approach.
This book will not solely be focused on tactical theory and philosophy. The essential part of any football team is the players who cross that white line week in, week out and give their best for the cause. The group of Rangers players analysed throughout this book will go down in history as legends for their achievements in season 2020/21, and rightly so. Still, they didn t arrive fully formed in the summer of 2020 - never mind two years previously - ready to claim their crown. They, too, went through considerable evolutions - some much more than others - and they are the fundamental elements of this story.
We know that Rangers full-backs were a vital weapon for the team, adding width and vast amounts of creativity. Still, James Tavernier and Borna Bari i would admit that they embarked on a significant journey throughout these three years to get to the stage of being crowned league champions. The central midfield three in Gerrard s first game against Shkupi consisted of Ross McCrorie, Daniel Candeias and Scott Arfield. Looking at arguably the most complex and detailed evolution within the team, I will attempt to illustrate the stages of development in the centre of the pitch and delve deep into the key players who contributed heavily along the way.
And what of Alfredo Morelos? A promising if inconsistent 21-year-old striker when Gerrard took over, his evolution was arguably the most considerable over the three years and resulted in the Colombian becoming Rangers all-time top European goalscorer following his goal against Benfica in November 2020. The management team also added footballers of significant calibre incrementally. We ll look at players such as Filip Helander, Steven Davis and Kemar Roofe and how their signings improved the overall quality and also necessitated tactical tweaks to benefit the team.
All of these and more will be covered throughout the second half of this book as we dig deep into the analysis of the key players and discuss their tactical roles within the team. Allied to that, we will discuss their strengths and weaknesses and explain how this combined perfectly into the winning machine we saw throughout 2020/21.
As I wrote this book during a global pandemic, it would be remiss of me not to discuss this period s impact on Rangers. From a strictly footballing perspective, Rangers were in a bad way when the world, including football, shut down. As the players trudged off the field on 8 March 2020 after a scrappy 1-0 win against Ross County in the league, the world had no idea what would unfold in the months to come. The 2-1 victory over Celtic in the customary new year Old Firm derby at Parkhead on 28 December 2019 was a massive boost as it brought Rangers to within two points of Celtic with a game in hand as Scotland shut down for the winter break. Upon their return in late January, Rangers would accumulate just 17 points from their next 10 games, leaving them 13 behind Celtic with a game in hand when the pandemic ceased play. This book won t dip into the detail of why the 2019/20 league season didn t restart in Scotland as it did in pretty much every other nation in the world. Instead, it will analyse the detail behind how Gerrard and his coaching staff used this extended period of downtime to extraordinary effect.
Fast forward from 8 March 2020 to 15 May 2021, a mere 433 days later, and who could have foreseen that Rangers would be league champions? Not only that, but that they would remain unbeaten for every single league game, conceding just 13 league goals and breaking the British league record set by Jos Mourinho s all-conquering Chelsea team of 2004/05?
Such a beautiful story, and here s how it goes.

Tactical Influences
If you look at the deliberations we had around managers, there are a lot of boxes that one tries to tick and no one ticks all of the boxes, then Rangers chairman Dave King told The Herald .
When Mark [Allen, Rangers director of football] first said to me about Steven Gerrard as a potential manager, my first thought was clearly that he hadn t managed before.
But that is the only box that he didn t tick. Every other box he did tick.
Competitive ability, a winner, knows what it takes to win - so he was ticking all the boxes other than experience.
When King announced the appointment of Gerrard to the media on 4 May 2018, he famously remarked above that the only skill that Gerrard didn t have was the experience as a manager. After his short period in charge of Liverpool s under-18 and under-19 teams, Rangers fans had no idea how a Gerrard team would line up or how he wanted his side to play football.
While