Analysis Corner: How Celtic dominated Rangers on the park
By Dougie Wright (@dougie_analysis)
From a purely statistical perspective, Saturday’s result at Ibrox didn’t change much. Three points to a Celtic side who have already won the league, while Aberdeen’s loss to St Johnstone means that Rangers still have a nine-point gap to make up second place.
However, in the real world, this was evidence of an ever-widening gap between the city rivals. In an erratic season, Rangers have clung onto their almost undefeated home record. While Celtic broke that in December, Rangers at least ran them close. On Saturday, Celtic simply annihilated them.
I’ve checked the records as far back as I can, and I cannot find the last time Rangers only managed 2 shots on target at Ibrox. They were pummeled.
Formations
Over the course of this season, so much of Celtic’s success has started with Scott Brown. He receives the ball deep and builds the play from the hive of movement in front of him. Therefore, Rangers looked to clog the centre of the park to stop Brown’s distribution. This was to be achieved through a diamond, with Miller at the head, Holt at the bottom, and Hyndman and Windass in the middle.
The trouble is that if Celtic can’t get it through the middle, they have more than enough talent out wide to progress the ball up the park there.
In the first half, Tierney and Sinclair combined on the left to devastating effect. When Rangers wised up to this at half time, it was merely a case of switching the focus of the attacks down the right, where Lustig and Roberts could link up more.
In truth, Hyndman and Windass in the centre looked pretty confused about what their role entailed. Neither Beerman nor Tavernier were pushing up much, so it was effectively Hyndman and Windass against Armstrong, McGregor, Sinclair, Roberts and Tierney. They rushed from side to side to side. This exertion meant that they were knackered after half an hour, so much so that when they got the ball, they didn’t have the energy to make the correct decisions. Rangers surrendered the midfield, and paid the price for it.
The Game
It took 49 seconds for Kieran Tierney to hit the byline for the first time, and after that he did not stop. Celtic’s left back managed to get in behind the Rangers defence on 8 occasions. Indeed, no player won the ball back more, took more touches or played more passes than the Celtic teenager. In fact, over the 90 minutes, he touched the ball more times than Josh Windass and Jason Holt combined
With Scott Sinclair out wide, along with support from McGregor and Armstrong drifting across, Tierney and his team mates bullied Rangers on the left.
All of this forced Kenny Miller backwards, as you can see in this picture. Now, while Miller is lauded for his defensive contribution, it should be noted that dropping so deep comes at a cost. It means that when the ball is won back, there is one less attacker further up the park to pass to. When you are playing a team like Celtic who are so disciplined in their pressing, it’s not good news.
Over the past eighteen months, Rangers have relied on their fullbacks providing width. In the past seven days, it seems that that policy has been abandoned. Perhaps mindful of Rangers 5-1 defeat at Parkhead in September, Caixinha appeared to instruct both Tavernier and Beerman to stay much deeper.
Theoretically, this meant that Celtic would be able to get in behind less, but in practice, you’re essentially asking two players to play roles entirely different to what they’re used to. This meant Tierney could swing in his eight crosses relatively unpressured. Furthermore, in addition to Miller dropping deeper, by keeping the fullbacks deep, you also deprive the midfield of an out ball when looking to relieve pressure.
This left Rangers played as eleven isolated individuals, while Celtic hunted in packs.
The shot map, provided courtesy of 11tegen11, shows you how the match went.
The Result
Miller’s goal was the only time Rangers seriously threatened Craig Gordon’s goal, while conversely Wes Foderingham faced a shot around once every four minutes.
This was a game where Celtic seized control in the middle of the pitch and didn’t let their opponents lay a glove on them until they were 4-0 up.
Where the Rangers players displayed uncertainty about their positioning, which space to cover, who to pass to, and, fundamentally, whether they could win the game, Celtic showed the opposite.
Across the season, Rangers have had an average of 452 passes per game. On Saturday, they only managed 258. While passing numbers on their own don’t tell you much, the fact that Rangers played nearly 200 less passes than usual is testament to a) Celtc’s utter success in destroying the home side’s rhythm and b) Rangers’ failure to adapt to their opponent’s tactics.
For Celtic, the ball is firmly in their opponent’s court. Six games, five wins and a 36 points difference between the teams. Celtic could have literally gone on holiday from New Year’s Day and they would still find themselves 6 points ahead of their city rivals.
For Rangers, Saturday’s result can be one of two things. On one hand, it could be a turning point for the club, from the boardroom to the players. If the right changes are made, there’s no reason why they should suffer another humiliation like this. On the other, it could have been the definitive end of Rangers as any form of rival to Celtic. Only precise surgery from Stewart Robertson, Dave King and Pedro Caixinha will prevent it from being the latter.
Watch Dougie's video analysis of all the goals here:
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