Clement goes against 'way he wants to play football' to make Rangers tactics change
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Rangers stuttering start to the season is starting to find a bit more consistency as Philippe Clement makes fine adjustments to his team and tactics.
The manager had to rotate his squad against Hibernian and Tom Lawrence's fine effort was a rare moment of quality in an otherwise scrappy encounter – after a difficult away trip in the Europa League, three points is always the primary objective.
Clement has been around long enough to recognise when things are and aren't working but, according to Kieran Dowell, there is one underlining principle that the Rangers boss wants his team to stick to.
Philippe Clement philosophy explained by Rangers midfielder
Asked originally about fans being frustrated with Vaclav Cerny for checking back with clear ground ahead of him to halt a promising attack, Dowell also explained what Clement wants to see:
“I don’t know, I don’t know. I think maybe in the moment, he’s probably had a long week himself. He might have felt a bit leggy and thought, I can’t do that one.
“But we all know coming to this club that the demand is to play forward and try and score goals and attack. I think that the manager is of the same mindset as that.
“So, I’m not sure [what happened with Vaclav], maybe it was just a moment in the game, but we’re all on the same page that we want to go forward whenever possible.
“I think since the manager has come in, that’s the way he wants to play football. But again, on Sunday there was times where he probably felt he just needed to get a bit more control of the game in their half.
“So, it’s different opinions for different moments in the game. But yeah, definitely at this club, that’s what you want to be doing.”
Clement fine tuning to get Rangers on the front foot
The misconception about direct football just meaning long balls being fired from back to front means that Clement's philosophy is often misunderstood.
In the past, when his centre-halves have been guilty of going long too often or too quickly, the Gers gaffer has pleaded for them to be braver in possession and to show more courage.
As they showed against Malmo, they are more than capable.
Usually, there is no possession for possession's sake and Clement wants his midfielders to move the ball quickly through the lines.
Dowell touched on an intervention that the Gers gaffer made against Hibs when it became clear that there were a few heavy legs on the Ibrox pitch – the game is a lot easier when you have the ball.
Being a pragmatist, Clement isn't afraid to adapt depending on the opposition and it paid off, eventually, against Hibs.
