Rangers will need to go “back to basics” after Wednesday’s humbling in the Champions League.
That is the view of journalist Dean Jones, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the latest news regarding the Gers.
There was a large sense of optimism ahead of Rangers’ first Champions League group stage fixture since 2010, but Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side were taken apart by Alfred Schreuder’s excellent Ajax team, which came just days after an Old Firm mauling.
As a result, the Gers are now lagging behind Celtic in the race for the Scottish title at this early stage, with a five-point gap opened up at the top.
Meanwhile, Rangers are still to face fixtures against Liverpool and Napoli as well as welcoming Ajax to Ibrox in their remaining Champions League group games, and it seems like it will be an uphill battle for the club to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition from this point onwards.
Jones believes that following Wednesday’s humbling defeat, it is time for the Gers to go “back to basics” and take it one game at a time.
He said: “We should probably bear in mind that there is a gulf in class between what Ajax are capable of and what this current Rangers team are capable of.
“But nevertheless, it really has to be back to basics now for Rangers and taking it one game at a time. That’s all they can really do in a moment like this, you’ve got to slowly rebuild confidence and form.”
TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments…
We believe that Jones is correct and that Van Bronckhorst should take each fixture as it comes from this point onwards.
The Dutchman needs to get his side bouncing back quickly before the season derails any further. At the time of writing, their next fixture is set to be their second group clash against Napoli at Ibrox, in what will surely be an emotional affair given the events of the past week.
And on the football side of things, you would have to argue that a result against the Italian outfit is required to keep their Champions League dream going ahead of a daunting double-header with Liverpool.
Therefore, we think that the Glasgow giants need to go back to basics and just focus on winning fixtures one game at a time rather than looking at the wider picture for the next few weeks. Although, with the fixtures piling up ahead of the World Cup, how possible that is for Van Bronckhorst and his side remains to be seen.