Clement can solve low-block issue by unleashing rarely-seen Rangers ace

Glasgow Rangers turn their attention back to domestic action as they prepare to host Hearts at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership this evening.

The Light Blues played in Europe on Thursday night and battled hard to secure a 1-1 draw with Greek giants Olympiacos away from home, which now means that they have only lost one of their four league phase matches so far.

Philippe Clement‘s side must now focus on getting their Premiership form back on track as there is no hiding away from the fact that it has not been good enough this season.

The Scottish giants are currently nine points behind Celtic in the league table, and 11 points behind Aberdeen, who beat Dundee 4-1 on Saturday.

Rangers have lost three of their opening ten games in the division and two of those losses came within their last three Premiership outings, losing to Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.

Clement’s side have also drawn one game and that came against this evening’s opponents on the opening day of the season, with a 0-0 draw against Steven Naismith’s side, before the former Scotland international’s departure.

Latest Rangers team news

The only relatively fresh piece of team news is that attacking midfielder Tom Lawrence will not be available for selection once again, having also missed out on the clash with Olympiacos on Thursday.

He had to be substituted during the first-half of the 2-1 win over Motherwell at Hampden Park in the semi-final of the League Cup with a thigh injury, which is now set to keep him on the sidelines for several weeks.

Clement recently confirmed that the Wales international is due to be out of action for between four and six weeks, which could include him being out for the League Cup final against Celtic on the 15th of December.

This has come as a big blow to the Belgian head coach and Rangers because Lawrence had enjoyed a strong start to the campaign in the number ten position.

As you can see in the table above, the former Derby County star has contributed with six goals and ‘big chances’ created combined in eight league appearances this term.

He has also produced two goals and one ‘big chance’ created in three outings in the Europa League, which shows that he has made a big impact domestically and in Europe at the top end of the pitch.

The low-block issue for Rangers

His absence will not help with the low-block issue that the Light Blues have faced at times under Clement this season, with the side sometimes lacking in creativity and quality when a team decides to sit deep and soak up pressure.

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In the recent defeats to Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, Rangers had 63% and 68% possession respectively but only scored one goal, as they failed to break down their Premiership rivals.

The Gers have either failed to score or only scored once in six of their ten league outings this term, holding the majority of possession in all bar one – the 3-0 defeat to Celtic – of those matches.

This suggests that Rangers are not doing enough with their possession of the ball to break teams down and create enough chances for their forwards to put the game out of sight.

Celtic have scored 14 more goals and Aberdeen have scored nine more goals than the Ibrox giants, which illustrates how far behind their direct rivals they are from an attacking perspective.

Clement has to find a way to solve this low-block issue ahead of this clash with Hearts this evening and one solution could be to unleash the rarely-seen Ianis Hagi from the start, following his two-match suspension.

Why Ianis Hagi should be unleashed

The Romania international had to watch on from the sidelines against Kilmarnock and St Mirren. with Rangers losing one of those two games, after his red card against St Johnstone.

Hagi made his first appearance of the season for the Light Blues against St Johnstone, coming on as a substitute at half-time, and registered an assist before being sent off for a high challenge in midfield.

The 26-year-old star created two chances and provided one assist, teeing up Vaclav Cerny for his second of the game with a defence-splitting pass into the box, in just 36 minutes that night.

Journalist Josh Bunting once claimed that Hagi has the ability to “pick passes” against a tight defence and that he has the creative quality to “unlock” teams that set up with a low-block, which proved to be the case against St Johnstone in his first senior appearance of the season.

As you can see in the clip above, the Romanian wizard also showcased his creativity in the final third with a brilliant cross to record an assist for the B team recently, during his suspension for the first-team.

Hagi is still looking to get his Rangers career back on track since suffering a knee injury that kept him out for 69 matches between January 2022 and January 2023, with a loan spell at Alaves last season helping him to play regularly again.

In his first spell with the Light Blues, prior to his horrendous knee injury, the attacking midfielder, who can also play on the flank, caught the eye with his creative quality.

As you can see in the table above, Hagi made a huge impact at the top end of the pitch with 18 goal contributions in 23 starts in the title-winning campaign under Gerrard.

These statistics, and his short cameo against St Johnstone last month, show that the potential is there for him to come in and ‘unlock’ a low-block, as Bunting illustrated, which is why he should start for the first time this season against Hearts.

He could either play on the left, with Nedim Bajrami moved into a central role, or directly replace Lawrence in the number ten position for the clash this evening.

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