Rangers Defeated by Jagiellonia Bialystok: What Went Wrong?

This evening, at 17:00 BST, Rangers took to the field in UEFA Europa League qualifying, as they took in Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok in the first leg of their two legged affair, falling to a 2-1 defeat in the process. 

So, what went wrong for Rangers?

It was the perfect start to the game, with an own goal giving Derek McInnes' side the lead just four minutes in. That feels like a long time ago. By the half way point of the first half, the team were 2-1 down. So, as binary as it seems, game management is clearly an issue. 

Despite the game state of being behind for nearly 70 minutes, the hosts still outshot Rangers 10-7. There was clearly a lack of creativity throughout the game, even the goal was an own goal. 

As good as he can be, Thelo Aasgaard did look like a player who was busy at the World Cup this summer. Again, simple analysis but Rangers need more players who can create clear cut chances. Hopefully in time, Daisuke Yokota will end up being that player. 

Even a player as good as Nicolas Raskin didn't look at his best. Perhaps his head has been turned by the recent transfer speculation, in which case perhaps it is best for all parties to cash in and reinvest that money to bring in 2-3 new players. 

The game management was weird from McInnes too. When you make three subs at half time, it is an admittance of guilt that you got the game plan wrong. Sure, players have to and should take responsibility, but it is always suboptimal when a triple change is made at the break. 

Then, you see Lawrence Shankland coming on for Ross McCrorie with five minutes to go. That's just desperation. Making those sort of subs for the sake of it. Why is Shankland not coming on earlier, especially as captain? If he did come on earlier, perhaps he would not have had to come for a centre half. It is basically the opposite of when managers bring on defenders for forwards when winning a game. It rarely works in both instances. 

This was a theme during the game. Rangers were incredibly open when they lost the ball, leading to attacks. Now that can happen when chasing the game, but it almost felt like the tactics were simply 'go for it', rather than having a structured and coherent way of attacking.