Russell Martin has called for a significant shift in Rangers' approach, urging his team to adopt a more "relentless" mentality following their recent Champions League encounter with Viktoria Plzen. Despite securing a spot in the playoff clash against Club Brugge, the Scottish Premiership side suffered a 2-1 defeat in the second leg of their tie, exposing vulnerabilities Martin is keen to address.
The aggregate score of 4-2 in favor of Rangers tells a tale of two performances. While the team advanced in the Champions League, the narrow loss highlighted areas needing immediate improvement. Goalkeeper Jack Butland's stellar performance was crucial in preventing a Plzen comeback, as he made eight vital saves during the match. The statistics further emphasized Plzen’s dominance, with an expected goals (xG) tally of 3.31 compared to Rangers’ 1.1.
Martin acknowledged the importance of progressing to the next stage of the competition but emphasized that the team must learn from this experience. Speaking to RangersTV, he stated, "We have to be really relentless. So I am disappointed with the performance, I am disappointed with the result but there’s lots to build on and we just need to be cleaner with the ball."
The head coach pointed out inconsistencies in the team’s performance, noting that while there were periods of excellent football, self-inflicted errors allowed Plzen too many opportunities. "I am disappointed we lost," he said. "We had some really good moments but I am disappointed how many shots we gave them, how many chances we gave them and also I’m disappointed with how many times we got in and around their box with an overload, big numbers and then don’t execute the final pass."
Butland's exceptional goalkeeping was a significant talking point, as Martin praised his shot-stopping abilities. However, he also recognized that the reliance on Butland's heroics indicated a need to tighten up defensively. "Jack Butland has been amazing, last week he had very little to do in this game and tonight way too much. We need to sort that out, but even with his decision-making with the ball at his feet he is selected really well so I have been really pleased with Jack."
Looking ahead to the Club Brugge match, Martin stressed the importance of improving upon the performance against Plzen. The two teams previously played to a 2-2 draw in pre-season, a match that saw Rangers rally from a two-goal deficit. "We had an interesting game against them in pre-season, so we know a bit about each other and we have to be better than we were tonight for sure," Martin warned. "We had some really good moments like we did in the first leg tonight and didn’t make enough of them."
