Variety is the spice of life and Steven Gerrard admits the time has come to tinker with his title-winning recipe if his side are to continue cooking up a storm this season.
The 4-3-3 system the Rangers boss has used is hardly football’s version of meat and two veg.
With two dynamic playmakers stationed just in behind a central striker and overlapping full-backs given licence to bomb forward, the Light Blues faithful were treated to some fine dining as they munched their way through the opposition last year.
But with the Premiership crown now nestled on their heads, the Ibrox boss is concerned his fusion masterpiece is in danger of going stale.
To add to his problems, Gerrard admits the Nathan Patterson -shaped elephant in the room can no longer be ignored. Skipper James Tavernier was undroppable last year with his contribution of 19 goals from right-back.
But the emergence of understudy Patterson with his genuine leading-man potential means the Light Blues boss now needs to find a way to accommodate both in his starting line-up.
During Saturday’s 2-2 friendly draw with Arsenal, we were given a brief 15-minute look at how that might look after new Scotland cap Patterson was introduced at the start of the second half and before Tavernier made way on the hour mark.
With the teenage pretender slotting in at right-back, Tavernier was thrust forward to the right side of the front three.
There was not enough time to make a real judgement on whether this new formula will leave the Gers support hungry for more.
But it was interesting to see the normally risk-averse Gerrard try something new. In his three years in Glasgow, the former Liverpool icon has stuck to his trusty formation like your grandad refusing to upgrade his Nokia 3210. It’s safe and he knows how it works.
Other than the day he opted for an ill-advised back three at Motherwell early on in his Rangers reign or last season’s successful switch to a 4-3-1-2 in the 4-0 mauling of Celtic at Ibrox, Gerrard has placed largely the same order when it comes to organising his players.
But now he admits it might be time he takes a look at the specials menu.
“Once I have the right personnel in I have to have the variety because some managers will try to stop this system,” he explained after his side’s latest tune-up session with the Gunners.
“They’ve seen it for a number of years now and within games I might have to try to tweak or change something, just to keep people thinking.
“That’s where the players have got to be quite clever and listen to the information we give them.”
Tavernier will likely be the one having to consume more detail than most as he is tasked with taking on an entirely new role.
But Gerrard will do all he can to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.
Against Arsenal, he found himself taking on the Ianis Hagi role, picking up balls in the middle of the pitch with his back to goal but the manager admits that is not something he will ask of the defender the next time they give the “experiment” a try.
“It’s not a big strength of his,” he told Rangers TV. “But what I will say is I didn’t want to change the system during the game.
“We had too many changes so I didn’t want to go to a 4-1-4-1.
“If we use this system (with both Patterson and Tavernier starting) it will maybe be with a back-three or a 4-1-4-1 where James is more out wide where he’s more used to being when he plays right-back.
“I certainly won’t play him as a 10 with his back to goal. I can’t turn him into that overnight.
“I didn’t want to change the system with where the score was at and having made so many substitutions. It’s a work in progress but it’s very early days.”
Tavernier won’t be judged on his cameo up top but this Rangers display deserves credit for the way they handled a team the calibre of Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.
Leon Balogun shrugged off Nuno Tavares to head home from a Tavernier corner 14 minutes in.
But former Benfica ace Tavares made amends nine minutes later as he pounced on Tavernier’s heavy touch before sweeping past Allan McGregor.
The Premier League big guns showed the strength of their firepower in the second half as they made a raft of changes, introducing former Celtic hero Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac and Willian among a raft of changes.
Had, the Londoners’ sights been sharper they would have struck again but instead it was Gers who moved ahead again thanks to Cedric Itten’s second goal in three pre-season clashes, much to the delight of the 2,000 lucky fans granted access to watch their team at Ibrox for the first time since March last year.
But there was no win to get the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations started.
Glenn Middleton did his hopes of persuading Gerrard he still has a part to play this term as he allowed Eddie Nketiah to rob him in the box, with the England Under-21 ace rifling past McGregor at the near post.
Itten, however, has impressed his boss.
“He came in last year during lockdown,” said Gerrard. “He hasn’t been able to go out of his apartment, he hasn’t been able to have family here. It was a real tough year for Cedric.
“When he came on, he was a real good option for us from the bench.
“And when I asked him to start, he never let me down.
“He came back for pre-season smiling, full of energy, ready to prove his point and stake a claim. He’s certainly doing himself no harm at the moment.”
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