Glasgow Rangers return to action in the Scottish Premiership after the first international break of the season as they welcome Hearts to Ibrox this afternoon.
The Gers, amazingly, are still searching for their first league win of the campaign after four draws in their first four games under Russell Martin last month.
Rangers were held to a 0-0 draw by Celtic in their last match before the break at Ibrox, and Martin should be focused on getting more service to Bojan Miovski this time out.
Why Rangers need to create more for Bojan Miovski
The Scottish giants signed the Macedonia international from Girona last month to bolster their options in the number nine position, but he did not get the chances to showcase his finishing skills against the Hoops.
Miovski ended the match with zero ‘big chances’, 13 touches, and zero shots on target, per Sofascore, which shows that they did not get the ball to him in dangerous positions enough.
The left-footed forward, as shown in the graphic below, scored 32 goals in the Premiership during his two seasons with Aberdeen before his move to Girona in the summer of 2023. This means that he is a proven scorer who knows how to find the back of the net on a regular basis in the division.
It is, therefore, down to Martin to create a system and a starting line-up that gets the best out of the forward, which did not happen in the draw with Celtic last time out.
In order to help Miovski to thrive against Hearts, the Rangers head coach must not start with the wing pairing of Mikey Moore and Djeidi Gassama again.
The mistake Martin made for Rangers against Celtic
Martin made a mistake against Celtic by deploying Moore on the left wing and shifting Gassama out to the right against Kieran Tierney, which meant that he was unable to get at Anthony Ralston filling in at right-back for the away side.
Moore, per Transfermarkt, has scored more goals as an attacking midfielder or striker, 17 in 15 games, than he has as a left winger, four in 18, in his career to date, which suggests that he is at his best in a central position.
Gassama, meanwhile, started the season with four goals in eight appearances on the left wing before being moved to the right against Celtic for the first time, per Transfermarkt, and these two calls both backfired for the Ibrox side.
Minutes
72
82
Shots
2
0
Shots on target
0
0
Key passes
0
1
Big chances created
0
0
Dribbles completed
1/3
1/3
Possession lost
15x
10x
As you can see in the table above, the wing pairing ended the game with zero shots on target, one key pass, and zero ‘big chances’ created, whilst they also combined for two out of six dribbles completed.
The Daily Record handed both players 6/10 player ratings for their performances, which seems generous based on their statistics, and noted that Gassama did not look comfortable having to go down the line instead of cutting in.
Both players did not appear to be in positions that got the best out of them, as evidenced by their performances and how they have both performed in other roles at Rangers and elsewhere, and this had a knock-on effect on Miovski.
Because the two wide players were so ineffective for Rangers, the Macedonia international did not get any chances of note to test Kasper Schmeichel, which heavily contributed to the rather drab 0-0 draw that was served up by the two teams.
To correct his mistake, Martin should move Gassama back to his favoured position on the right and unleash Oliver Antman, who is a natural right winger, on the right wing to provide Miovski with the service that he needs.
The former Aberdeen marksman’s record at Premiership level suggests that he will score goals for the Gers if he gets chances, but he seems unlikely to get them if Moore and Gassama play together again in those roles.
