Royal Burgh Bear
Well-Known Member
FROM TONIGHTS EVENING TIMES
DAVE VOS joined a jubilant Giovanni van Bronckhorst on the pitch at Philips Stadium, having helped mastermind a two-legged win over Dutch giants PSV and author another magical European journey.
Privately, however, the former Rangers assistant and his boss knew this could also be a blessing in disguise depending on circumstances. The squad they’d taken to Seville and past PSV in that 2021 Champions League qualifying playoff was not yet ready to compete at the elite level of European football while fighting on multiple fronts domestically. No further transfer additions were made following the 1-0 win in Eindhoven and a painful group stage was on the horizon.
“I think if the recruitment was a bit better to bring in some players we thought were a direct possibility to sign, it would have increased our chance to be successful in the way we wanted to play,” Vos says.
“If you ask me honestly, I don’t think we would have played that differently in the Champions League. Napoli were champions of Italy that year, Liverpool were Liverpool and Ajax had won six out of six in the Champions League group stage the season before. Rangers as a football club weren’t ready to play first or second place in the Champions League group. But we were building towards that and I think with time, if we had a year longer, we could’ve developed in that direction.”
The start made by Van Bronckhorst kept Rangers firmly at the top of the Scottish Premiership heading into the winter break with eight wins from eight. Even if there were growing pains as a change in playing style ensued.
“It was a great group of players, but it isn’t your own group. Of course, because of [Steven] Gerrard and everything that happened there, it was the players he chose. We needed to work with everybody who was there,” Vos continues.
“You felt a connection from players and staff and support staff directly. The integration was really fast and we won the first eight or nine games in a row.
“That helps the process of how you want to play but we had our own details that were different from the former coaching staff. I remember that we were due to play the Old Firm on the 29 December [before the winter break was brought forward].
For us, in that moment we had a real flow and Celtic didn’t. There was a gap of five points or so. When I look back if we had played that game against Celtic in December we were in a much better position because of how many points we could’ve gone ahead.”
Although Rangers lost hold of the league title in season 2021/22, they so nearly grasped a trophy of far greater value. The Europa League trophy was penalties away from returning to Ibrox as a run masterminded by Van Bronckhorst and Vos allowed Ibrox to dream over an intoxicating threemonth spell.
Rangers saw off Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Braga and Red Star Belgrade to set up a final with Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville. With their aggressive approach borne out of a 3-0 Old Firm defeat soon after the winter break. Attempts to explain the magic often fall short, but the simplicity of Vos’s sentence captures the essence.
“Ibrox? You cannot explain everything that happened [on those nights] to somebody who was not there. I told my friends you have to come over. I can tell you about it, but you need to feel it,” he says.
“One of the most important parts [of the European run] came after the first Old Firm we lost. We were too ‘in the middle’ of the pitch and not pressing opponents all over the pitch. From that moment we made a decision together – we will press the opponent all the way.
“When we played Dortmund away, you can make two decisions. You can drop into a block and counter attack but we made a decision together, and from Gio it was a really brave one, to just press the opposition high.”
The most memorable night of all came against RB Leipzig as a 3-1 win sent Van Bronckhorst’s side to Seville. The game came two days on from the shock passing of Jimmy Bell, Rangers’ legendary kitman and club figure. In an emotionally charged stadium goals from James Tavernier, Glen Kamara and John Lundstram sealed a piece of history.
DAVE VOS joined a jubilant Giovanni van Bronckhorst on the pitch at Philips Stadium, having helped mastermind a two-legged win over Dutch giants PSV and author another magical European journey.
Privately, however, the former Rangers assistant and his boss knew this could also be a blessing in disguise depending on circumstances. The squad they’d taken to Seville and past PSV in that 2021 Champions League qualifying playoff was not yet ready to compete at the elite level of European football while fighting on multiple fronts domestically. No further transfer additions were made following the 1-0 win in Eindhoven and a painful group stage was on the horizon.
“I think if the recruitment was a bit better to bring in some players we thought were a direct possibility to sign, it would have increased our chance to be successful in the way we wanted to play,” Vos says.
“If you ask me honestly, I don’t think we would have played that differently in the Champions League. Napoli were champions of Italy that year, Liverpool were Liverpool and Ajax had won six out of six in the Champions League group stage the season before. Rangers as a football club weren’t ready to play first or second place in the Champions League group. But we were building towards that and I think with time, if we had a year longer, we could’ve developed in that direction.”
The start made by Van Bronckhorst kept Rangers firmly at the top of the Scottish Premiership heading into the winter break with eight wins from eight. Even if there were growing pains as a change in playing style ensued.
“It was a great group of players, but it isn’t your own group. Of course, because of [Steven] Gerrard and everything that happened there, it was the players he chose. We needed to work with everybody who was there,” Vos continues.
“You felt a connection from players and staff and support staff directly. The integration was really fast and we won the first eight or nine games in a row.
“That helps the process of how you want to play but we had our own details that were different from the former coaching staff. I remember that we were due to play the Old Firm on the 29 December [before the winter break was brought forward].
For us, in that moment we had a real flow and Celtic didn’t. There was a gap of five points or so. When I look back if we had played that game against Celtic in December we were in a much better position because of how many points we could’ve gone ahead.”
Although Rangers lost hold of the league title in season 2021/22, they so nearly grasped a trophy of far greater value. The Europa League trophy was penalties away from returning to Ibrox as a run masterminded by Van Bronckhorst and Vos allowed Ibrox to dream over an intoxicating threemonth spell.
Rangers saw off Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Braga and Red Star Belgrade to set up a final with Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville. With their aggressive approach borne out of a 3-0 Old Firm defeat soon after the winter break. Attempts to explain the magic often fall short, but the simplicity of Vos’s sentence captures the essence.
“Ibrox? You cannot explain everything that happened [on those nights] to somebody who was not there. I told my friends you have to come over. I can tell you about it, but you need to feel it,” he says.
“One of the most important parts [of the European run] came after the first Old Firm we lost. We were too ‘in the middle’ of the pitch and not pressing opponents all over the pitch. From that moment we made a decision together – we will press the opponent all the way.
“When we played Dortmund away, you can make two decisions. You can drop into a block and counter attack but we made a decision together, and from Gio it was a really brave one, to just press the opposition high.”
The most memorable night of all came against RB Leipzig as a 3-1 win sent Van Bronckhorst’s side to Seville. The game came two days on from the shock passing of Jimmy Bell, Rangers’ legendary kitman and club figure. In an emotionally charged stadium goals from James Tavernier, Glen Kamara and John Lundstram sealed a piece of history.
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