Russell Martin isn’t afraid of the Rangers risk he is taking | OneFootball

Whether Rangers get Jeserun Rak-Sakyi or not, it’s abundantly clear the club under Russell Martin is going for high-risk high-reward football.

As Sky Sports reports in their analysis of Panathinaikos, as fledgling as Martin’s system was, the intent was there.

Pace, movement, inverted fullbacks and a system designed to hold the ball constantly and suffocate opponents with possession.

The addition of the Crystal Palace man would only emphasise the strategy he’s going for, but Russell Martin’s Rangers risks are signifiant.

A more clinical side than the Greek outfit and Jack Butland not having such a good day would have seen the visitors out of sight and quickly, as they threatened Rangers repeatedly. Why?

Because Rangers system is utterly vulnerable to the counter, and presses high up, keeping the team high up, meaning the core at the back is left exposed frequently for Russell Martin’s Rangers risks. Add the inverted fullbacks and it’s prone to vulnerability.

We’ve seen this before – under Michael Beale.

Here he explains (back in 2022) that’s his system too, that it will concede goals and be vulnerable:

This is the same thing as Martin is doing, and the standard of the player isn’t vastly superior – it is a risky approach the manager is going with, and Beale became utterly undone by the same thing.

Rangers fans will very much hope history doesn’t repeat itself, and Martin’s high risk approach pays off.

We’ve seen many managers think they knew better, and it turned out that the wheels always came off before long.

Can Martin be different? We clearly hope so.