The inquest into Rangers’ hugely disappointing 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock has been extensive but one criticism of Michael Beale’s tenure has lingered - the decision to deploy two ‘defensive midfielders’. 

Beale’s preference has been a common gripe amongst many Rangers fans but it resurfaced after the insipid display in Ayrshire. Todd Cantwell’s omission from the starting eleven was a surprise but Beale’s explanation wasn’t. 

“I think the balance in the midfield is really good,” he said pre-match. Beale has been searching for the perfect balance in midfield since his arrival and he’s been largely justified in his decision to deploy two defensive-minded midfielders. The same could not be said on Saturday. 

Beale’s rationale focuses on concerns around Rangers’ rest-defence, meaning the structure the team take up when attacking that prevents the opposition from escaping pressure and counterattacking. James Tavernier and Borna Barisic were tasked with providing width against Kilmarnock and were, as usual, often situated high in the opposition’s half. 

If possession is turned over, the opposition can exploit space behind both full-backs and Beale’s plan is to negate this threat and protect the two centre-backs. John Lundstram was tasked with protecting the space vacated by James Tavernier by dropping into the right centre-back position, and also assisting in the build-up.

READ MORE: Cantwell, Lundstram and Beale - your questions answered

Lundstram’s presence in the starting eleven raised eyebrows amongst supporters, but it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise given the level of trust that Beale places in the Englishman - only James Tavernier played more minutes than Lundstram under Beale last season. 

Lundstram failed to replicate his performance levels from the Europa League final run during a disappointing second season at Ibrox but he did improve considerably towards the end of last season. Furthermore, Lundstram was far from the worse performer at Rugby Park on Saturday as Sam Lammers and Kieran Dowell also failed to make a significant impact, while Cyriel Dessers was miles off the pace. 

Lundstram’s performances - unlike the three new arrivals - are placed under more scrutiny due to last season. He often struggles in games when the initiative is on Rangers to break down a well-organised and deep defensive line. He seldom plays penetrative passes between the lines and doesn’t possess the guile to open up defences from deep. That’s a major reason why Lundstram’s best performances have often arrived on the European stage when games are more open and his dynamism becomes an asset.

Against Kilmarnock, however, a bigger problem for Rangers was a lack of movement among their attacking players. Rangers looked to attack centrally but their creative players were far too congested and they failed to move Kilmarnock’s defenders out of their shape.

As the passing radar below shows, Rangers struggled to get their creative players involved in the game. They were too easy to defend against and their failure to stretch the Kilmarnock defence resulted in failing to draw a notable save from Will Dennis.

Beale’s tactical approach has been effective in away fixtures with performances against Hearts and Hibs notable examples, but there’s a strong argument that Rangers were too conservative against Kilmarnock and failed to grab the initiative. 

There’s been a clamour for Beale to use two more attack-minded midfielders ahead of Nicolas Raskin as the single pivot in domestic games this season. To gain an understanding of why Beale resisted this temptation on Saturday, it’s important to revisit his comments after Rangers’ 2-1 win over Ross County in February. 

After John Lundstram picked up an early injury, Beale introduced Malik Tillman ahead of Glen Kamara. He abandoned playing two defensive midfielders in a move which surprised his coaching staff. Tillman’s introduction bore fruits as the American international opened the scoring, but Beale was clearly dissatisfied with Rangers’ balance without the ball.

“We had a lot of possession in the right areas but maybe we were stumbling over each other,” he said post-match. 

“It’s for me to pick a balanced team because we’ve got a lot of good football players now. We had Ryan, Todd and Malik all behind Alfredo and Fashion. So our full-backs had to be deeper at times. That forced the first goal but also left us a bit open at some times defensively. Our line-up when we took John Lundstram off was over the top attacking if you like and sometimes you can get in each other’s way. That’s another way of looking at the first half.”

The midfield combination of Ryan Jack, Todd Cantwell and Tillman contained only one defensive-minded player and it left Rangers susceptible to counter-attacks. Beale reverted to his preferred style when Kamara replaced Fashion Sakala, with Cantwell moving wider, in a bid to gain greater stability out of possession.

Rangers deployed a 4-3-1-2 formation in their last eight games of the 2022/23 season and it’s clear Beale favours that tactical approach. As my colleague, Joshua Barrie, explained perfectly in his analysis piece on that Ross County game: “The best attack doesn’t necessarily consist of as many attacking players as possible shoehorned into a team, but the best-attacking balance.”

It’s a common misconception that placing more attack-minded players on the pitch will lead to better-attacking output. While it’s imperative not to place too much pressure on a new signing, the hope will be that Jose Cifuentes will be the key to unlocking the perfect midfield balance. 

Beale stated that the Ecuadorian could take Rangers "to another level" and, in theory, Cifuentes’ skillset should complement his fellow midfielders. Cifuentes can play as a No.6 or a No.8 and provides Rangers with defensive stability while offering more creativity from a deeper role than Lundstram or Ryan Jack. 

Raskin was Rangers’ best player on Saturday and a midfield trio consisting of the Belgian, Cifuentes and Cantwell could provide the balance that Beale has been striving for - if he sticks with his preferred 4-3-1-2 shape. Cifuentes likes to take risks in possession and while this could be an issue when playing deeper, it should help unlock Rangers’ more creative players. 

The level of frustration after Saturday was fuelled by the level of optimism before kick-off after the transfer activity this summer.

The pressure to deliver has ramped up on Beale and he knows the level of expectation faced. Finding the right balance in midfield could be a significant factor in fulfilling that and reversing the disappointment of the opening-day defeat.