Season 2022/23 will be quickly forgotten in Rangers circles.

After finally returning to the Champions League following a momentous two-legged win against PSV, things looked bright. Instead, a dismal group stage, injury crisis to top all seen previously and managerial change would soon follow. A nine-point gap in November made any hope of a title charge impossible following Michael Beale’s subsequent arrival.

The biggest indicator of the change deemed necessary in response can be found in the movement that’s occurred off the pitch. A new management staff, Chairman and CEO are all in place, with successors in the Sporting Director and Head of Academy roles still to come.

Beale didn’t end the season with any silverware but has done enough to build optimism. His team have quickly adopted a recognisable style and adopted a winning habit. When that's abandoned them in Old Firm matches, Beale's lack of options up top has generally been unanimously agreed upon as mitigation. 

The task over summer is to build on the promising developments witnessed with a new squad of his players brought into the building.

A look at some of the team-wide statistics from before and after Beale's appointment suggests foundations are being built for a more successful 2023/24 campaign. 

xG indicators

xG doesn’t tell the whole story, not that it’s designed to do so. However, it offers a helpful indicator as to the quality of chance a team is scoring and conceding. And since Beale’s arrival, while Rangers’ underlying numbers have remained similar on the surface, there are encouraging signs when digging deeper.

Before the manager’s arrival the side’s xG difference, xG created minus xG conceded, stood at 1.28, comfortably behind Celtic’s 1.97.

From a 3-2 win over Hibs up until Saturday’s final game of the season against St Mirren, that number dropped one point to 1.27 but crucially, only 0.01 behind Celtic.

Beale was tasked with navigating three league Old Firms compared to just one before his arrival and a number of tricky away matches.

READ MORE: Michael Beale's new Rangers tactic and what it means heading into summer

Rangers were creating 1.87xG per 90 to Celtic’s 2.47 under Van Bronckhorst. Under Beale, xG rose to 2.0 ahead of Celtic's 1.83.

Their xG conceded did rise from 0.59 to 0.73. Again, the greater number of matches against top six opponents offers some explanation as to why this number has increased, with Hibs away the only notable trip aside from a humbling Old Firm defeat under Van Bronckhorst in his 15 league games at the start of the season.

Set-piece swing

Under Beale and first-team coach Harry Watling, Rangers’ attacking set-pieces have been transformed. As detailed in greater detail previously by the Rangers Review new principles, greater variation and an upturn in inswingers have all contributed towards the side comfortably becoming the most effective set-piece utilisers in the division. Having been anything but previously.

Before Beale’s arrival Rangers had the third-highest Set-Piece xG per 90 at 0.3 and the fourth-highest Set-piece Goals per 90 at 0.33. Their average xG from corners stood at 0.2.

In the second half of the season under Beale Rangers topped the Set-Piece xG table with 0.48 per 90, averaging a hugely impressive 0.7 Set-Piece Goals per 90. Their average xG from corners doubled to 0.4.

Off-ball upturn

PPDA is a common statistic to measure the intensity of a team’s press, judging the number of passes allowed before a team attempts a defensive action.

Rangers’ PPDA has actually fallen under Beale from 5.54 to 7.05. Does that mean they’ve been ‘less intense’ off the ball? Not necessarily.

Beale’s Rangers press in triggers, waiting for the opposition to enter one of their traps before committing to winning the ball. Their narrower shape out of possession, compared to Van Bronckhorst’s man-orientated approach, has proven far more resolute and threatening of high turnovers. A 4-1 win away at Hibs was perhaps the best example witnessed of this to date.

Pressures per 90 under Beale have risen from 101 to 125 and counterpressures, an attempt to regain possession within five seconds of the ball being turned over, from 26 to 33. Pressures in the opposition half have also jumped from 54 to 64.

Beale didn't end the season with the silverware he'd have desired when stepping back into the club late last year.

That shouldn't be confused with a poor job so far, however. The underlying numbers show a transition of style and improvement in key areas, before the summer rebuild really gets going.