The two key Rangers reasons for optimism after Kilmarnock win

The good before half-time when a fluid, attack-minded performance earned a three-goal lead and the bad following half-time, which lacked any of the above.

The Rangers Review has picked out the three key themes viewers raised in our post-match analysis from Ibrox and collated our responses below.

How good was Todd Cantwell?

The 25-year-old January signing has shown early on in his Ibrox career that he’s more of a midfielder than attacker, which is exactly what this side needs.

Cantwell enjoyed the second-highest number of touches on Saturday (181) behind Connor Goldson and was perhaps the only individual who retained his first-half levels throughout the entire match.

Rangers looked re-energised with the former Norwich City man on one side of the midfield and Nico Raskin the other. Both players moved the ball quickly, looked to break lines and worked hard out of possession. 

Cantwell’s pass map shows the right side as his main area of involvement. Red indicates a successful action and yellow an unsuccessful one.

With no Malik Tillman available, the Englishman was tasked with progressing play from that flank in the build-up and handed freedom in the attacking third.

Off the ball, Cantwell won eight of his 11 duels, recovered possession 10 times and made 12 pressures, the third-highest total recorded by the hosts.

When asked if Saturday was his best showing since arriving at the club, he said: “Yeah, probably. I just feel like I am growing into my role and feeling fitter. You need to get those games in first and I feel like I’m now starting to come into my rhythm a little bit.

“I’m certainly not where I want to be yet, but I’m taking good steps forward in terms of my fitness and in terms of understanding my role within the team. It’s different and something that will only get better as I get more of an understanding with the players.”

It was Cantwell's qualities on the ball that made this signing an appealing one. After just five starts to date at Rangers, he's demonstrating that his quality goes in combination with hard work and commitment off the ball. 

Why was Antonio Colak Beale’s ‘main takeaway’?

“I thought he was our best player. I thought he came off and linked the play really well. You can see that we've been doing some fitness work with him in the background and he's the main thing I'll take away from today's game.”

Michael Beale wasn’t shy in his praise of Antonio Colak speaking after Saturday’s win. The Croatian was starting in the league for only the second time under Beale, now fully fit following time out due to injury.

The 29-year-old’s qualities inside the penalty box have never been in question, but his contribution elsewhere has been raised in retaliation at points. Can he help move a defence and create chances for others like Alfredo Morelos?

Saturday was a positive step in that regard. Colak attempted 33 passes, 27 of which found their target as shown below. For context, he’d averaged 15.45 passes per 90 heading into the game.

The attacker wasn’t always spinning his man and switching play, as Morelos might, but his movement dropping off the front to provide bounce passes and the constant offering of a forward passing option unsettled the visiting backline.

This was especially effective in conjunction with the positioning of Fashion Sakala.

Look at the game’s pass network, which charts the average position from which each player made their passes.

Colak was often more active linking up on the right earlier this season, but Beale used the Croatian and Sakala on the same line at the weekend, ahead of a fluid midfield. Allowing the hosts to occupy either side of the Kilmarnock backline.

Here’s one of the best examples of how this played out. You can see the Ibrox side’s four-man box midfield taking up varied positions as Ben Davies steps forward to provide a forward pass with his left foot.

Notice Ryan Kent pointing at Colak, telling Davies to play into the striker’s feet. Colak and Sakala are flanking the opponent’s three centre-backs on either side, with the former open as a forward passing option for Davies and the latter ready to attack the box.

Kent times his run brilliantly as Colak kills the ball, allowing him to burst beyond his man and cross with his left foot for Sakala, running from the defender’s blindside and somehow putting a shot wide.

StatsBomb measured the shot as a 0.44xG chance.

Colak’s action in this moment wasn’t extraordinary, but it was effective. Alongside the goalthreat he poses domestically, an upturn in the forward's involvement off the ball is one to watch going forwards.

What happened in the second half?

All the optimism built after a heavy week for the club during the first 45 minutes began to slowly vanish as the second half wore on. Rangers created 2.84xG before the interval and 0.48xG after it.

“We played really well [overall]. In the first half, there was good energy in the team but I thought we dropped off in the second half,” Beale said post-match.

“It's clear that maybe Jack and Nico... it took a lot out of them and they’ve not had much football of late. I thought when John Lundstram came on, we got it back again because we started the second half quite poorly. We made a lot of silly errors.”

The game’s trendline, charting chances as the match progressed, demonstrates this. Before half-time, including James Tavernier’s penalty, the home side had fashioned 2.84xG and by full-time, that number had only risen by 0.48xG.

That’s a relatively high number compared to the rest of the season. Had the home side played in ebbs and flows for 90 minutes instead, the post-game conversation may have been different.

90-minute performances have tended to allude Beale since returning. Although retaining high levels throughout a match isn’t something many teams can manage, it’s a box that requires ticking moving forwards.