‘Listless and confused… no fight, no desire, no anger’ – Brian Laudrup blasts Rangers amid claims of “disharmony”
LISTLESS and confused.
NO fight, NO desire, NO anger.
That's how Rangers legend Brian Laudrup is viewing the current team of late.
The Light Blues had one of their poorest weeks in recent memory last week, with two consecutive 4-0 defeats to Celtic and Ajax.
The Old Firm derby loss leaves Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men trailing Celts by five points in the Scottish Premiership title race.
While the humbling by Ajax showed Gers that life in the Champions League requires a big step up, even from Europa League level.
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Laudrup admits he is worried about the direction of Rangers' season now as he had hoped the players would've responded to their derby disaster in a much better fashion than they eventually did against the Dutch champions.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, the nine-in-a-row hero said: "Last week, I argued the response to Parkhead would help indicate the direction this season might take. What unfolded in Amsterdam, then, was worrying to see. It was more of the same. Listless and confused.
"I didn't see any fight. Any real desire. Or any players being angry. You needed someone to show a reaction after the Old Firm embarrassment and lead the team, but it simply wasn't there.
"Not playing at the weekend has maybe given Rangers a chance to regroup, to talk among themselves and to try and rediscover the standards that made them such a formidable force in Europe last season.
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"Because those things aren't visible right now. There is an absence of self-belief and too many individuals simply aren't performing.
"So many questions surround this team. We need to see some positive answers in the game against Napoli. Otherwise, the Serie A leaders will have a field day."
This is Rangers' first venture into the Champions League since 2010 and despite being Europa League finalists last season, few would've predicted an extended run in this year's edition of Uefa's top tier competition.
Laudrup is one of them but like many of the Gers faithful, he at least expected better than what was shown against Ajax.
Looking back at how the squad looked on that run to Seville, Laudrup now sees signs of "disharmony" among the ranks at Ibrox.
He said: "No one expects them to win the Champions League. Or be in contention for the latter stages. That's stating the obvious. But the least you expect is for them to put up a fight within games.
"Each time you have a defeat like the last two, it becomes harder and harder to climb the mountain again. But Rangers must haul themselves up.
"They badly need a performance offering signs of improvement. And a stabilising result. Most fans would accept a draw tomorrow night as long as the performance was there.
"There was so much unity about Rangers towards the end of the season. Within the squad and among the fans.
"Now, it looks as though there is disharmony in the way the team plays. They have to find that harmony again as quickly as possible.
"I know from experience that it can change in one game. One big performance and result against a club like Napoli would restore belief to players and fans and make it a lot easier to move on from there and back into the Premiership."
In terms of how to approach the match against Napoli itself, Laudrup has called on the Rangers players to feed off of what will be an "electrifying" atmosphere inside Ibrox and avoid a repeat of the "meek" type of performance they put in against Ajax.
He said: "Keeping Napoli at bay might require the greatest effort yet, though. This is the Champions League and, against Liverpool, the Italians showed they are capable of reaching a truly elite standard of play.
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"Rangers cannot be meek. They badly need to give some belief and excitement to their supporters if they are going to feed off the energy created inside the stadium, which could be all the more powerful given no away fans are now attending.
"The atmosphere at kick-off will be electrifying, I'm sure of that, but it will quickly turn if the team starts anything like they did against Celtic or Ajax. People have paid a lot of money for these tickets and won't be slow to voice their feelings if they have to endure more of the same."
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