Why positional versatility matters at Rangers

We get hung up on “what position is he?”, but a lot of European coaching is about building players who can handle multiple roles. For Rangers, that flexibility can be gold.

There’s a wee caveat I always want to add when Rangers fans start debating a player’s “best position”. A lot of the time, especially in Scandinavia, footballers aren’t coached to be one thing and one thing only. They’re coached to play the game in a few different roles, and to understand what changes when you shift five yards or swap sides.

That versatility doesn’t just make them a handy option for a manager. It tends to make them more rounded footballers as well. More pictures in the head. Better problem-solving. And, bluntly, more attractive in the market because they can slot into different systems without looking lost.

It’s not “out of position”, it’s development

We sometimes treat a role change like it’s a gamble. But in plenty of European setups it’s part of the plan. You’ll get players started in one area, then deliberately moved to another so they learn different angles, different pressures, different responsibilities off the ball.

The examples are out there. Diomande, for instance, has been used mainly as a left-sided attacking midfielder, but has also been trained towards more central work and even a deeper role. That’s not just tinkering for the sake of it. It’s about teaching him how to receive under pressure in tighter spaces, how to manage the game rather than simply influence it in the final third.

Modern systems demand it

You can see why it’s become the popular approach. The modern game is about shapes that change constantly. Teams defend in one structure and attack in another. A “10” can end up as a wide presser, a winger can end up inside as a midfielder, and a full-back can spend half the match in central areas. If you’re only comfortable in one lane, you’re easier to shut down.

That’s why you see stories like Antman, who played as a 10 and then moved to Holland to play as a winger. Or Nygren, who has been a 10 but can cover right wing, left wing and centre-forward as well. Jens Hauge is another, shifting from winger to a central midfield role. The list goes on, and that’s before you even look at defenders who are asked to step into midfield, cover wide, or build play like a quarterback.

What it could mean for Rangers

For Rangers, the obvious benefit is squad building. If you’ve got a couple of players who can cover two or three roles without the whole team falling apart, you can run a tighter squad and still cope with different opponents, different game states, different domestic and European demands.

But the bigger point is development. The aim is to produce players with fewer limitations than those trained for a single job. And if Rangers want to modernise how we play and how we recruit, that kind of flexibility has to be part of the thinking.

Written by Aphelion: 8 January 2026