Walter Smith: 'This team is better than one that reached Uefa final'

Published on Tuesday 15 September 2009 22:51

WHEN Walter Smith led Rangers to the Uefa Cup final two seasons ago, via a Champions League group which included Barcelona, Lyon and tonight's opponents VfB Stuttgart, it was very much a triumph of substance over style for the Ibrox club.

Since that 19-game odyssey which culminated in defeat to Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester, Smith has suffered a humbling defeat to Kaunas in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and been forced into a cost-cutting programme which has slimmed down his squad.

Yet as the veteran manager prepares for his latest venture into Europe's elite club tournament, which kicks off at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart tonight, he believes Rangers are now a better footballing side than the one which doggedly ground their way through the marathon campaign of 2007-08.

Smith now hopes his players will prove him right by achieving a positive start to their Group G schedule against familiar foes VfB Stuttgart.

"Our team has not changed a great deal since two years ago," said Smith. "But I would like to think we have improved in certain areas. We had a decent Champions League campaign two years ago and this will be the test to see if we have improved to the level that we hope for.

"Midfield is one area of our team where we can retain the ball better than we did two years ago. Pedro Mendes has helped us with that. Now we will get the full test of that in the Champions League.

"When you go into this tournament, you have to try and do extremely well, regardless of the financial circumstances surrounding your club. That is the situation we are in and we have to do the best we can.

"This group of players actually need these type of games, where they will get stretched a little bit. I hope we can acquit ourselves as well as we did the last time in the tournament.

"I enjoy the Champions League regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes you get through the tests it sets you okay, on other occasions you have mixed fortunes. Whether it is my last one or not, I hope it will be a good one for us."

This is the third time in the last seven years that Rangers have found themselves in the same group as Stuttgart. Two seasons ago, their visit to Germany bucked the trend of the tight, tactical battles which were a feature of many of their away matches in Europe, Stuttgart edging an end-to-end contest 3-2.

Smith believes something similar could unfold tonight and he is looking for it to have a positive effect on his players.

"When we played here two years ago, it was one of our better performances away from home in a season when we reached the Uefa Cup final," he added. "We had a good performance here, even though we lost.

"If you look at the way the game is played in Germany, it is very open. The games I have watched, the German teams really go at each other in a very competitive league. When we played here two years ago, that brought a bit of that attitude out of us. Stuttgart allow you to attack.

"It was an excellent match the last time and if this one is as good, everyone will be happy. Stuttgart will consider themselves favourites at home, but we would obviously prefer a different scoreline."

While Smith may ostensibly set Rangers out in a 4-5-1 formation tonight, it is one where he will look for players such as Mendes, Steven Davis and perhaps Jerome Rothen to be as progressive as possible.

Rothen was substituted an hour into his debut for Rangers at Motherwell on Saturday, the French wide man understandably taking time to come to terms with the pace of the SPL.

"That was Jerome's first match for a few weeks," said Smith, "and it will have stood him in good stead. Kevin Thomson is another one of our group who has not played a lot of matches recently. So we have decisions to make on one or two players, whether they are at full fitness or not."

One player Smith has been delighted to see regain optimum form is goalkeeper Allan McGregor who has enjoyed some of his finest evenings for Rangers on European duty. The manager believes McGregor will be a key figure tonight against opponents whose poor domestic form, with just one win from their first five Bundesliga fixtures, he does not regard as significant.

"Any team can have a shaky start to the season," said Smith. "It is very early days for Stuttgart. I don't feel we have started the season that well ourselves, even though we have managed not to lose a game.

"Stuttgart have quality throughout their squad and will be able to cause us problems, regardless of which players they have fit or not.

"Away from home in the Champions League, you always expect your goalkeeper to have to make a save or two. Allan McGregor has always been one who can pull out something special for us when necessary.

"I hope he doesn't have too much to do tomorrow night, but you always expect to be under a bit of pressure when you are away from home."

David Weir is expected to line up as usual in the centre of the Rangers defence, although it emerged last night that the 39-year-old took no active part in training yesterday. Weir has played a lot of football in the past week or so – he lined up for Scotland against Macedonia and the Netherlands – and the rest was likely a precautionary measure.