In Bruges: A tale of trade and best practice
Europe’s early modern trading was defined by a kaleidoscope of agreements, tenders, and systems, not least - “the staple”.
Under the staple, host governments required that all overseas trade be directed into designated market towns or ports. At this time, Scotland lay on the literal and figurative edge of Europe and its vessels. Eargely equipped with mainly wool, Scottish traders were quickly siphoned into a singular port, which would later be designated as the “Scottish staple port", Bruges.
As a result, Bruges had a monopoly over trade with the Scottish merchants in return for receiving special privileges, with many thousands of traders and their kin reliant on that very relationship. Once demands for Scottish wool were established, the number of Scottish commodities landing in Bruges harbour expanded to encompass coal, salt, tallow, salmon and more. Eventually, the staple port was relocated north of the Netherlands, the port of Veere.
Yet for the Scottish traders, their Belgian experience and the guidance and wisdom shared among peers proved valuable in the greater story of Scottish trade and commodities.
Although it would be a bit perverse to consider footballers’ “commodities” in the strictest sense, the “Rangers Trading Company” could do with some tips from Belgian counterparts.
Rangers face what is effectively a “model club” for European football’s middle or lower-middle classes, Club Brugge. Brugge are able to get consistent domestic success, European progress and massive player trading profits to co-exist, Rangers take note. Obviously, they can flex the prowess of the Belgian youth landscape, with Brussels alone likely having more talent within the city proper than the entirety of Scotland. Regardless, their moves institution-wide must be studied. Even a cheap knock-off emulation is likely to bear fruit in our context.
There would be no better jumping-off point for new Rangers than a UCL qualification, which can provide both the funds and proof of concept to interested parties; players, staff, and investors alike. A single hurdle stands between Rangers and the UCL, but it is large, the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, and Rangers have sore calves, so it looks daunting. Regardless, let’s take some time to dissect what sort of challenge awaits Rangers, and whether the UCL anthem playing at Ibrox this season is a pipe-dream or a punching chance.
Introducing Coach and Club
Nicky Hayen: (mostly) In His Own Words
"One thing is crucial: everyone in my team needs to know exactly what to do in possession and when they lose possession. I want to keep the ball as much as possible. But when you play against a stronger team, you have to adapt your playing style. You can also do good things with 30% possession, as we've already shown."
“I’m living the dream and I try to enjoy it as much as possible,” he says. “But I won’t be the guy who’s going to be partying on the table when you win, and I’m not going to sit in a corner when you lose. I just try to stay normal.”
"We will need to play the return game in the same manner. If you start the game defensively, than you will get in trouble for sure. . . We don't have time to enjoy these moments, but this win sure boosts our confidence.
“When I first met him (Hayen), we were talking about what we like to do to switch off,” Edwards says. “He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t have social media. I was like: ‘What do you do in the evenings?’
“He’s (Hayen) just very obsessed with football. I’d wake up and he’d already be on the laptop watching matches. I’d go to bed and he’d be on the laptop watching matches.
What we’re trying to do is not to choose between the chicken and the egg, but to go for both. That means we need to continue winning, while selling our best players
We stand for bold and dominant football. We're also developing Belgians who embrace that and want to continue doing so consistently."
“He’s a workaholic and that rubs off on players, it rubs off on staff and it gets everyone behind you if you lead from the front,”
"Whether you play in front of 30,000 fans or 100, football is football. You always want to win,"
“If you play football with courage and confidence, you can get chances
“Success cannot be guaranteed, so what we try to do is to exclude failure,”
Continuity (or the complete lack thereof) and Summer Spending
Rangers seem to have a knack for playing sides at the right time, whether it be due to an opposition in the grips of injury or form collapses or a side, in this case and Plzen’s case, suffering from success. Within this article, I will be working on the assumption that Christos Tzolis will remain in situ for both legs, despite interest from Crystal Palace, as detailed below.
Brugge thus far have parted ways with five players, which in isolation does not sound like much; if anything, it sounds a little on the low end for a club who are famed for their ability to churn. But what the number does not communicate is the obvious: not all players are equal. In Brugge’s case, they haemorrhaged a substantial amount of their spine, albeit for very pretty fees. Of the five, they sold four starters, two of whom were “stars” and a valuable rotation option.
Ardon Jashari to AC Milan (€36m)
Maxim De Cuyper to Sunderland (€20m)
Chemsdine Talbi to Sunderland (€20m)
Ferrgan Jutgla to Celta de Vigo (€5m)
Casper Nielsen to Standard Liege (€0.7m)
We can begin to quantify what this quintet leaves in their wake. In terms of minute share, the five combined for 25.18% of total minutes played in all comps and a nearly unbelievable combined 48.2% usage rating. Should we include the departure of Andreas Skov Olsen, who left for Wolfsburg in January of the same season, the sums increase to 28.04% of minutes and 56.29% usage rating, as visualised below.
Another visual aid that can help understand the scale of change is seen below. Here, xG and xA Shares are plotted to provide context for how much “attacking threat” may have been gutted from the squad; it’s substantial, but not terminal.
Albeit not a “headline departure”, the loss of Spanish CF Ferran Jutglà is substantial. The Catalonian was a well-rounded, second-striker adjacent no.9, simultaneously able to create and finish for himself, for others, challenge defenders 1v1, run the channels and put in a massive labour of work out of possession. He was fast and relatively robust, and did not struggle in the main when asked to scale duties to a UCL or UEL level. If one criticism lingered, then it would likely be his inability to accumulate goals like many Brugge and Pro League no.9s have done before and alongside him. Brugge is well insulated to handle his departure with several in-house options, and has gone to market to reinforce the rotation with the signing of Nicolo Tresoldi from Hannover.
In addition to Jutgla, Brugge’s entire right-winger catalogue was ransacked, Skov Olsen was picked up in January, whilst Talbi moved on once silverware was secured. Both provided near-constant threat, Skov Olsen more comfortable when slightly inverted, drifting into the half spaces, whilst Talbi assumed what we can consider slightly more traditional winger spaces. Skov Olsen was the slightly more polished and accomplished of the two in the final third, a particularly excellent ball-striker amidst a host of other skills, whilst Talbi is far more athletic, but younger, hence why he’s further behind the development curve, the primary rationale behind the pair’s disparity in responsibility and role. Nonetheless, it’s the advantage in mobility and age that Talbi enjoys, which will likely see him peak higher than the Dane.
Following in recent Brugge alumni Charles De Ketelaere’s footsteps, nearly breaking his record in the process, is Ardon Jashari. The Swiss No. 6 is as polished as it gets. His former coach summarises.
“[He’s] From another planet: he’ll have a great career, he’s already on the pitch like a thirty-year-old. He’s a natural-born leader: at twenty, he was already the head of the dressing room.”
Aided by his pivot partners, who, between them, do a lot of the dirty work, Jashari is provided with the perfect platform to do what he does best, which is a lot, but specifically, to orchestrate. The former leader of Luzern is a crafty and accomplished passer, excellent at carrying from deep, generally press-resistant and can pop up in either penalty box to fight fire or add to the chaos. He has excellent mobility and underrated speed, but is obviously somewhat capped by his stature, hence the necessity of a more destructive pivot partner. €36m seems high, but Brugge will not complain and nor should we; his absence and the requisite shuffling to compensate open a slim but clear avenue for Rangers.
Even if it was Jashari whose move nearly broke records, the switch you are likely most familiar with, and a player you may have already watched at his new home, is newly minted Brighton LB, Maxim De Cuyper.
We could end it here with De Cuyper and say, Brighton signed him, that’s all you need to know. But we can supplement a bit. Below, we can see how he fairs against his recent Brugge FB peers. The visualisation may lack the all-conquering blue you might have expected, but you must remember that De Cuyper is not the first outstanding Brugge-wide defender, even if he has already smashed the glass ceiling set by others and played a highly specialised marauding role. For several seasons, the Belgian has put up Tavernier-esque data, in a far more challenging league. He’s an undeniable creative and progressive hub, a robust front-footed defender, but a slightly average carrier and athlete. Like Jashari, even if Brugge has sourced solid replacements, Rangers face a more straightforward, albeit far from easy, task with him gone.
So what we can see with complete confidence is that this is a Brugge side in the midst of a transition threatening rupture, albeit held together by the remains of a strong core, bolstered by their almost second-to-none ability to deal with these very situations. As much as losing such a mass of quality and influence can wreak havoc, you can count on one hand the number of teams that match Brugge’s ability to emerge from such situations relatively unscathed.
Brugge has not wasted this summer hoping that internal reshuffling can alone fill the chasms, but has instead been active in the market, albeit maintaining a classically Brugge negative net-spend. A number of the individuals will be detailed later, but to keep it short, they have brought in bodies, perhaps not of the same quality or with the same exact role, to replace Jashari, Jutgla, Talbi and Nielsen.
Heading into the playoff round, Brugge’s starting XI will likely maintain a strong resemblance to last season, albeit with a largely new cast of “star-men”. Coach Nicky Hayen remains in the position he took up in the summer of 2024, following an internal promotion from their youth side, Club NXT. Before that, he managed in the Cymru Premier, which is hilariously random. The key leaders and “old-heads” in the Brugge squad remain in-post, players like Hans Vanaken, Brandon Mechele and Simon Mignolet represent a degree of continuity and stewardship that nearly guarantees the same application and approach as seen in previous seasons. As a result, you can expect tactical continuity and, for the 24/25 season, to provide robust, generalisable insights.
Pro League Pedigree
The box-and-whisker plot below compares Club ELO ratings for the Belgian Pro League and Scottish Premiership, providing a rough benchmark for league strength and continental relevance.
Brugge (1743) lead the way amongst league peers in the ClubELO rating system, even if USG are current champions, whilst Rangers’ score of (1615) sees them sit closer to Belgium's third-best side, Anderlecht. You don’t need the graphic above to tell you that the Pro League is a stronger league than ours in basically every metric, besides our ability to get bums in seats. The graphic communicates a narrower spread of higher quartiles, providing clear evidence of a league that is both stronger and more competitive than ours.
Should we want to add a second pile of evidence, we can look to UEFA coefficients to help firm up our estimation of the Pro League’s quality. The Pro League is the 8th-ranked league, and a closer match to those above them (Netherlands and Portugal) than those below (Turkiye and Czechia). Belgium has scored more than 14 coefficient points collectively in each of the past three seasons, which is a feat Scotland has never managed. Brugge’s own coefficient is 60.75, which places them 23rd overall, 7 places above Rangers, with a score 4.5 points higher. This would suggest that they are fair running mates, but what must be caveated is that Brugge have managed this whilst predominantly playing in the UCL, which is an entirely different landscape, hence the idea that Rangers have been within punching distance of Brugge on a continental level in the past 5 years is a misnomer.
Using the same Scouted Football graphic as in previous pieces, we can see that the Belgian Pro League is not an outlier when it comes to running. In comparison to the Scottish Premiership games witness more high-speed running in total but a lower share of sprints, suggesting a slightly higher tempo affair overall, but perhaps without the same level of breakneck, direct counters that are characteristic of many Scottish sides.
Deducing Style and Quality Through the Data
Broad Brush Strokes
This section looks at performance with broad brush strokes, identifying patterns across recent seasons. The focus is less on individual results and more on how Brugge has functioned over time and what recurring, perhaps structural, patterns we can identify.
Continuing with the ELO theme, below is a list of teams and when we faced them that rank in the same ballpark as this current Brugge side. Below that is a list of teams that the ELO system suggests are closest in quality at the time of writing. As cautioned, styles make fights, so this is not an exact proxy for how difficult a side was for us to deal with, but rather their relative quality.
Previous Opponents
Benfica (05/11/2020)
Olympique Lyonnais (16/09/2021)
PSV Eindhoven (22/08/2023)
Real Betis (21/09/2023)
Current ELO Twins
Olympique Lyonnais
Real Betis
Eintracht Frankfurt
Feyenoord
With Plzen, there was reasonable overlap in terms of teams that we both faced during the 24/25 season. With Brugge, there is an overlap, but relatively minimal. Although completely unscientific and working on a small sample size, we can have a quick look at how we fared vs how they fared against the same opponents in the closest match that occurred with the same home/away dynamics, before the serious analysis starts. Brugge fared better in both but were not that far behind.
Club Brugge
1-1 (1.01 - 1.10) Draw away to Celtic (27/11/2024)
1-1 (1.98 - 0.99) Draw hosting USG (22/12/2024)
Rangers
0-3 (1.14 - 1.55) Lose away to Celtic (01/09/2025)
2-1 (1.75 - 2.4) Win hosting USG (30/01/2025)
And now we can start with the slightly more thorough stuff.
Below, we have all of Brugge’s previous ten league seasons. This helps paint a clear picture of where this current side stands relative to earlier iterations, with the moving average helping reduce some of the noise. As a whole, it seems that the season was largely unremarkable, hovering at around +1.0 xGD, which appears to be a somewhat stable baseline, and certainly a downturn from the previous 23/24 season, which bore witness to Brugge’s peak value. A variable that cannot be controlled is the difficulty and length of the European campaign, which will have a significant, generally negative impact, given that the UCL or UEL are tougher tests than the Pro League. In their most recent season, Brugge enjoyed their longest spell in the UCL, playing more games than any season before, which will deflate their moving average compared to the same domestic campaign supplemented with UEL or UECL fixtures, like 2023/24.
Brugge have won the Belgian title in 6 of the 10 seasons highlighted, yet they were supposedly at their best as a runner-up? Well, obviously not, to most people, the pure interpretation of “best” is attached to success, which sure manifests on a game-to-game basis but is defined by a trophy haul. So in that sense, rather than being a strong season, 24/25 was a relative failure. However, if you lean more on underlying performance metrics, then 24/25 sticks out like a sore-ish thumb that failed to get the treatment it deserves. No model is perfect, not least WyScout’s xPoints model, but it’s not hallucinating and has some basis, and suggests that the 24/25 Brugge side was dominant. An obvious caveat to make is the unique nature of the Belgian split, where points are halved at a certain point, whereas the xPoints does not integrate this, but instead treats all 40 games as 3-point affairs come the end of the season. This does not dilute the message of this Brugge side’s dominance, but can help rationalise why/where the disconnect may occur.
If you’re still not satisfied that the previous statement is not blasphemous, then we can look at the sides’ weighted ratings, offensive and defensive. What is clear in this visualisation is that the 24/25 Brugge side was an elite attacking unit for Belgian standards, likely the best in the past decade, as well as clearly above average at the opposite end. Furthermore, they appear to be a more cohesive and holistic threat than either of the USG’s sides we have faced in the past three years (both of whom we beat in tricky ties), although our most recent battle was against a side with a more solid defence, but it is marginal.
It seems safe to say that despite not being the champion, this Brugge side will prove to be the strongest Belgian team we’ve played in recent history.
If we pause the discussion about this specific Brugge side being stronger than others, and return to the long-term trends, we can break down their performances to isolate for opponents that I deem “tough”, which is Belgium’s new “big-5” (USG, Anderlecht, Genk and Gent) as well as opponents in UEFA competition, remember the vast majority are UCL.
We can keep it short and sweet. Brugge does an outstanding job at keeping it competitive when punching up or sideways, and despite duking it out with some of the best UCL sides in history, has almost entirely avoided embarrassment
Let's shift our lens from the past 10 years to the recently completed 24/25 season.
Below we have the xG for and xG against plotted from the 24/25 season. Naturally, the distribution strays rightward, indicating that Brugge dominated most games, and as evidenced earlier, we’re very good at creating chances, so much so that there was only one game where they really “shot blanks” - Aston Villa (A). Should you read the label from each data point, we can see that, unsurprisingly, games in Europe were more competitive and for the most part within “coin-toss territory”. Outside of the trip to Atalanta, which they somehow actually won, the Belgians do a good job at suppressing the opposition’s attacking phase, but rarely completely nullify it. Look at the spread of opponents floating in and around the 1 xG against zone.
Shifting to the league campaign specifically, we can plot the moving average of their Expected Goal Difference (xGD). This metric provides a clear picture of how the league season unfolded, highlighting when the team's form peaked and when/if it collapsed.
There was no big collapse from Brugge, which led to them usurping the title from Brussels, but there was a lack of “rigid consistency”. Instead of having prolonged periods of outright stability, there seemed to be a constant flow of variation, small in absolute terms, but essential nonetheless. There were no skyscraping peaks seen in previous seasons, as evidenced by the longer-term graphics, but no periods flirting with consistent concern.
As we’ve discussed already, Brugge likely experienced a slight inability in translating underlying to actual, given the discrepancy between “highest xPoints ever” and no title. The graphic below can help further support our conclusions. Brugge enjoyed a prolonged, nearly chronic bout of underperformance, with a sizeable chunk of the season spent either under or flirting with the -1 xG layer, not a fun place to be. More evidence that relegating this side to merely the Belgian League runners-up may be a flawed benchmark.
Style, Substance and Shape
Shapes are dynamic, and formations are, at the best of times, a rough approximation, and diluted a bit further when you're leaning on WyScout positional data. Despite the questionable data capture, Brugges’ shape has been consistent and has barely budged; it's always going to be 4231 or a closely aligned variation, as evidenced in the visualisation below.
We are early into the 25/26 season - this is what we’ve seen so far.
4231 vs Zulte Waregem (A) - 16/08/2025
433 vs RB Salzburg (H) - 12/08/2025
4231 vs Cercle Brugge (H) - 09/08/2025
433 vs RB Salzburg (A) - 06/08/2025
433 vs Mechelen (A) - 01/08/2025
433 vs Genk (H) - 27/07/2025
The correlation chart below provides a sense of which metric differentials drive performance for Brugge, as measured by xGD, over the 2024/25 season. Much of this is obvious and correlates more with what makes every football team tick, rather than what makes Brugge specifically tick. Brugge will likely be a bit boring as they are good but in an orthodox way, as opposed to say, what we found out about Plzen last time (read below).
So, what can we say with relative certainty about this Brugge side?
Volume over efficiency. Shots and shots per attack rank far above shot quality. This suggests Brugge’s game model doesn’t hinge on creating rare, high-quality chances, but rather sustained pressure.
Dominance is collective. Success correlates more with passes and possession than with individual defensive or attacking duels. This reflects a system geared toward control through structure.
“Conservative” passing correlates with success. Negative correlation with progressive passes, pass length and long passes shows Brugge gains more by keeping the ball moving patiently rather than forcing progression. Although this comes with a fine line, given the decremental value of passes/attack
Defensive solidity comes from positional control rather than interventions. Metrics like interceptions and sliding tackles show weak or negative correlation, while field tilt and possession are strongly positive. Brugge neutralise opponents by pinning them back rather than relying on last-ditch defensive actions.
Tempo is overrated?. Tempo is only a mild positive, suggesting Brugge doesn’t rely on playing at extreme speed. Their dominance stems from where they play (field tilt) and how long they retain the ball, not from upping the pace.
Let’s shift from what correlates with success to a closer view of how Brugge plays.
Brugge is a possession-dominant, shot-happy side that controls the tempo and the rhythm of matches through their in-possession efforts, but adopts a slightly more reserved yet still robust approach out of possession.
They enjoy a de facto level of possession and dominance, given the size of the club and the material advantage they want; however, we know that doesn’t necessitate a controlled style of play. Compare and contrast with the more combative, direct USG side, which beat Brugge to the title.
It’s not a very isolation-heavy approach with dribbles and 1v1 being of relatively little importance, likely due to the slightly inward slant of their wingers and FBs providing width whose crosses offer a steady stream of attacking impetus. De Cuyper, as mentioned earlier, powered creation across the squad from LB.
Instead, there is a focus on circulating play, hemming the opposition into their own third and keeping them thair. Opponents sit deep, Brugge face a similar level of low block to Rangers, using PPDA against as a solid proxy. They enjoy long possession chains, which help them grind down the opposition structure before slotting someone in, often a through ball. They take a high percentage of their shots from inside the penalty box, maintaining excellent shot quality despite high shot volume.
Out of possession, they are strong in the air, quick across the ground and maintain a solid shape which proves difficult to penetrate. They are excellent at smothering the opposition, limiting shot quality, pass penetration and forcing opponents into an uncharacteristically high number of passes per shot. But interestingly, they’re not necessarily all that intense out of possession; they neither jump into challenges nor press to an extent that you might expect from a dominant forward-thinking side.
This fact is made all the more stark when we swap the sample from the Belgian Pro League, which gives us the face-value interpreatation, for a sample filled with only dominant sides from similar leagues, which help us seperate what might be generic quirks enabled by being a bigger/richer club and what are undeniable strengths, this filter will be used going forward for Brugge player analysis.
Does this new sample reveal all?
Not really, what it does do is provide more clarity. Here we can confirm some early suspicions.
Possession-heavy with a focus on ball circulation
Light on isolation-attacks but reliant on crosses as a bit of a creative crutch
Low intensity out-of-possession, more focused on shape than space
Excellent at reducing their opponents to dull attritional possession sequences, trying to breach their penalty area
Both our ELO and unfiltered samples are reinforced by the ternary plots below, which attempt to provide a macro-view of team style both in and out of possession. First, let’s deal with in-possession.
There should be no surprises if you’ve been reading attentively. It’s controlled, lots of passes at a fairly quick clip, but not quite the zealot territory of the very top left where you’d find your PSG, Man City et al.
Below is the out-of-possession ternary. Again, plot placement confirms earlier assertions. This is not necessarily a pressing side; amongst their peers in the ELO sample, they are relatively sluggish if you’re a critic or calculated if you’re a supporter. Whatever you take away, it would be foolish to assume that they only have one trick. Should they want to press high and strangle our somewhat incoherent build-up, they can, as evidenced by Hayen himself
"One thing is crucial: everyone in my team needs to know exactly what to do in possession and when they lose possession. I want to keep the ball as much as possible. But when you play against a stronger team, you have to adapt your playing style. . ."
As dripfed earlier, none of us should go into this game blind, as we have the recent and relatively recent memories of clashes against USG. The natural extension is to ask, How do they compare, and which style might suit us better?
The comparison is largely as expected. Brugge places a premium on controlled possession, plays with a higher tempo, is more reliant on wide deliveries, and is generally just a stronger side. An interesting point is that, despite the far higher PPDA differential, communicating that Brugge are more aggressive out of possession than their opponents, USG are more aggressive out of possession. This is due to the basement level of Brugge’s opponents (much like Rangers), whilst USG are faced with a more active higher-line. In terms of style, I think USG are more favourable for a Rangers, especially Russell Martin side, as they make little to no effort to take the ball hostage. This gives a foot in the door, as our best work is by far done while in control, not while counter-punching, whereas Brugge would go toe-to-toe in a skirmish for possession, adding a layer of risk, where the question is not just can we be effective with the ball, but also can we even get it?
Head back a few years, to the summer of 2022. Here, we played what can be described as the peak of phase-1 USG. Stylistically, they are the same as the 24/25 side but just worse, lower xGD, lower xG/Shot, usurped control of tempo out of possession, etc. All that was just said applies, but to an even greater extent, our life would be simpler facing either USG side, especially the 22/23 version.
Positional Queries and Players of Note
Brugge’s USP is developing “players of note”. As opposed to the previous two rounds, where a hypothetical XI between the two teams would have a fairly even distribution, you would struggle to fit many, if any Rangers players into this Brugge XI - with the best candidates being the expected: Igamane, Raskin and Djiga.
The notion that Brugge lost a significant amount of quality this summer has been beaten to death thus far. Yet, the corollary is not that Brugge lacks quality, rather that there remains plenty and much has been supplemented, but with fewer “guarantees”.
A Familiar Name in Net
Since departing Liverpool in 2019, the once Belgian no.1 Simon Mignolet has manned the sticks in Brugge. He’s not necessarily all that interesting of a goalkeeper, but with every opponent, you want to know what sort of barriers you face to scoring. For the most part, Mignolet has been inconsistent, basically trading spells of excellence with spells of underperformance. He’s now coming towards the end of his career (37), and it looks like the latter is now more so the norm, but not at chronic levels that sink aspirations of success. I imagine this will be his last season of note, with either backup Nordin Jackers a potential promotion-in-waiting, or more likely a new one.1 brought in from elsewhere.
Over two legs, you would value his experience even if he is in the midst of poor form; the vibe is a whole lot like ours with Butland, albeit without the same protracted torpedo-esque form last season. Butland effectively won us the tie against Plzen; I would not expect Mignolet to do the same, that’s as much down to form and quality as his teammates being unlikely to demand as much.
The CBs - Mechele, Ordóñez and others
Brugge arrives in Glasgow with one of the most settled CB pairings in world football, a contrast to the squad as a whole. Brandon Mechele and Joel Ordóñez have played over 6000 minutes as a pair since the Ecuadorian was promoted to the first team ahead of the 23/24 season.
Using the radar below, we can suggest that they both profile as slightly no-nonsense all-rounders; neither is particularly excellent in possession, but both are capable and comfortable with the responsibilities the Brugge system demands of them. They, like most CBs, should quietly defer to the excellence ahead of them in Brugge’s double pivot, or the progressive FBs that flank the pair. Mechele is the senior partner in more than just age; he’s slightly more attacking, more physical, faster and louder, whilst the Ecuadorian is the more likely to pop up in the opposition half. Neither is “that” tall, standing at 190cm and 188cm respectively. Mechele remains dominant in the air, nonetheless, but this could be an area to target with our no.9 sticking to Ordonez where possible, provided we actually had someone capable. Ordóñez steals the headlines given his potential and a host of links with a who’s who of elite clubs, but Mechele is equally, if not more, of an obstacle come kickoff.
Teams linked Ordóñez in the Last 12 Months - (Sources can be a bit meh)
Liverpool
PSG
Arsenal
Chelsea
Aston Villa
Marseille
The former IDV man has missed all of Brugge’s games so far in August, including the double header vs RB Salzburg. This was a part suspension and part injury-related absence. In his absence, up stepped academy graduate Jorne Spileers, who has seemingly been very capable. The other option in the squad for the tie is Zaid Romero, a left-footer who has seemingly struggled to integrate into the team as anything beyond a backup. His profile and data from Argentina were mouth-watering, so it might be time to buy the dip.
To remind you, Mechele is likely the most significant defensive obstacle facing Rangers. His data above provides more detail than the previous radar, but maintains the same position, a no-nonsense, aggressive defender, the type that can affect a game out of the blue purely through duels.
Replacing De Cuyper?
Impressing in one position at the age of 20 is already impressive enough; how about two?
De Cuyper was the dominant force in Brugge’s FB pairings last season, with both the ball and opposition defenders experiencing a gravitational pull to the curly-haired creator. To balance his attacking proclivities, Brugge deferred to a pair of youngsters, Kyriani Sabbe and, marginally more prominently, a natural LB, Joaquin Seys. Despite being played nominally “out-of-position”, the youngster managed to be nearly the perfect tonic to the chaos that De Cuyper created and thrived within; the balance is communicated in the radar below.
Digging a bit deeper and isolating for just Brugge FBs since 18/19, a strong sample size, we can see a clear picture of what sort of player Seys was last season. But what this doesn’t communicate is that a lot of this was forced upon him; it would be impossible for Brugge to let Seys play with the freedom De Cuyper was allowed, hence the idea that Seys is potentially not a creative or attacking threat is a misnomer, especially should he be allowed to play on his natural side. What we can say with confidence is that his defensive robustness is near iron-clad.
Seys has played on both sides thus far, with Bjorn Meijer and Hugo Siquet offering competition. I think it’s most likely that we see Seys as he was last season, as a defensive RB who will likely prove difficult to breach or beat. Expect Meijer, the former Groningen star, to fill De Cuyper’s boots in a more literal sense, assuming his position and crossing/creative responsibilities.
The Engine Room
Brugge’s midfield was and is still best described in simple terms: balanced and poised. There was a clear delineation of roles (6/8/10) and responsibilities, with almost all combinations dovetailing well. They’ve continued this, replacing their outgoing no.6 and 8 with positional peers, although specific roles and profiles differ.
We’ve already addressed the departure of Jashari and the size and shape of the hole he leaves, yet despite losing such a talent, the engine room remains efficient and functioning.
To remind you, they’ve lost by far their best and most well-rounded passer, as evidenced in the ternary below. However, the arrivals of Ludovit Reis, a more creative line-breaker, and Aleksandr Stankovic, a less accomplished but still progressive passer, can absorb much of the deficit in aggregate.
One half of Brugge’s pivot remains, with the highly rated and valued Raphael Onyedika likely to start. The Nigerian is not a data darling by far, but he assumes the sort of role that this level of relatively unsophisticated data capture cannot appreciate. He plays for a possession-dominant side and alongside a possession-dominant no.6, naturally, his data is going to be deflated given the lack of more advanced capture data offered behind £20k+ subscription fees. So why show the graphic below? Well, the data is not fake; it may be flawed, but it does communicate something.
Teams linked Ordóñez in the Last 12 Months - (Sources can be a bit meh)
West Ham
Galatasaray
Everton
Crystal Palace
He will remain the more conservative anchor-type midfielder regardless of who sits beside him, fighting fires and utilising a safe passing range to help his partner do what they do best.
But how is that likely to be?
That’s a tussle between two new arrivals.
First and most likely is the more progressive and creative b2b presence of Ludovit Reis. The former Barcelona and Hamburg no.8/6 and even at times RB, has long topped my lists for preferred Rangers signings, as he provides everything, and in good doses.
The more pertinent question when discussing Reis is not, “what does he bring?” but rather, “what does he not bring?”, especially in a side that can be characterised as flat-track bullies. He’s not the most progressive passer, but this is because he often plays a line-up and is involved deep into opposition territory. He’s not the best in the air, but he does what he can with what is a fairly average frame. Reis is slightly more attacking than Jashari and would represent a clearer preference for a 433 as opposed to 4231, as he is unlikely to play as or in line with the deepest midfielder, likely Onyedika. He is somewhat similar to Hugo Vetlesen, the Norwegian whom Brugge signed from Bodo/Glimt two summers ago, albeit slightly more robust and rounded, whilst Vetlesen is more of a pure attacking threat and is likely to play some part across the two legs.
Should Brugge prefer to retain the 4231 shape and play a more pure pivot, then they have an excellent option, and someone has trodden the same path as Jashari, turning out for Luzern last season, albeit on loan from Inter Milan.
Aleksandar Stankovic represents Brugge’s third most expensive signing ever and the largest outlay this summer. The Serbian no.6 is large, athletic and seriously promising. He is far more similar to Onyedika than the depraved Jashari, perhaps part contingency planning but also a shift in approach, utilising a more rigid double pivot.
Compared to his peers in the Swiss mid-table, it’s clear that he is a step above out-of-possession and holds his own with the ball at his feet. At Brugge, the remit is to upskill as he already has the frame and workings of their next big sale. Stankovic and Jashari’s time in Luzern did not overlap, but the Swiss midfielder provides a good benchmark for what to expect from Stankovic and how seamless the transition can be. It’s a shame that they were unable to pair as in tandem, they look close to the perfect pivot, as evidenced below.
Despite questions murmuring deeper in the midfield, the no.10 spot is basically off the table until the legendary Hans Vanaken says so. Like Mechele, the no.10 has spent the best part of a decade at Club Brugge and remains an integral component.
The oversized orchestrator is a trump card; his mix of size, ball striking and press resistance makes him invaluable to a Brugge side that seemingly in a season faces games where outballs are necessary and games where the sole focus is picking locks and breaking down low blocks. His glaring weakness is mobility, or lack thereof. Both his age and stature render him a target in transition and more generally out of possession. One should not mistake this for similar phases in possession; press him at your peril. He has faced the prospect of the UCL playoff and similar many times, and has the successes and scar tissue to show. Containing Vanaken is not necessarily a litmus for progress or elimination, but it may come close.
My prediction is that Brugge lineup with Onyedika, Reis and Vanaken in a clear 6/8/10 structure, although the possibility of a more reserved, either 6/6/8 or 6/6/10 at Ibrox is logical, with Stankovic possibly featuring from the start as a result.
Tzolis Plus One
Skov Olsen left in January, then his replacement left in June, so who is going to replace his replacement?
It’s a tricky question given several options, but let’s deal with the certainties first, and nothing seems more certain than a Chritos Tzolis goal or two. Many may only remember him for his underwhelming time at Norwich, where he was too young and the pace of the game too fast. Since being rescued from East Anglia, the Greek winger impressed in Germany before winning a move to Brugge, where he is now their most prized asset post-Jashari, and has been linked with a variety of clubs, Crystal Palace being the most recent.
Tzolis can be regarded as an all-rounder, capable of doing a fine job at everything you can ask of a winger, but is a particularly strong goalscorer, so much so that you could classify him almost as a wide-9, think Sima/Roofe. He takes up excellent positions, is constantly offering an option in and around the box, moves well, and most importantly, knows where the back of the net is from any number of angles. His creative and progressive qualities are there, but are muted when we use an ELO sample; but do not be mistaken, he is a dual threat. He’s quick and powerful without having an elite physical profile, but more than good enough. Best of all, he doesn’t slouch out of possession, reflecting an evident ethic and will to win. He’s certainly not a crosser of the ball, hence why the partnership with De Cuyper worked so well. Tzolis naturally abdicates the space that De Cuyper demands, and vice versa.
If we want an even finer sample, we can place Tzolis amongst past and present Brugge wingers, which is a ridiculously strong sample including the likes of Noa Lang, Andreas Skov Olsen, Tajon Buchanan and more. Our key takeaways remain: expect him to hunt shooting opportunities with the same intensity he does opponents’ defenders out of possession.
My best guess to partner Tzolis is the man who scored the defining goal against RB Salzburg, former Man City wonderkid Carlos Forbs. Forbs joins from Ajax, and was on loan at West Ham last season, which I had no idea about. Without going over the top, Forbs’ senior career has yet to be set alight like his youth career, where he was amongst the best. Forbs failed to impress in what was a largely incoherent and chaotic 23/24 Ajax side, whilst competing in a sample size defined by excellence; Ajax generally do not play anything but excellent wingers. He remains the same player with largely the same potential that Ajax spent so much on; his natural ability to invert and mimic Tzolis’s movement, whilst providing a generally more creative/tricky influence, will prove dangerous, especially when facing a side whose fullbacks are, for the lack of a better term, slightly undercooked.
It’s far from Forbs or bust.
Brugge has several options to call from should they want to, with the new €8.5m signing Mamadou Diakhon in the squad, who is simply a ridiculous dribbler, but very much still a work in progress, and an excellent bet. Additionally, there is South African Shandre Campbell, who scored that goal on the weekend. He spent last season in the BNXT set-up in the Proximus League, impressing enough to carve out a spot in the rotation that is likely to grow as the season ages. Finally, there’s also Lech Poznan star Michał Skóraś, who is in the squad, although I’d be suprised to see him feature extensively.
The Striker Situation
Jutglà returned home this summer, yet the reserves remained relatively well stocked. What remains is a relatively target-man heavy rotation as seen below, reinforced by the arrival of Nicolo Tresoldi from Hannover.
Tresoldi, a German U-21 international, has likely been signed with an eye on contributing in the short term but with a focus on long-term skills development and profit. There is more than enough evidence to support this being a smart bet. Trsoldi is already strong in the air, capable of dropping deep and progressing play, and generates a quality of shot that is near second to none. The current issue is putting it altogether, and most specifically converting high-quality chances into goals, with his inability resulting in a relatively dry 24/25. Nonetheless, the move to a more dominant side like Brugge should help bridge the gap, but will not completely seal them. I can’t imagine he will start, given the options to be elaborated later, but he will feature.
The likely choice is between the two established options, Nilsson, the more experienced and integrated or academy graduate Romeo Vermant. Between the previous ternary and the radar below, it’s clear that Nilsson, like Tresoldi, is a relatively pure target-man, who also really struggled to finish last season. In fact, only one striker had a worse non-penalty goals - non-penalty xG p90 amongst dominant sides in 24/25. Let’s pray that he plays and this continues.
But I think the reasonable bet is for Romeo Vermant to lead the line. The 21-year-old is a well-rounded no.9 whose defining quality is not necessarily his technical acumen, dual threat in the final third, ability to take on defenders with the ball or his maturing goalscoring instincts, but his ability to graft, run and press. His ability to eat up space is fantastic, aided by excellent speed and game intelligence, a perfect combo for what could be a nervy away leg at Ibrox. What will have excited Brugge fans towards the end of the last and into the new season is that it appears he’s finally found his shooting boots at the senior level. Below we can see a timeline for what is a rough proxy of his finishing ability, which, for him and Brugge, is peaking at the right time, and the wrong time for us.
I would be suprised to see Vermant excluded from the lineup, but there is an obvious logic to the wily and experienced target-man starting away from home in a tricky European tie. Although rational, you would find it hard to believe that Brugge will arrive at Ibrox with any fear of their opposition and hence will look to maybe even kill the game off in Scotland. I imagine that, should they be able to do so, Vermant will play a key role.
Question(s)?
Heading into the first leg at Ibrox, I see a few questions vis-à-vis their starting XI.
Who partners Mechele?
Spillers or Ordóñez
Who plays as the second no.6/8
Ludovit Reis
Hugo Vetlesen
Aleksandar Stankovic
Who plays on the right-wing?
Carlos Forbs
Mamadou Diakhon
Shandre Campbell
Who starts up-front?
Romeo Vermant
Gustaf Nilsson
Conclusions
It seems like the phrase, “this could have been fun if we were good”, has been rolled out several times over the last 18 months. I was guilty of saying so upon our UEL draw 12 months ago, yet I was proved wrong and we had plenty of fun.
Yet I don’t think my radar is off here. There are uncertainties at Brugge, but what underpins their solutions now and in the past is a clear methodology and logic that guarantees the project cannot completely fall off the rails. In comparison, it would be tough to convince many, if any Rangers fans, that the same sort of guarantee exists here.
What we have is really two teams in flux facing off. One is building from a far stronger and coherent base, whilst there are suspicions other doesn’t appear to know what it’s doing, arrives in pretty turgid form and is a bad performance or three away from tail-spinning.
I predicted close but victorious bouts in both the previous rounds, which manifested albeit very uncomfortably and some would say, I would say, undeservedly. I think the betting markets have this priced accurately with Brugge (1.4) firm favourites to qualify at Rangers’ (2.75) expense.
This article self-destructs if shortened or summarised by AI