Giovanni van Bronckhorst has already ‘washed away the bad taste’ from Steven Gerrard’s departure from Rangers F.C.
That’s according to Algemeen Dagblad, who cover the Dutchman’s start to life at Ibrox and how quickly he ‘exceeds all expectations’.
Van Bronckhorst arrived at Rangers to replace Gerrard back in November when the former Liverpool man elected to jump ship and join Aston Villa.
His arrival was greeted with plenty of optimism at the time, although there was some trepidation after his struggles in China with Guangzhou.
That has quickly been dismissed, though, with six wins in seven games in all competitions, including five straight wins in the Scottish Premiership, earning him and Rangers plenty of plaudits.
AD say Van Bronckhorst had to work hard quickly to ‘step out of the shadow’ left behind by Gerrard, but his flying start to life in Scotland ‘exceed all expectations’ that were put on him.
Critics opinions are already changing, and it’s felt his time as a trainer with Manchester City and the City Football Group in 2019 has ‘clearly left its mark’ on him.
He was given the chance to ‘deepen his knowledge’ with Pep Guardiola’s side and develop tools such as game management, something which was recently seen in the win over Hearts.
His task now is to keep things ‘fresh and eager’ at Rangers in the coming months, but the return to form of several players, including the likes of Alfredo Morelos, who scored the opener against Hearts and was ‘applauded’ off the pitch, hints things won’t change soon.
Under the Dutchman, he looks ‘more mature and sharp’ than ever, and there was ‘genuine joy’ from the Colombian, particularly when he was seen hugging Van Bronckhorst on the sidelines.
The ‘real test’ will be when Rangers visit Celtic for the Old Firm Derby on January 2nd, with it believed a win in that game will banish the idea of Gerrard from Ibrox once and for all.
