The Ibrox boss feels that UEFA imposed limits are to the detriment of Rangers.
Gerrard has added a lot of players to his first-team squad over the last few transfer windows but has been forced to leave some players who would ordinarily get minutes out of contention for fixtures in Group G.
Jordan Jones, Greg Docherty and Jamie Murphy were all excluded from the player list submitted to UEFA earlier this month.
The Ibrox boss feels it’s a difficult situation, as he would rather to have included more people in proceedings than he is able to.
He also reckons it’ll have the effect of impacting on his Scottish Premiership selections.
As quoted by The Record, Gerrard said: “If we could have a team suited to domestic games and another to European matches, we could possibly make changes and do it.
“But the rules make it impossible. You can only pick 22 players, which is crazy. And four have to be association trained.
“I wish I could use more people across the domestic and Europa League games. But I can’t and that might have an effect with my selections in the Premiership.”
Long-term planning solves short-term problems
Gerrard is obviously solely focused on Rangers and getting on with the job in the Ibrox bubble, but his complaints with UEFA ring pretty hollow as a valid criticism.
Every team in the competition has to deal with the association imposed limits. The onus is on the clubs to adequately work around them to remain competitive on multiple fronts.
The best way to tackle the issue is to maximise the homegrown talent coming through a club, turning prospects into players capable of competing on the continent.
Gerrard doesn’t have that luxury, through no fault of his own, but it’s something for Rangers to consider over the long-term with or without the 39-year-old.
As it stands, the Ibrox boss should have a large enough squad to allow rotation for domestic matches in the wake of energy sapping European matches.
Rangers’ resources mean they are capable of fielding teams more than capable of beating Scottish Premiership opposition even when not at full strength.
With Celtic also having to find a balance, the Gers shouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage.
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