Last season, it wasn’t about Alfredo Morelos. If the Colombian international’s form after Christmas was instrumental in getting us over the line, Kemar Roofe’s goals before the festive period put us in a position to win the title in the first place.
Having arrived at Rangers without a pre-season, he took a bit of time to get up to speed, but when he did, he was a key player in Steven Gerrard’s side, there were never any questions about his form, just about his ability to stay fit.
This term, since Giovanni van Bronckhorst arrived, Roofe has barely been available but his ability to be in the right place at the right time earned all three points against Aberdeen, a goal that earned praise from his manager and also a suggestion that we should see a lot more of him in the closing stages, as reported by The Herald:
“He is very important. In the last months he has struggled a little bit with some injuries but still working hard on then training ground to be ready.
“I gave him a compliment in the locker room because it is not easy, especially for the players who haven’t played a lot in recent weeks, to keep training hard and wait for your chance.
“Today his chance came and he made the difference so I am really pleased for him. Not only for him but he represents the players who haven’t played a lot.
“In the coming weeks, when we will also play again in Europe, there are a lot of games to be played and we need to use everyone in that moment.”
Being able to pick Roofe more often allows Morelos to get a rest both physically and mentally, he also provides a different kind of threat in that he has the ability to find space when there isn’t any, and use any part of his body to get the ball over the line – playing both together also keeps defences honest in that they can’t just focus on one striker and nullify them.
Against a lot of teams in the SPFL, we need that second goal threat and. because of how much we dominate possession, there is room for both of our strikers in the starting line up, at a time when we have been struggling for goals, Roofe’s return to fitness could be perfectly timed.