Defoe - we are totally underusing him

Papasmurf

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I think it’s been more than 6 weeks since he’s scored. He’s not getting much game time and at his age, he surely must have to be playing regularly to stay sharp?

We are becoming as reliant on Alfie as we were last season despite the great start Alfie and Defoe had in sharing game time and goals.

I’m seriously concerned that we don’t have a genuine option that can change the game up top if Alfie has a poor game or we need to mix things up a bit.

It was clear, based on the start of the season, that Defoe still has it. But will he hang around if he’s not getting regular game time?

Or is it a case that he doesn’t have it in him to play regularly and he’s getting as much time as he needs or can deal with?

Either way, we need another option up top in the new year.
 
What do you suggest though? Dropping Morelos?

Every game is so important now that we need our strongest 11 at all times.

I wouldn't mind seeing a change of shape that can accommodate Morelos & Defoe but that seems unlikely.
 
He's played and scored in plenty games this season, he's already said he's happy here and talks are ongoing for an extention.

The last few games he's not had a sniff because we went with Alfie and rightly so.

Defoe knows what he signed upto here and he will play plenty more games probably coming back in on Sunday.
 
In reality most of Defoe’s goals have come against weaker sides, or late in games when opponents have tired and/or are already beaten. You’d like to see him get more game time but I also fully understand why Gerrard has stuck with Morelos for this particular run of games because of the quality of the opposition and the way we play.
 
I think it’s a case of the run of crucial games

If we were playing St Mirren at Ibrox on Sunday he’s a dead cert to start

Devils advocate for a second. If we need a second striker to play only against dross, we could get a far ‘cheaper’ option to do so. Maybe even a rudden.

I want Defoe to stay. It’s great to have him hear. But I’m really uncomfortable with the dynamic in that area. I don’t know the answer though.
 
What do you suggest though? Dropping Morelos?

Every game is so important now that we need our strongest 11 at all times.

I wouldn't mind seeing a change of shape that can accommodate Morelos & Defoe but that seems unlikely.

you've just stated how important every game is, why would you want to start changing the shape ??
 
I think it’s been more than 6 weeks since he’s scored. He’s not getting much game time and at his age, he surely must have to be playing regularly to stay sharp?

We are becoming as reliant on Alfie as we were last season despite the great start Alfie and Defoe had in sharing game time and goals.

I’m seriously concerned that we don’t have a genuine option that can change the game up top if Alfie has a poor game or we need to mix things up a bit.

It was clear, based on the start of the season, that Defoe still has it. But will he hang around if he’s not getting regular game time?

Or is it a case that he doesn’t have it in him to play regularly and he’s getting as much time as he needs or can deal with?

Either way, we need another option up top in the new year.
You might be right.
What game(s) would you have dropped Morelos for though?
 
He’s a total professional and respects Alfredo’s position simple as that. Alfredo doesn’t want rested unless really needed Sunday could be that time but we need 3 points can’t afford to drop any more.
 
Devils advocate for a second. If we need a second striker to play only against dross, we could get a far ‘cheaper’ option to do so. Maybe even a rudden.

I want Defoe to stay. It’s great to have him hear. But I’m really uncomfortable with the dynamic in that area. I don’t know the answer though.

Not only is the goals Defoe has already got valuable but his presence and coaching of the youngsters ect is priceless.

I think he's doing well, scoring goals and is happy, what more an we ask for.
 
Totally different situation i know. But we saw what happens if we don’t change shape and have a plan b under warburton in the championship.


it is a totally different situation, we have better players now, players who know they're roles. we turn up, we win
 
What do you suggest though? Dropping Morelos?

Every game is so important now that we need our strongest 11 at all times.

I wouldn't mind seeing a change of shape that can accommodate Morelos & Defoe but that seems unlikely.
It’s unlikely for a reason.
It hasn’t worked so far.
 
Defoe is supposedly about to sign a new contract so it would appear he’s happy enough with the situation.

We also haven’t looked nearly as potent a side when he’s started recently and even when he’s come on as a sub lately he’s failed to make much of an impact.

I don’t disagree that we’re a little short of goal scoring options middle to front, but we are so evidently a better side with Alfie in it and I certainly wouldn’t be dropping him for what is likely to be a bit of a slog at Fir Park.
 
Totally agree, it's also becoming apparent that bringing Defoe on when we need a goal doesnt work. It's fine if we are 2 or 3 up and he usually comes on and adds a couple, but cant recall bringing him on and him getting a winner or equaliser.
 
Why does he need a rest?
Because he’s playing two games a week. Every week. And Has been away on international duty.

He will be playing 60+ games this season potentially. We need to plan for March/April/May.

It’s really difficult because he’s brilliant. If we swap him out and we drop points, we all know what happens
 
Totally agree, it's also becoming apparent that bringing Defoe on when we need a goal doesnt work. It's fine if we are 2 or 3 up and he usually comes on and adds a couple, but cant redall bringing him on and him getting a winner or equaliser.

Would be interesting to see the breakdown of this.

I think he could play a far bigger role, if he is given game time
 
Because he’s playing two games a week. Every week. And Has been away on international duty.

He will be playing 60+ games this season potentially. We need to plan for March/April/May.

It’s really difficult because he’s brilliant. If we swap him out and we drop points, we all know what happens

Unless fatigue is setting in which is why they wear those bra type things then playing twice a week isn’t a problem.

He is a fit young man, doesn’t seem to pick up injuries there really is nothing to worry about regards his fitness imo.
 
I think it’s a case of the run of crucial games

If we were playing St Mirren at Ibrox on Sunday he’s a dead cert to start

This is the reason. The first game against them is the only big game Defoe has started and we know how that panned out. Defoe will have a role to play against the dross this season, we have had a tough run of games though so Morelos has had to start.
 
The last 3 games have needed somebody who can hold the ball up and can bring others into play. JD doesnt do that anywhere near as well as Alfie.


He played 25 minutes on Sunday and I dont think he touched the ball at all.

If we scored an an other goal last week or last night when we should have he would probably have came on for the last 30 minutes (and scored).

Game script dictates subs and player minutes quite a lot these days
 
I think it’s mostly down to the run of games but agree to a point. Gerrard, for a young manager, is pretty conservative. He doesn’t like to make too many changes to the starting XI, preferring to get a few goals before taking off players who need a rest. It’s pragmatic but if we don’t get a few goals up it ends up us being over reliant on the same players.

Defoe is the ultimate professional, he doesn’t drink, looks after himself, he should be fine. I think the bigger problem is the lack of goals from elsewhere. We need the two inside forwards and at least one of the midfield to start chipping in with goals.

We desperately need two of either Kent, Arfield, Ojo, Jones, Aribo to hit top form. In the meantime I’d like to see more of Stewart and Murphy when he’s fit.
 
I mean we can't drop Morelos for Defoe.

This is why we need a 2 striker formation that works with both of them. Or even 4-4-1-1 or similar with Morelos just behind Defoe.

If we're playing with 1 striker it's morelos all day for me. Nothing against Defoe but Morelos is better, younger and hungrier. Defoe should be reading up to ve moved to a coaching type role at this point. very Good backup tho and in any other team he would walk into the starting 11. He's like Fod in that situation - very unlucky we have the best striker and GK in the league.
 
Because he’s playing two games a week. Every week. And Has been away on international duty.

He will be playing 60+ games this season potentially. We need to plan for March/April/May.

It’s really difficult because he’s brilliant. If we swap him out and we drop points, we all know what happens

It’s a tough spot for Stevie G. Morelos is so good that it’s tough to rest him, particularly given the run of fixtures. He does need to try and manage the workload though to ensure he isn’t running on fumes at the back end of the season. He must be tempted to start Defoe on Sunday though.
 
Part of the issue in my opinion is that when alfredo plays he is the focal point of all of our attacks and everything comes through him and is focused on him, and rightly so.

Defoe cannot be that focal point, as good a player he is he just cannot play that role but does obviously have other strings to his bow but invariably it means when defoe starts that we change formation/shape and/or our style of play.
 
I mean we can't drop Morelos for Defoe.

This is why we need a 2 striker formation that works with both of them. Or even 4-4-1-1 or similar with Morelos just behind Defoe.

If we're playing with 1 striker it's morelos all day for me. Nothing against Defoe but Morelos is better, younger and hungrier. Defoe should be reading up to ve moved to a coaching type role at this point. very Good backup tho and in any other team he would walk into the starting 11. He's like Fod in that situation - very unlucky we have the best striker and GK in the league.

When morelos plays he has to be the furthest forward although granted he can drop deep and work the channels - but him playing a withdrawn role with a defoe type player ahead of him will never work.

In my humble opinion of course.
 
Won't be popular but I believe Defoe, whilst still a good finisher, is totally unsuited to playing in a 4-3-3 set up and has been all his career.He has always required a striking partner in a 2 up front and we will not be going back to that set up under SG.I think we need to be looking at Two versatile front players If Alfie leaves in the summer, so I really don't think it's necessary to renew Defoe's contract in the summer at all
 
I think it’s been more than 6 weeks since he’s scored. He’s not getting much game time and at his age, he surely must have to be playing regularly to stay sharp?

We are becoming as reliant on Alfie as we were last season despite the great start Alfie and Defoe had in sharing game time and goals.

I’m seriously concerned that we don’t have a genuine option that can change the game up top if Alfie has a poor game or we need to mix things up a bit.

It was clear, based on the start of the season, that Defoe still has it. But will he hang around if he’s not getting regular game time?

Or is it a case that he doesn’t have it in him to play regularly and he’s getting as much time as he needs or can deal with?

Either way, we need another option up top in the new year.
Defoe will be perfectly happy. He understands the script.

He was used a lot in the initial games at the start of the season when we were at home vs the dross. That pushed him into top scorer spot for the league. This block of games are the most challenging, both physically and the fact we are away from home a lot. Those games are Morelos, not Defoe. In the tough away games we need to utilise Morelos' strength and ability to wreck havoc on defences all by himself. Defoe is more suited to having players around him and that only happens in easier games when we can take the shackles off.

Context is always important, dont just base your judgement on a 10 game spell.
 
Won't be popular but I believe Defoe, whilst still a good finisher, is totally unsuited to playing in a 4-3-3 set up and has been all his career.He has always required a striking partner in a 2 up front and we will not be going back to that set up under SG.I think we need to be looking at Two versatile front players If Alfie leaves in the summer, so I really don't think it's necessary to renew Defoe's contract in the summer at all
Somehow I dont think Gerrard will agree with you and will want him signed up. Defoe doesnt suit a 433 phone striker role, but he is suited to a 4231 with a 10 in behind him (Arfield played in behind him in the last 5 games of last season - see old firm dummy goal for evidence of that set up)
 
It doesn't really have to be always him or Morelos. I'm all fine with Morelos starting every game up top as it's deserved.

However, we're currently often asking the two outside players in our front three to play as inside forwards with the full backs providing the width.

If you brought on Defoe for a wide player and asked Morelos to play as an inside forward. You'd get more than what Ojo or Barker offer.
 
Why are fans so quick to jump to rash conclusions? We will see him start loads after the tough December is over and we are at home more.
 
I don’t think we’ll see much of Defoe until the new year. This month is crucial in our season and we need Morelos to be starting every game.
 
I mean we can't drop Morelos for Defoe.

This is why we need a 2 striker formation that works with both of them. Or even 4-4-1-1 or similar with Morelos just behind Defoe.

If we're playing with 1 striker it's morelos all day for me. Nothing against Defoe but Morelos is better, younger and hungrier. Defoe should be reading up to ve moved to a coaching type role at this point. very Good backup tho and in any other team he would walk into the starting 11. He's like Fod in that situation - very unlucky we have the best striker and GK in the league.

I think 352 would work well for the personnel we have, something like.....

McGregor
Katic Goldson Helander
Tav Jack Davis Aribo Kent
Morelos Defoe​

You could have Borna instead of Kent if you wanted to rest Kent, or Kent on the right as an orthodox winger if you wanted to rest Tav.
 
I kinda agree but, every game has been so vital and Alfie has made himself undroppable really, in an ideal world we would rotate more but you only need to look at the aftermath of the first old firm game to imagine the reaction if we didn't win a game cos we were resting Alfie to keep him fresh for a supposedly harder or bigger game, basically every games a cup final for us atm due to us being neck and neck. I do think he should be coming on earlier in some games tho but even that's a risk cos you can't write off that Alfie will pop up with a vital goal. If we were top with points to spare or trying to make up a bigger gap in the league I'm sure he would be playing more.
 
It’s unlikely for a reason.
It hasn’t worked so far.
It hasn't been tried to any great extent. I'm not suggesting that it should be a regular pick, however we've tried a few square pegs in round holes for the right side of our front three this season and I'm suggesting a front three of Defoe, Morelos, Kent in whatever configuration you like might, just might be an option for certain fixtures.
 
Defoe will be contributing off the park as well, he has literallt just put a picture of him and Dapo in training calling him “little bro”. The man will be teaching the youngsters how to be a top striker. Plus he is still second highest goal scorer in the league. Like people have said he will most likely start vs the jobbers at Ibrox.
 
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