The Buff conundrum

If we are dropping players on mistakes/errors/poor form then there are a host of players that fall into that category.

It was mentioned in the summer that letting Itten go and not replacing him was a mistake, along with not getting another attacking option in but plenty said it wasn’t required.

For me it’s time to stop making excuses (not labelled at you). The players need to roll their sleeves up and find form and consistency. Sleepwalking through this season.
If I was to apply my logic across the team I would change 7-8 of them aye :))

I’ve been the last one to offer any excuses to this squad, I even started a thread named “stop making excuses for this team” - it’s nearly the end of October now, the broken pre-season excuse doesn’t wash now I’m afraid.

I’m expecting a huge performance on Thursday & a win, anything less & we’re out of Europe altogether (we’ll finish bottom) and it’ll impact our domestic form which is already questionable.
 
He needs benched for a while give Roofe a run through the middle.

Roofe’s last four starts we’re poor Scotty.

He’s done well the last two matches he’s come on as a sub.

That’s the problem we have. And when has Roofe ever led the line well mate ?
 
And when has Roofe ever led the line well mate ?
That's a bit harsh, I think he's generally done well when he's played there. But crucially, his goals per minute ratio in the league has been excellent since he came here, despite almost never being fully fit due to injuries. Morelos has never had a particularly impressive goals per minute ratio in the league, but this season it's really bad.
 
I feel like we need to have 2 goal scorers in the team every game (roofe and morelos) this mean then if one is having an off day infront of goals then chances are the other one won't and the pressure isn't on them as much
 
Obviously I don’t know the specifics but it’s clear to see. He’s also lost a yard of pace it seems. He’s not fat by any means but he’s not lean either. I just feel if he lost a bit it would take his game up a good bit.
So you don't know he needs to lose weight?
 
Morelos changed his style according to - I assume - the manager`s wishes. Dropped deeper, goes to the wings, spreads some passes about.

Rhe proper bone of contention would be that we don`t fill the space he vacates with lethal attackers, at least not regularly or often enough. Now we added Sakala to Morelos and Roofe ... and as said before, we should use them all in a three-man attack. For they all can take up the positions vacated by their fellow strikers and are - Hagi (and Wright) aside - the main guys willing to shoot from any angle. For all the work Kent and Aribo put in, the end product in terms of countable results beggs for change.
 
Alfie is vital to the way we play. You saw how ineffective we were in Prague without him.

Front three should be Alfie,Roofe and A.N.Other.

Need someone who loves their stats to tell us the XG and XA of Alfie just now - I don’t think either will be very high
 
He normally saves his best for Europe so hopefully he gets a goal or two to kickstart his season on Thursday night.

He is on 99 goals for Rangers at the moment.
I mentioned it before in another thread but Morelos seems to be going through exactly the same as Super was when he was on the verge of beating DJ's all time Rangers scoring record...nothing he did ended up in the pokey for what seemed like ages but when he finally broke his duck the goals once again flowed freely...here's hoping Alfie "breaks his duck" tomorrow night and has the same effect on his goal tally for the rest of the season!
 
I think its fair to say that Alfie has never been a top finisher, even given the number of goals he scores. He doesn't tend to strike the ball very true, often snatching or sclaffing it into the ground, making him look really average when not on form. His performance on Saturday was the perfect encapsulation of this

His main strength is the ball being played into his feet and him turning the defender and getting a shot away. He has been dropping too deep to be fully effective, although the number of chances he got on Saturday might be an encouraging sign of him getting into better positions

I do think he needs a period on the bench though
You're right imo about not being a natural finisher but I don't think a spell on the bench will benefit him
 
Roofe’s last four starts we’re poor Scotty.

He’s done well the last two matches he’s come on as a sub.

That’s the problem we have. And when has Roofe ever led the line well mate ?
Yeah but Morelos has been poor for weeks whilst starting games. 5 in 15 is nowhere near good enough for the starting striker of Rangers.

Give Roofe or sakala a run through the middle IMO.

Roofe has hardly ever had a run through the middle to build up any momentum in that position since Morelos starts 99% of the time.
 
Yeah but Morelos has been poor for weeks whilst starting games. 5 in 15 is nowhere near good enough for the starting striker of Rangers.

Give Roofe or sakala a run through the middle IMO.

Roofe has hardly ever had a run through the middle to build up any momentum in that position since Morelos starts 99% of the time.

I’m not disagreeing that Morelos hasn’t been playing with the edge we are used to Scotty.

I guess with no proper pre season due to Colombia’s Copa America exploits it probably shouldn’t be a surprise as he is definitely not as sharp as we would hope & expect.

I still think Roofe hasn’t excelled for us as a lone striker, but I’m sure you & many others will get your chance to see him there.
 
I've been quite critical of him of late for good reason........... then remembered, this wee guy has been absolutely pivotal in where Rangers are right now in 2021.

Yes there's big money at stake in retaining this title but 55 last season was absolutely vital for this club and for so many reasons. For that alone I think we should cut him some slack.
 
I can see it by looking at him he does. You obviously think he’s in peak shape for a young athlete so I’ll not try change your mind.
Given that we have professional staff for that kind of thing, it's not my mind you need to change.

To be honest, I'm alarmed that you can see what our highly paid manager and coaches can't.

Or maybe you're wrong?
 
99 goals says differently
Nonsense.
How is that figure relevant to how good he is now?
So you think hes improved?
If he was a better finisher he would have a lot more goals. His game is about more than scoring and that side of his game has definitely not improved.
If he had progressed he would be a guaranteed pick for Colombia instead of being out their team more than in it.
He made his debut in 2018, 6 appearances in 2019 and 4 since.
Says it all.
 
There's no conundrum for me.

He had a shocker in front of goal on Saturday and (along with a big McGregor error) cost us.

No more no less.

Players have bad spells and off-days.

Morelos has come through spells like this before and he'll come through it again.

There's issues throughout the team including decisions made from the dug-out and decisions made behind the scenes in regards transfer policy, not just Morelos missing sitters on Saturday - although that does highlight everything else, because if we rack up 3-points people tend not to look much deeper beyond that and thoughts roll forward to the next match.

People have spent the days since Saturday over-analysing every little thing to do with Morelos. It's ridiculous.
That's the fun of bring a fan though. It consumes our every thought. It'd be boring if we just thought about it for the 90mins and then moved straight on.
 
He's been nowhere near his best for over a year now but I think he's still our best option as striker. I'd rather he cut out the 'coming deep' aspect that has become part of his game though as, contrary to popular opinion, I don't think he's very good at it. Loses possession too often either through poor control or a bad pass. Let the midfield link up the play and he can get back to getting tight to the CB and using his strength on a 1 on 1.
I agree, I don't think the coming deep suits him tbh.
 
He looks like a player that needs a new challenge to me. His form the first half of the 2019/20 season was outstanding, had he maintained that the whole season he would have got his big move but in truth his form had dipped long before the season stopped.

I don't think we'll ever see that Morelos again, of course he'll still get goals in the SPFL but I'm not sure how much he wants to stay here for years on end.

For £1M he's been terrific business; record Euro goal scorer, title winner but we've seen periods of form that made you think he could play for most teams in Europe. He's a long way from that player now.
I don't expect that early 2019/20 form again but I do think he can play a lot better than he has this season
 
Morelos changed his style according to - I assume - the manager`s wishes. Dropped deeper, goes to the wings, spreads some passes about.

Rhe proper bone of contention would be that we don`t fill the space he vacates with lethal attackers, at least not regularly or often enough. Now we added Sakala to Morelos and Roofe ... and as said before, we should use them all in a three-man attack. For they all can take up the positions vacated by their fellow strikers and are - Hagi (and Wright) aside - the main guys willing to shoot from any angle. For all the work Kent and Aribo put in, the end product in terms of countable results beggs for change.
Over the last year or two we’ve had periods where Kent, Morelos & Aribo played as the front 3 and rotated effectively - it destroyed a number of defences, pulled them all out of shape and we capitalized.

We are doing something very different now as you point out - Morelos is coming really deep and it leaves us with a gap between him and goal a lot of the time. IMO, he is equally not any kind of a playmaker - he lacks the technical ability of a Hagi, or the passing vision of a Davis.. he’s bloody magnificent at creating the gap between him and a defender so that he can get a shot off though.

So I don’t think we are using him to the best of his abilities, and the goals have slowed down a bit as a result.
The problem we seem to be trying to fix gets back to the problem since Gerrard’s first season - we are playing with a larger defensively minded midfield trio and it seems overly cautious for domestic football.
Lundstram & Kamara, with either Hagi or Aribo in front of them to fill that playmaker role would allow Morelos to focus on what he is really good at.

With no injuries to worry about then a front 3 of Kent, Morelos, Roofe/Aribo sitting in front of Lundstram, Kamara & Hagi just ahead of them looks like something that should work, and get the best out of the players available.

The idea that Morelos is just off form is far too simplistic IMO.
 
Given that we have professional staff for that kind of thing, it's not my mind you need to change.

To be honest, I'm alarmed that you can see what our highly paid manager and coaches can't.

Or maybe you're wrong?
He might be fit enough to play but I think most people can see he's not physically in the best shape he could be. I was just saying if he got himself in peak condition he would be a far better player for it.
 
I actually thought he played well for the most part tonight.

His link up play was excellent.

He faded a bit but overall I think he played fairly well.

His game is changing as there is a vast improvement in his passing and his quick touches
 
I actually thought he played well for the most part tonight.

His link up play was excellent.

He faded a bit but overall I think he played fairly well.

His game is changing as there is a vast improvement in his passing and his quick touches
Yeah I'm not saying he played poorly, though I don't think he was great, but I was hoping for a goal.

Hopefully that'll come Sunday
 
Buf should stay in the team. Remember he got the winner Vrs Hibs. He’s definitely not firing but we don’t have anything like him up the middle…no other player compares to him physically.

He’s a 20 goal a season striker & he will be in & around that again this season. That’s his average. I agree he’s not the same player he was a few years back I just think he’s matured a bit & he’s not a liability like before.

I always believed Wayne Rooney was better when he was younger & a bit crazy. I hope Buf fully rediscovers that form he had a few seasons back he was unbelievable to watch but was a lunatic.
I think you've hit the nail on the head.. When he was a "bit crazy", hammering Mckenna, Frimpong, Brown etc. OK he was getting sent off but you knew he'd get them back with his goals. He's calmed down but at what cost!
It's as if he's reigning himself in. Let's get back to the old Alfie--- unleash the beast!
 
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I think you've hit the nail on the head.. When he was a "bit crazy", hammering Mckenna, Frimpong, Brown etc. OK he was getting sent off but you knew he'd get them back with his goals. He's calmed down but at what cost!
It's as if he's reiging himself in. Let's get back to the old Alfie--- unleash the beast!
Yeah pal I also think becoming a father changes you…he’s definitely less unpredictable as you didn’t know what he was going to do next…for example…score an unbelievable goal/ great header or smart finish, stamp on someone or kick someone on the mouth.

I hope the manager can build his confidence again & get him back amongst the goals. Maybe if he was dropped on Sunday would that push him to go mental & unleash the beast again with a good reaction?? I’d consider leaving him out on Sunday with a few of playing Vrs the Sheep on Wednesday.
 
I think you've hit the nail on the head.. When he was a "bit crazy", hammering Mckenna, Frimpong, Brown etc. OK he was getting sent off but you knew he'd get them back with his goals. He's calmed down but at what cost!
It's as if he's reiging himself in. Let's get back to the old Alfie--- unleash the beast!
Aye, I think that's spot on. He'd score nearly every game but get sent off 1 in 10, we'd get annoyed. Now he doesn't get sent off but there's not the same wildness there either.
 
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