Official: Rangers sign Kemar Roofe

[Frankie 8,570]

2 hours ago, Bill said:

Encouraging signings, to say the least. The question for me is, are we going to continue playing one striker at a time or has our manager discovered enough flexibility to field both of these signings and have them both scoring goals?

Roofe can play anywhere across the front line so it wouldn't surprise me to see him, Itten and Kent all play in certain situations.

[compo 7,048]

25 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Roofe can play anywhere across the front line so it wouldn't surprise me to see him, Itten and Kent all play in certain situations.

Two strikers up front every time if one misses then I would expect the other to put it in most good teams have them in pairs like Millar & Brand ,Hateley & Mccoist,,Jayne Mansfield. 

[DMAA 3,658]

3 hours ago, Rousseau said:

That's not a 4-2-4; it's more of a 4-2-3-1. (And, Liverpool still played a 4-3-3 with Coutinho; he occupied the wide midfield position.)

 

I like it, though. That's where I'd like Aribo to play, which is roughly where he plays now. 

 

SG played a 3-4-1-2 / 3-4-3 with the Liverpool reserves. That would be interesting. 

 

I don't see us deviating from the 4-3-3, but with a couple of different forwards we certainly have more options. 

I think Aribo is probably our best player, or will emerge as our best player this season. Where to play him is a difficult one but I think he should be one of the centre mids, ideally on the right side, so that we have players with attacking ability coming from deep too.

 

One of the advantages Celtic have had over us against the diddy teams has been that they have McGregor basically where we often play Kamara. One creates and scores goals from deep and the other doesn't, it makes a big difference. 

[Rousseau 10,640]

2 minutes ago, DMAA said:

I think Aribo is probably our best player, or will emerge as our best player this season. Where to play him is a difficult one but I think he should be one of the centre mids, ideally on the right side, so that we have players with attacking ability coming from deep too.

 

One of the advantages Celtic have had over us against the diddy teams has been that they have McGregor basically where we often play Kamara. One creates and scores goals from deep and the other doesn't, it makes a big difference. 

Yes, but they have Broonaldo playing alongside him in a 4-2-3-1. So it would be Kamara sitting, with Aribo beside with a license to go forward. 

 

I agree, that's where I'd like to see him play. His ball-winning ability is really good, so he needs to be deeper. And, then running at defences and linking up with the forwards is another aspect of his game that is really good, which again suits a deeper position. 

 

At the minute we have Kamara sitting, with Jack to one side and Aribo the other. So, Aribo is already in that deeper position. I think it's Jack that is too reluctant to come forward that is the issue. 

 

I wonder if Hagi could come into that position, but then I'd worry about his defensive game - he's not one for winning the ball back. 

[DMAA 3,658]

FWIW, asked a colleague who is a Leeds season ticket holder about Roofe and he said,

Quote

Pretty solid really, should do well. Good finisher. Tendency to get niggling injuries but if he’s fully fit he should bag 15 or more a season. I was surprised when he left Leeds for Anderlecht, would have said at the time that he was better than Bamford in terms of finishing and goal scoring ability. Hope he stays fit for you because he’ll be decent.  

 

My concerns on Roofe are the fee and injuries. 27 is a great age for the here and now but it's probably when a player is at peak value, in today's market it's like buying a brand new car in terms of depreciation.

 

Now that he's signed though it's times to put those concerns to the side. If he can keep fit he could be a huge player this season. Our front three have badly lacked end product at crucial times (and yes I include Alfredo in that). Roofe could bring just the qualities we need and, crucially, walks into our starting 11.

Edited August 5, 2020 by DMAA

[DMAA 3,658]

2 minutes ago, Rousseau said:

Yes, but they have Broonaldo playing alongside him in a 4-2-3-1. So it would be Kamara sitting, with Aribo beside with a license to go forward. 

 

I agree, that's where I'd like to see him play. His ball-winning ability is really good, so he needs to be deeper. And, then running at defences and linking up with the forwards is another aspect of his game that is really good, which again suits a deeper position. 

 

At the minute we have Kamara sitting, with Jack to one side and Aribo the other. So, Aribo is already in that deeper position. I think it's Jack that is too reluctant to come forward that is the issue. 

 

I wonder if Hagi could come into that position, but then I'd worry about his defensive game - he's not one for winning the ball back. 

Yes Kamara is doing the sitting at the moment which is fine, but I'm sure he played alongside Davis often last season and I felt there was a contrast there when compared to Celtic in terms of the attacking abilities of the midfield.

 

Yes I don't think Hagi can come back, I think he needs to stay behind the striker. It's ok when you are up the field and your RCM is at the half way line but it's a different matter when you are on the back foot and he is marking a a man on the edge of your box. It would lose us goals.

[Rousseau 10,640]

Just now, DMAA said:

Yes Kamara is doing the sitting at the moment which is fine, but I'm sure he played alongside Davis often last season and I felt there was a contrast there when compared to Celtic in terms of the attacking abilities of the midfield.

 

Yes I don't think Hagi can come back, I think he needs to stay behind the striker. It's ok when you are up the field and your RCM is at the half way line but it's a different matter when you are on the back foot and he is marking a a man on the edge of your box. It would lose us goals.

Yes, Kamara often played in one of the wider midfield positions. He doesn't have the offensive game to play that position as well as we'd like. It's alright for controlling European games, but not when we need to break a team down domestically. 

[Tannochsidebear 2,414]

5 hours ago, Rousseau said:

You weren't impressed by Leeds?! For me, they are one of the best sides in the country, behind only Liverpool and Man City. I'm a huge fan of Bielsa. Did you maybe watch them before Bielsa? Roofe didn't shine pre-Bielsa in a really poor side.

 

Roofe can play anywhere across the front line. He's two-footed, versatile and dynamic, with a bit of pace. I wouldn't say he's prolific, but I do expect him to lead the line well -- and, to be fair, no one asks more of their leading forward than Bielsa, and he thrived in that role -- and chip in with a decent amount of goals. I think he fits that fluid front-three that SG wants: Kent, Hagi and Roofe all running and inter-changing. 

 

I don't know much about Itten, but from the clips he looks like a penalty-box striker, or poacher, who likes to hover around the back-post to use his good aerial ability and has a knack of finding space. He looks like he has a bit of pace too when he gets going. I see him leading the line quite well. 

 

I think Roofe will be preferred at first, but he can play one of the other positions in our front three, so they could play together, with Itten leading the line and Roofe in one of the wider roles. 

Yes, I should have said my comments related to 2018-19, I Didnt see much of them (if at all) in the season just ended. Thought Roofe was at Anderlecht in 19-20, and Leeds the season before? 

 

Thanks for the info on Roofe, sounds good

 

If Roofe and Itten both play as you suggest could happen, who do you leave out?  Is Roofe really so much better than Kent or Hagi that he becomes first pick over either of them, given the amount we spent on both of them and just recently at that?

[CammyF 8,116]

Good interview with Liam Cooper one of Roofe's teammates when he was at Leeds 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53657994

[DMAA 3,658]

3 minutes ago, Tannochsidebear said:

If Roofe and Itten both play as you suggest could happen, who do you leave out?  Is Roofe really so much better than Kent or Hagi that he becomes first pick over either of them, given the amount we spent on both of them and just recently at that?

Well a big problem has been that nobody of consequence is left on the bench. Compare our bench to Celtic and it’s night and day. Now we have a bit of choice. I would say Roofe and Hagi at Ibrox but Kent has shown, and showed on Saturday, he is sometimes a better option than someone like Hagi. Whatever your view, we now have some options.