Ibrox View: Defoe can be a big asset for Rangers following injury return
In a major boost for Rangers, Steven Gerrard has confirmed that Jermaine Defoe is back in full training, following his recent injury absence.
This will be encouraging for the Gers as Gerrard should soon have access to a striker who scored 13 Scottish Premiership goals for him last season.
Defoe’s goals last season came in just 20 appearances in the Scottish top flight, a fantastic record that the Glaswegian giants will have missed in the early stages of the new season, despite their impressive results.
Rangers haven’t struggled for goals this season, scoring 10 times across their five competitive games thus far.
But should the Gers progress in Europe, and considering this season’s compact schedule, it will be a blessing for the manager to have such a prolific striker as back up to Kemar Roofe and potentially even Alfredo Morelos, should he stay at Ibrox.
But how does Defoe’s recent record compare to Roofe’s, in particular?
Roofe has started moderately well for his new side since his summer move from Anderlecht, scoring one goal in his four league outings, but he has also been somewhat wasteful in those games.
In Rangers’ 2-0 win against Hamilton, Roofe had four shots on goal, none of which hit the target.
As a whole, across the games he’s played this season, he has only managed to get 28.6% of his shots on target, as per Wyscout.
In the graphic below shots marked with an x are misses, a blue dot is a shot on target, and a purple dot is a goal.
In comparison, throughout all of last season Defoe managed to get 41% of his shots on target, a much better hit rate that lead to plenty of goals for the former Tottenham Hotspur man.
Defoe performed well above his xG last season too.
The veteran hitman’s xG over the whole season was 7.63, but he managed 13 goals – almost double the predicted total.
His role as a natural poacher is made obvious by the graphic above.
The image below shows the type of chance that Roofe missed against Hamilton, a relatively simple header from inside the six yard box, completely unmarked.
In contrast to this, below is an image of Defoe’s last goal for Rangers, back in January against Ross County.
It sums up everything that Defoe offers his team. He gets the ball around the penalty spot, with his back to goal, but holds off two defenders and finds the bottom corner of the net with a pinpoint accurate strike.
His experience and natural cunning in the box make him a nightmare to defend against.
There is clinical edge in the 37-year-old that we have yet to consistently see from Roofe in a Rangers shirt.
Now that Defoe is heading towards full fitness again, the new boy may have to up his game to retain his starting spot.
In other Rangers news, Exclusive: Alex McLeish claims Rangers boss Gerrard needs to win a trophy this season.