Alfredo Morelos’ competition at Rangers was something that had to improve.
Steven Gerrard immediately made moves to get two strikers in the door during the summer. Step forward Umar Sadiq and Kyle Lafferty, thus giving Morelos that helping hand he needed up front.
Despite that, however, the new men simply aren’t producing the help they should for the Colombian. It must be stated, however, that Lafferty remains a much more useful player than Sadiq.
Lafferty has, however, netted just four goals in nine Rangers appearances. A brace against Motherwell was added to with strikes against both Villarreal and St Johnstone.
Sadiq, on the other hand, has made just three Gers appearances, with all of them coming from the bench. Outside of a pre-season goal against Wigan Athletic, Sadiq hasn’t managed to net in a Light Blue jersey.
Consistently relied upon
When Morelos doesn’t net, he’s immediately the source of criticism from many sections of the support. This is mainly because he remains the main catalyst for Rangers’ goals, and isn’t getting much in the way of help from either strike partner.
Lafferty has scored some good goals since returning, but his overall performances haven’t overly-impressed. If Rangers are looking to mount a title charge this season, then Lafferty needs to be providing more on a consistent basis.
The likes of James Tavernier and Scott Arfield deserve credit for chipping in with goals in recent times. When Morelos has a bad game, however, there isn’t enough quality in the other forwards to bail Rangers out.
So much of the pre-January speculation regards the acquisition of strikers, and that comes as no surprise. Louis Moult, Dominic Solanke, and Oliver McBurnie are all potential targets in the next transfer window.
With just one fit and firing striker in the Rangers squad, however, the Gers won’t be achieving their main goals. It’s an area that Gerrard still has to address over January, with Morelos needing help to carry Gers’ title charge.
Until then, Lafferty in particular needs to step up. It’s clear that the Rangers manager doesn’t overly-fancy Sadiq in any form, so we can’t expect too much from him. Lafferty, however, arrived at Ibrox with a good reputation and pedigree at domestic level.
It’s time he stepped up and gave his striker partner some room for error.
