You always get these players that the home support love and every other support seems to hate.

At Rangers, that current player is Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos. Back in the day, Celtic forward Chris Sutton had the same reputation.

Sutton used to be hated by opposing fans but the Hoops faithful really appreciated him.

Why? Because the Englishman played on the edge.

Chris would use his physicality to bully opposition defenders, he wore his heart on his sleeve and would do everything for the jersey, even if it infuriated other teams and their supporters. Sometimes his elbows would stick out, he loved pinning defenders back and in fairness to Sutton he took plenty back.

If a defender is unnerved by an attacker and is moaning about that player, then the forward is doing his job.

In recent years many a pundit or writer, myself included, have stated that Rangers have lacked a backbone and had a weak centre.

As reported by the Daily Record, this time last year former Gers manager Ally McCoist also said as much:

“Rangers are soft. I can’t believe I’m saying it but there’s a softness about them.”

Yet fast forward a year and opposition managers seem to come out most weeks and have a go at Morelos and complain about the striker.

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson made some pointed remarks which seemed to be aimed at Morelos after his side’s loss to Gers in November (Via The Herald):

“Certain players get away with certain things every week.”

After last weekend’s defeat to Rangers, Hearts gaffer Craig Levein came out and stated his anger, to BBC Scotland, at how the referee managed Alfredo during the game:

“I’ve lost my voice from shouting at the referee,” 

“It was a terrible performance – it really was. How Morelos gets away with what he gets away with, I just don’t understand.”

Morelos has matured in recent months, under new Gers manager Steven Gerrard. He’s not reacting as quickly as he did to provocation and seems more focused in his job.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t a nuisance and isn’t committing fouls because he is, Yet what he’s doing more and more of, is getting into the thick of the action.

Alfredo will use his strength to battle with centre-backs and he won’t react the same way when he’s kicked. Instead of having a go back and getting booked, he’ll now go down and win a free-kick. He will also then go in hard during his challenges and getting a reaction from the opposition.

The young forward has developed and adapted his game to his surroundings. He’s always had a keen eye for goal and that has continued as he leads the Scottish Premiership’s scoring charts with his nine goals in fourteen league appearances. He’s scored in each of his last seven domestic fixtures.

His performances this term have won him his first international cap and that shows you how rounded he’s become as a striker.

The twenty-two year old is a hero to the Rangers faithful and he’s fast becoming the most hated figure at a lot of other footballing grounds in Scotland.

Like Chris Sutton before him, Alfredo Morelos needs to continue to embrace the physical side of the game and continue to get into the minds of the opposing defenders. Cards will continue to come his way and critics will continue to criticise him but the only thing that should matter to him is winning with Rangers.

As the Ibrox chant goes ‘No one likes us, We don’t care!‘

Alfredo Morelos needs to take that to heart and be the player that Gers fans love and other fans hate!

Posted on December 4th, 2018 by scott
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