He’s hungry, firing and scoring yet the good news on Alfredo Morelos is that he is still working his way back to full fitness and form.
Michael Beale is more than happy with what he is getting from his Colombian enigma who can be as frustrating as he is effective.
In the 0-3 drubbing of Hearts on Wednesday night, the Rangers front man was in the mood, making his presence felt as well as importantly, making his mark. It was a brace on the night for Morelos and only for a silly mistake in not holding his run, it should have been a hat-trick.
Over the turn of the year, he has been toiling. Putting in a shift despite obviously not being at his sharpest. In the New Year Old Firm clash, he recovered to put in a very decent second half showing much more like himself. More recently, he notched a double away to Kilmarnock then followed that up with the same feat at Tynecastle.
Michael Beale stated after the victory in the capital on how much more is to come from Morelos, (below):
“He’s very happy at the moment and if he’s happy I’m happy for him because I think he’s playing well. A lot’s thrown at him from time to time but as a boy that I see every day, we have a really good relationship and he seems very calm and he seems to be enjoying his football. I’m delighted for him.”
“He could’ve had three or four at the weekend. I sort of mentioned that to him the day after and he rewarded us with two tonight. He’s a bit frustrated because the last two times he’s been on two goals I’ve brought him off with 15 minutes to go. There’s that little look where I’m keeping him on his toes.”
Outcome
The elephant in the room is the present contract situation with the Colombian international whose deal will expire at the end of the campaign. Will he, won’t he? That could come down to what Morelos is feeling about this stage of his career or maybe even contract terms. Beale appears to be content with how things are, even if he will have more of an idea in private as to the true standing of things. The same could be said about Ryan Kent.
Both players have benefited from Beale’s return and guidance, long may it last even if that will only be in the context of the remainder of the season. The rest is still unwritten.