Rangers battered Aberdeen 5-0 on Saturday in a rare 3pm kick-off, there were a few talking points in the game – Greg Stewart‘s inclusion, the return of Nikola Katic and more notably, the maturity of Alfredo Morelos.
There is an obvious change in Morelos this season, he is still a nuisance, he still gets “stuck in” but he is no longer reacting to constantly being fouled by opposition defenders. From the first game of the season where we saw Kirk Broadfoot, literally, throw Morelos to the ground, we have yet to see him retaliate even in the face of the most severe provocation.
By this time last season, Morelos had already racked up 2 red cards and 6 yellow cards, he only has 3 yellows this season – none in Scottish football and 2 of them were really soft – a changed man indeed.
Morelos’ form has been sensational this season, his numbers in the last couple of years include just one penalty – all his goals are from open play. He is currently on 13 goals and 4 assists from 17 appearances, add this to his 30 goals and 11 assists from last season and his £900k transfer fee begins to look borderline criminal.
There has been another notable change in Morelos’ game, he is dropping deep to get involved in the build up play. Not only is he creating space for other players but he is inadvertently creating it for himself.
His goal against Aberdeen is a perfect example of clever forward play, with the visitors playing a man-marking system, dragging players out of shape was always going to be a key part in breaking them down. Morelos, dropped into a central attacking position, didn’t receive the ball, but as Borna Barisic took possession out wide Morelos made his run to the back post. With nobody tracking the run, he was able to place his downward header past a helpless Joe Lewis.
Maturity comes in many guises, Morelos is displaying not only emotional maturity but professional maturity as well. His manager, Steven Gerrard, was quick to point out that his player must take all the credit for this and that it isn’t through his work. He said of his performance via The Daily Record:
“I am not going to take any credit for that performance. He is the one who is dropping into the interesting areas, the pockets, overloading the middle of the pitch.
“He is the one trying to drag the Aberdeen defenders around the pitch. He is on the left, he is on the right, he scores a header.
“He was focused on his performance and nothing else. It was nice to have the luxury to be able to take him off because he has played a lot of late.
How much longer Morelos stays at Rangers remains to be seen but with every passing week and every display like Saturday’s his value is only going in one direction. Rangers fans and Scottish football should enjoy him whilst he’s here.