Peak Alfredo Morelos is still Rangers best number nine, at his most formidable he can do it all, however, we just aren’t seeing that version of El Bufalo often enough just now.
His performances have improved since Michael Beale arrived but he is yet to rediscover the form or scoring touch that once saw him valued at £20million and that is with a run of games that has been afforded to him by the absence of both Antonio Colak and Kemar Roofe.
Now though, Beale has a decision to make ahead of the first cup final of the season – who leads the line?
Colak and Roofe have both scored recently but it will depend on what game plan the gaffer goes with, speaking after the win over Livingston though, there was a suggestion from Beale that Morelos might not have been picked in other circumstances, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“We tried to play a little bit more direct in our passing and then obviously Tony has looked really sharp every day in training that he has been able to train regularly.
“In my first couple of months, he was training a day or maybe two days. He’s started to look really sharp, I thought he came on and did well – obviously Kemar coming on and scoring.
“It was touch and go whether I started Kemar today and I just decided with this surface and his injury record – bearing in mind the other injuries that we picked up this week – that it was probably best to keep him for half hour.”
There was no mid-week fixture so, there was no need to rest or rotate Morelos, is this the first indication that Beale sees Roofe as a better fit in his more fluent formation?
All season fans have been saying that we need a hybrid between Colak and Morelos, someone who can link play but who is also more clinical when the chances do come their way. Roofe is that player.
Personally, I like Roofe in the role just behind the striker but that would mean dropping Fashion Sakala who has shown that he can cause Celtic problems in the past, yes, he can be frustrating but, he can also be the match winner.
Fortune favours the brave, and Sunday’s team selection will show just how bold Michael Beale is as he looks to make a dream start to his tenure as Rangers manager.