Giovanni van Bronckhorst would not be drawn on his striker selection ahead of the game last weekend and the choice between Alfredo Morelos and Antonio Colak.
A similar situation beckons ahead of tonight at Anfield with a tough call to be made up front. Does the manager go with the in-form goal scorer or the better all rounder who can possibly give more to the collective team effort?
Yes, there will be a competitive rivalry for the starting position between both players but the goal celebrations in the first half showed that there is certainly no animosity between Morelos and Colak, as can be seen below.
The Rangers striker 'headache' Antonio Colak brings as Kenny Miller admits no more concern over Alfredo Morelos attitudehttps://t.co/Gg169FRwXc pic.twitter.com/leWEqhMvUc
— Scottish Express Sport (@ScotExpSport) October 2, 2022
Yes, it is a ‘headache’ of sorts for Gio but it is just the way it should be. A worse situation was at the end of last season when he had no strikers to choose from, as Joe Aribo ended up leading the line.
Kenny Miller commented on the matter, including a salute to the impact made by Colak:
“He’s ruthless when the chances come especially with his one-touch finishing, it’s been incredible. When he gets the type of service there’s only one outcome. It does give Giovanni Van Bronckhorst a headache, but it’s a welcome headache because he’s a top striker.”
“You now have two players who are right in their prime, at the top of their game who would expect to play. Alfredo has had his wee spat, spitting the dummy out but Giovanni dealt with that well. Now he’s come back in to the fold, you saw him celebrating with Colak, he might have tried to chin him before.”
In domestic games, Rangers are generally able to call upon both players as required with a goal impact likely – as we saw at Tynecastle. This huge challenge will be a very tough assignment but if the team are to have any chance of securing a result, either striker will need to be primed when the big chance comes along.