Some Rangers fans have taken to social media to share criticism of Alfredo Morelos following their Scottish Cup loss to Hearts this past weekend.
Rangers bowed out of the Scottish Cup as they suffered a 1-0 loss to Hearts in Saturday’s quarter-final fixture. One point of controversy that surrounded Saturday’s fixture was Morelos’ absence from the Rangers squad for this game.
In a pre-match interview, Rangers boss Steven Gerrard explained Morelos’ absence was due to a “disciplinary issue”. The manager elaborated on his statement by explaining that the 23-year-old “reported back 24 hours late” from a recent trip to Colombia, which resulted in Gerrard dropping him from Rangers’ squad for last Saturday’s fixture.
Some Rangers fans have been critical of Morelos on social media following his recent “disciplinary issue”. Read the posts from some Rangers fans slamming Morelos’ recent conduct in the tweets below.
Was Gerrard right to leave Morelos out of Rangers' squad last Saturday?
YES, NOBODY IS BIGGER THAN THE CLUB
NO, GERRARD'S DECISION COST RANGERS THE GAME
If he’s looking for the “big move” then he needs to sort himself out, no respect for the manager who’s had his back from day one, let the club & teammates down again. You can not just miss training and show up expecting to play. Back Gerrard on this.
— Mike.G (@mikeRFC_) March 1, 2020
He’s working his ticket good riddance to him now too many opportunities for Morelos now
— KennyGrfc (@kennygrfc) March 1, 2020
I kind of agree with you but i don’t think we should sell Kent. It’s hard to drop Tav as he’s captain, sell him at the end of the season however along with Morelos but even he looks slightly overweight.
— Glasgow Mod (@GlescaMod) March 1, 2020
100%. His attitude has cost us many points etc this season. Weather it be suspensions or that last night
— Iain Stewart ?? (@IainStewart72) March 1, 2020
Morelos for me is done at Rangers. He’s let us down far too many times. Take what we can in the summer & get this mess sorted once & for all.
— Dave (@Nimsay1872) March 1, 2020
Spot on, time to sell him, he’s a liability
— chris malkinson (@chrismalkinson) March 1, 2020
Deserved to be dropped 100% the only reason it’s even a talking point is coz we lost he’s no bigger than the club it’s that simple
— Ollie Oliver (@OllieOl64259081) March 2, 2020
You cant let players start missing training sessions and play them regardless . Theres rules n regs in tyoes of jobs that we all have to adhere to . Imo Morelos left him with no choice
— bluebell23 (@laineyaitch) March 1, 2020
What do we think?
The Colombian international has been one of Rangers’ most influential players this season. He has made a total of 43 club appearances in all competitions during the 2019/20 campaign. Only four Rangers players have made more appearances than Morelos this season so far in all competitions.
Furthermore, the £13.5m-rated striker (via Transfermarkt) has scored an impressive total of 29 goals, on top of providing another 10 assists. That makes him Rangers’ top goalscorer this season, while only two players have made more assists for Rangers than the Colombian international this season.
It may be understandable why this issue has proven to be a point of contention among some Rangers fans, given the 23-year-old attacker’s importance to the Gers this season. While it may have been necessary for Gerrard to set a precedent by punishing Morelos for his recent conduct, the Rangers boss may have ultimately cost his side a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals by omitting the club’s top goalscorer from a quarter-final in which they ultimately failed to score.