While Rangers’ loss aginst Hearts at the weekend seemed like just another defeat, there was a lot more behind the loss than one might originally think. Prior to the match, Alfredo Morelos travelled back to Colombia to deal with ‘family issues’ but returned to the team late.
Because of Morelos’ tardiness, Steven Gerrard opted to drop Morelos for the match. He didn’t even make the bench. Jermain Defoe wasn’t fit to start after being out for a month, despite making a substitute appearance after 67 minutes, and Florian Kamberi was cup-tied for the match.
Gerrard had limited options for players to play the striker role and ended up opting for Greg Stewart. Stewart had only played 609 minutes of football this season for the Rangers first team before the weekend.
Gerrard admitted that he was going to move on from the situation, and was not going to let it fester.
Morelos even offered his apologies to the Rangers fans on Twitter. Fans responded, claiming that they still love him, but need him to start scoring goals again. The apology is a nice touch, but they need him to get back to his best form.
And, a couple of other fans had more negative things to say.
https://twitter.com/NC_994/status/1234895560089276416
Still love you
— Alfredco Morelos (@Pena_Cartel) March 3, 2020
Can’t stay mad at you for too long. Love you
— ?? (@_SS1872) March 3, 2020
Hat trick tomorrow and we’re all good mate
— John Brotton (@brotton_john) March 3, 2020
Just start scorin goals again and it’s all good
— Ibrox Loyal (@_IbroxLoyal) March 3, 2020
Dont make me cry Alfredo, I love you so much
— Rossco (@RossG1872) March 3, 2020
Grow up and give yourself a shake
— Scott Mabon (@MrMabon11) March 3, 2020
Talk is cheap, do it on the pitch.
— graeme kendall (@GraemeKendall) March 3, 2020
We need you playing and scoring goals. We need the pre Old Firm game Alfredo not the guy who has showing up after December. You have to listen to the Manager man and start learning and let your goals do the talking. Ignore the media and idiots in Scotland. We need Goals.
— Ricky Forbes (@Ricky9Forbes) March 4, 2020
Will Morelos regain his form by the end of the season?
Yes
No
What do we think?
With Morelos scoring 28 goals for Rangers before the new year, Gers fans will be desperate for the Colombian to regain his 2019 form. Since the new year, Morelos has only managed to score one goal, which came against Hamilton in the Scottish Cup.
If he can return to his form, it will be a huge boost to Gers fans who are looking for a turnaround in fortunes after being knocked out of the Scottish Cup last weekend.