BBC pundit speaks out on ‘handicap’ affecting Rangers mainstay
For all of his success in a Rangers shirt, Alfredo Morelos has struggled when it comes to scoring against bitter rivals Celtic.
The Colombian has hit 28 goals in a blue shirt already this season, but has still yet find the back of the net against the Hoops.
That’s quite a remarkable record bearing in mind how prolific he has been in Scotland, but at least he has found some sympathy from BBC Radio Leeds pundit Noel Whelan.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “I played in games against teams that you just can’t do anything right and can’t score goals against them.
“It’s very frustrating, it does stick in your mind, it then becomes a mental handicap because it’s such a big game, it’s the game of the season when you play against Celtic.
“It’s the Old Firm, it’s Glasgow, they’re the games you want to be scoring in. I know he’s scoring against your Kilmarnocks and, no disrespect, I would expect a player of his quality to be doing that week in, week out.”
It is odd that Morelos hasn’t been able to notch against the Bhoys, but sometimes these things are as simple as pure coincidence.
It could be the case that he has some kind of mental hurdle when it comes to facing up against the Hoops, but for a player with his natural self-confidence obvious belief in his own abilities, that seems unlikely.
There’s no doubting that Celtic are the other top side in Scotland right now, but it’s not a matter of quality either.
Sometimes players just get stuck in ruts against particular sides, and you can bet that if we were talking about an Aberdeen or a Hibernian here then there wouldn’t be half as much attention being paid to the matter.
Sooner or later, El Bufalo will come good in the Old Firm.
In other news, Athletic journo claims Rangers 29y/o deserves more game time.