Ibrox View: Signs of hope for struggling Rangers dazzler v Bayer Leverkusen
RANGERS OPINION
How do you solve a problem like Alfredo Morelos?
That will be the question that Steven Gerrard has been asking himself ever since Rangers returned from their midseason winter break.
Electrifying beforehand, unrecognisably poor every since, the Colombian’s form has taken a nosedive in recent weeks, and he has still managed just one goal since the Scottish season resumed.
The 23-year-old can’t find the back of the net for toffee, and in truth, he rarely looks like doing so either.
Just twice since January has he managed to registered an expected goals rating above his season average of 0.62, as per Wyscout.
We all know the talent he possesses, but right now, it’s almost as if Morelos is suffering from a major case of the yips, overthinking everything and suffering as a result.
And we saw it again on Thursday night against Bayer Leverkusen.
Granted, Morelos was given the thankless task of leading the line alone against a fantastically well-regimented side, but this was still a poor display from the striker, who only managed two shots on goal.
One of them, as shown above, was a perfect example of where Morelos is going wrong at the moment.
His positioning his good, he is able to meet Borna Barisic’s superb delivery without a challenge from a defender, but his timing is dreadful, and rather than directing a header towards that far corner, he skews one wildly into the stands.
This is where Morelos is falling down at the moment.
Before Christmas he would have buried that chance through pure muscle memory.
There were some glimmers of hope that Morelos predatory instinct may be returning though.
His first attempt on goal, as seen above, was a much more instant effort, firing a shot off with little back lift and seemingly little prior thought going into it.
On another day, the immediacy of the attempt might have caught the keeper off guard and led to a much needed goal for the Colombian, but on this occasion he saw his effort thwarted by a fine save.
Nonetheless, this is what Morelos needs to be doing if he is to break his duck – stop overthinking, rely on his instincts, and hopefully watch the goals pile up again.
In other Rangers news, ‘No-one better’ – Ibrox Exclusive: Alex Bruce drools over ‘exceptional’ Gers talent.