Neil McCann slates Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos v Aberdeen
Rangers came from two goals behind to draw 2-2 against Aberdeen at Ibrox on Wednesday in an emotionally-filled atmosphere following the sad demise of Walter Smith.
Neil McCann has severely criticised Rangers players, and especially Alfredo Morelos after the draw.
He has suggested that Rangers need to retain the title because Celtic are “coming hard at them”.
Goals from Christian Ramirez and Scott Brown gave an injury-hit Aberdeen side a 2-0 lead inside the opening 16 minutes.
Morelos pulled one back in the first half while James Tavernier’s contentious penalty towards the end ensured Rangers pick up just a point from the game.
“Then you are looking for Morelos, he has a wee bit of fire and history with Brown to say ‘I’m going to give you the worst night for a long time, I’m going to run you into the ground’,” said McCann to Rangers Tv (h/t Daily Record).
“He’s walking about! There is no movement, there is no urgency, he’s going down with wee knocks in his back.
“Hold it in, back in, knock it wide, get your backside in the box.
“There is no urgency for me in a lot of players, and I am not going to sit here and hide it. That needs to be much better from Rangers.
“If Rangers are to keep going and powering forward, winning games, retaining the title, because Celtic are coming hard at them, they’re coming strong as well. “
Spot on
McCann is absolutely right with his assessment. There are two parts of his observations – a) Rangers are a pale imitation of the side that won the title last season and b) Morelos is not doing enough.
Rangers are top of the SPFL table with only two points ahead of Celtic, and Steven Gerrard has himself admitted after the game that they are lacking an identity. The performance and the result are simply not acceptable.
There is a lack of urgency among the players. Rangers are conceding a lot of goals, but it is the lack of cutting edge on the attacking front that is really hurting the manager.
On that note, Gerrard needs to make a call on Morelos. The Colombian striker recently etched his name in the Rangers history book by scoring his 100th goal for the club.
He also scored against the Dons, but his overall movement has been so poor. Rangers need to create more chances and get some big wins under their belt to assert their dominance once again.
At the moment, Gerrard should not pay any heed to what Celtic are doing at the moment. Rangers need to focus on their own problems and try to improve their performance at the earliest.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton has also reacted to the controversy.