Sky Sports pundit: Alfredo Morelos substitution was Giovanni van Bronckhorst sending a message
Alfredo Morelos had a glorious opportunity to claw a goal back for Rangers in the second half v Napoli, and just a minute after missing he was brought off.
Rangers endured a rocky start against Napoli on Wednesday night, but Giovanni van Bronckhorst made some much-needed changes at half time and the visitors had chances to halve the deficit.
Gers’ biggest chance of the night fell to Morelos but the Colombian striker completely misjudged his effort and missed the ball. Just a minute later, he was hooked off the pitch by Van Bronckhorst.
Former Rangers midfielder Trevor Steven was covering the game for Sky Sports News (26 October) and believed Van Bronckhorst sent Morelos a message by taking him off for Antonio Colak.
“It’s a total miss,” said Steven.
“Morelos didn’t make contact with the ball, that was the 65th minute – 66th minute he’s pulled off the field and Colak goes on.
“I think that might be a message from Van Bronckhorst that they needed that goal, we needed that to be still in Europe and have the opportunity to go forward.”
Wasteful
Heading to Naples, Rangers would’ve been aware that they were major underdogs and would have to be clinical when presented opportunities.
Unfortunately for Morelos, he completely ruined Rangers’ best chance at scoring. He was the best player on the pitch for the chance to fall to, but he completely lacked composure when he needed it most.
The Dutchman has kept faith in Morelos this season regardless of his poor form, and it’s a decision that has piled more pressure on his shoulders due to Colak’s incredible scoring record.
Could this be a turning point in Van Bronckhorst’s decision-making? More than likely. He’s now seen how costly Morelos can be to the side, and it’s a chance that Colak would’ve likely scored.
Moving forward, Van Bronckhorst has to know that Colak needs to start. If he wants to squeeze Morelos into his lineup, then he needs to adapt his system to feature two strikers.
In other Rangers news, Leon Balogun admits to experiencing tough times after his Ibrox exit in the summer