Charlie Nicholas: Michael Beale must drop ‘burden’ Alfredo Morelos for Rangers clash v Celtic in Scottish Cup semi-final
Charlie Nicholas has urged Michael Beale to drop Alfredo Morelos from his Rangers team for the Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Celtic on Sunday (30 April).
The Old Firm clubs meet in a season-defining game for the Ibrox club, with Beale looking for his first win in the derby since taking over in November.
But while writing in his column for the Daily Express (25 April), Nicholas claimed that Colombian striker Morelos is a “burden” for Rangers these days and Beale should consider playing with a false nine if Antonio Colak isn’t fit to replace him.
“Rangers need to go with a false nine if they are to have any chance of upsetting Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final,” he said. “At the moment, Michael Beale has an empty nine.
“Alfredo Morelos makes the team so predictable and, as first-choice centre-forward, he is not offering enough.
“He is a physical battler but he can’t run past opponents. Morelos plays on the edge of the game because he can’t get involved in the basics.
“Having found the net just 12 times in 42 appearances this season, he is on course for his lowest goals return in six seasons at the club.
“The Colombian can’t be relied on any more and he has become a burden for Beale, so the Ibrox manager should try something different at Hampden on Sunday.
“I would leave Morelos out of the starting line-up and see if he can make an impact coming off the bench.
“If Antonio Colak isn’t fit then deploying the likes of Malik Tillman or Scott Arfield as a false nine could be Rangers’ best weapon because, as it stands, they don’t really have anything else.”
Decisions
When Morelos is at his best on the football pitch, then Rangers are a better team for it. That is undeniable.
But it’s been a very long time since Morelos has been that player for us, and Nicholas is probably right that he’s more of a hindrance than a help these days.
There are attacking options even without him, with Tillman, Ryan Kent, Fashion Sakala, Todd Cantwell, Arfield, Rabbi Matondo all capable of stepping into roles across the front line and being dangerous.
However, the lack of a natural goalscorer would be a worry and Morelos certainly knows where the goal is despite his relatively poor form this season.
Changes are needed and Beale has to show that he has learnt from his previous mistakes and errors against Celtic, or we’ll suffer the same fate as we have in the last games regardless of who is named in the team.
In other Rangers news, Ally McCoist has named the player who “has to play” against Celtic at Hampden Park.