Credit: Getty Images/The Overlap on YouTube

James Barker

Thu 2 April 2026 17:10, UK

Steven Gerrard has revealed that he found managing Alfredo Morelos ‘tough’, but the way he did so was crucial to Rangers‘ 2020-21 Scottish Premiership title win.

It feels considerably longer than it has been since Rangers last lifted the Scottish Premiership title in 2020-21, but Gerrard’s appearance on The Overlap will have brought those great memories back for Gers fans.

That team was one of the best the Ibrox faithful have watched in many years, romping to the title to the tune of 102 points, and the small matter of not losing a single league game that year either.

32 wins and six draws saw second-placed Celtic chase hopelessly behind them, as they finished on 77 points, miles behind Gerrard’s Gers.

So, with seven games to play, Danny Rohl remains hopeful of being the first Rangers manager since Gerrard to guide a team to the title, but he’ll have to overcome a three-point deficit to Hearts over the coming weeks.

What did Steven Gerrard say about Alfredo Morelos at Rangers?

Gerrard has revealed he regrets leaving Rangers when he did in November 2021, as he moved to the Premier League to take the Aston Villa job.

His career as a manager hasn’t seen him reach the same levels of success with both Villa and Al-Ettifaq respectively since leaving Ibrox, and admits with hindsight, he should’ve stayed in Glasgow longer.

That 2020-21 Rangers team had some brilliant players, and some unique and wonderful characters to boot, one of which being Morelos.

The Colombian striker always played right on the very edge, as he could win a game with his talent one week, and then lose Rangers one the following week by doing something outlandish to cost him and his team.

It was this that made him such a divisive player among the Gers support, and speaking on a recent episode of The Overlap, Gerrard confessed that managing Morelos was one of the toughest parts of the job.

“In a different way, Morelos at Rangers was tough to manage,” Gerrard said.

“Maverick behaviours. So important to Rangers because he was the goals but he was challenging. He’d bend the rules and after he’d scored a brace, you always knew something was sorted in the post, either him being late or something, an incident.

“When you’re going into a job, you want to try and set rules and have values of your team and stuff like that.

“Sometimes you’d have to bite your tongue and turn a blind eye to one or two, it’s just trying to not get caught by the players when you’re doing it.

“But yeah, he was important to Rangers and I knew he was so important. I knew the time would come where I could get into a place where he’s maybe less as important.

“That’s why I brought Jermain Defoe in. That’s why I brought Kemar Roofe in because when he was having these periods, where he would be challenging or break your rules and your values, Defoe and Kemar Roofe were itching to play and they were as good as him.

“Jermaine was much better than him at the age but they were the reason why we won the league because their goals in the team and the squad is how we eventually won.”

Gerrard still found way to get the best out of Morelos at Rangers

Morelos made 29 league appearances for Rangers in that 2020-21 season, scoring 12 goals and providing four assists.

It was Roofe who finished as the top scorer with 14, but it was under Gerrard that Morelos was able to play his best football at Ibrox.

He scored over 80 goals under Gerrard, but it was the way that he brought in Roofe and Defoe to relieve the pressure on the Colombian that was a man-management stroke of genius.

Having those two strikers enabled Gerrard to take Morelos out of the spotlight, and rescue him from himself at times in games when it was clear he was beginning to lose his head.

Remarkably, Morelos made it through that entire season without being shown a single red card, and Gerrard deserves a lot of credit for that through his clever management of him.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.