Alfredo is my Suarez
Gerrard: He’ll put bite on Spanish
STEVEN GERRARD is backing Alfredo Morelos to sink his teeth into Villarreal tonight after comparing the Rangers frontman to Luis Suarez.
The Colombian striker is walking another suspension tightrope as a Europa League caution would rule him out of the last group game at Rapid
Vienna. Morelos has been booked in his last two appearances against Spartak Moscow but Gerrard won’t try to neuter the player he loves as much as his former Liverpool team-mate.
Gerrard has also been buoyed by discussions this week with chairman Dave King, who insists his manager is under no pressure to sell his top stars.
Morelos has scored 16 goals this season but has also been booked 11 times and sent off twice. Rangers paid a hefty cost when Morelos was banned for the Betfred Cup semi-final.
But asked about the suspension threat Gerrard said: “He knows but there is an element when you have to let him be.
“He plays on the edge and will make it uncomfortable for those two or three Villarreal centre-backs.
“We speak to him and we speak to the whole group about discipline in every single game. They know, they understand.
“But at the same time we can’t ask Alfredo not to be aggressive in the way he plays because that is when he’s at his best and the reason why he is two goals off last year’s tally.
“Does he remind me of Suarez? He does actually, yeah. A lot. We can change him and we can certainly help in terms of his disciplinary record. He knows that. But I love this type of player.
“I like players that perform on the edge and sometimes get it wrong because these players are the ones that make the difference, they have the X Factor.
“If you are a player and you don’t really play on the edge then you don’t really make special things happen on a football pitch.
“Suarez was my favourite player to play with – and I have already expressed how much I love Alfredo.”
Gerrard revealed he was “ready to fall out with people” at Rangers in a bid to keep Morelos at the club as his value soars on the back of his scoring exploits.
But after talks with King over dinner before the club’s agm he is satisfied he won’t be getting the hump with directors any time soon. He added: “The chairman has never said to me we have to generate money by selling players.
“He has said Mark Allen and I make all the decisions in terms of football so the chairman knows where I stand on Alfredo and all the other players. That statement ( falling out with people) still stands and will stand for a long time.
“The chat with the chairman was positive. We had dinner on Monday evening. We spoke about what we’re trying to do in terms of the next couple of windows and what the future looks like.
“We also spoke about a couple of setbacks we had since the last time we chatted and about what was in store for the agm because it was my first one.
“It was good to hear what the process was and what was expected and that was pretty smooth I think. All the political questions went the chairman’s way which was fantastic for me!”