The Morelos paradox: Colombian cluster of contradictions yet to be fathomed out
After six years at Ibrox, it’s somehow no clearer whether striker is destined for the door or the pantheon of the greats
IN Kurt Vonnegut’s 1959 sciencefiction novel The Sirens of Titan, the American author coined a term. In the story, one of the leading characters encounters a strange phenomenon in space that Vonnegut dubs as a ‘ chronosynclastic infundibulum’. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but the crux of the concept is that there exists somewhere in space and time where nothing is false, where directly opposing and contradictory views can be held simultaneously. It is, Vonnegut explains, “those places … where all the different kinds of truths fit together”.
If Vonnegut were still with us today, he might well point out that there appears to be a chronosynclastic infundibulum that has been hovering around Ibrox for a good few years now.
There is no one else in Scottish football who divides opinion quite like Alfredo Morelos. There are few players who provoke the sort of maddening frustration from their own supporters as the Colombian, and fewer still that can seemingly transform into a human wreckingball to devastate the opposition when it suits them.
Even now, the question of the centre- forward’s future at Ibrox splits the fanbase. His defenders will point to a player who has contributed 119 goals since first pitching up in Glasgow back in 2017; his detractors claim that the time has come to move on from a striker whose discipline and attitude has held him back at times.
Morelos is such an enigma, in fact, that it’s possible for one person to hold the two contrasting views simultaneously. One day he can look like a world- beater as he bullies his opponents with consummate ease, hurling them this way and that and looking rather deadly in front of goal. The next he can look disinterested, demotivated and even unfit, prompting calls from frustrated fans for the club to move on from the controversial forward.
We saw both iterations of Morelos at Rugby Park on Wednesday night. The Glasgow giants have had an unhappy habit of conceding the first goal in matches this season – both under current manager Michael Beale and his predecessor Giovanni van Bronckhorst – and so it was in Ayrshire as Chris Stokes headed in a sixth- minute corner to put the hosts in front.
As is so often the case, Morelos found himself cast in the role of pantomime villain on Wednesday evening. From the get- go he was subjected to chants and jeers from the home end; every challenge involving the centre- forward was met with a chorus of boos, and howls of derision were the response of the Killie faithful whenever Morelos reacted angrily to an opponent’s tackle or a contentious decision from the ref.
The 26- year- old would have the last laugh, though. His equaliser – scored midway through the first half – relieved the pressure on the visitors after falling behind early on and served as a fine example of the quality that Morelos is capable of. He timed his run perfectly, shifting his balance as Fashion Sakala’s cross came in to drift away from his marker and create an opening, making no mistake with his firsttime finish.
It was a welcome intervention from Morelos, who looked a little isolated at times during the opening 45 minutes and wasn’t exactly at his best. The striker’s all- round play and ability to link up with his team- mates came on leaps and bounds on Van Bronckhorst’s watch yet this progress was nowhere to be seen against Kilmarnock. At least, not in the opening 45 minutes.
“We made slight adjustments at half- time in terms of our shape, pushing Scotty Arfield closer to Alfredo Morelos,” Beale explained after the match. “I thought Alfredo started to own the ball at that point and stopped turning it over.
The Rangers manager’s instincts were correct. His team were certainly more fluid after the break and Morelos was at the heart of the next two goals that pulled Rangers out of sight in Ayrshire. He retained the presence of mind not long after the restart to tee up Ryan Kent for 2- 1 before wrapping up the three points with 20 minutes to go as fashioned a half- yard of space in the Kilmarnock box to steer in what proved to be the winning goal.
“He’s working very hard for the team,” Beale added. “He’s not missed many chances in the previous games but I thought he took both his goals really well. He’s a real handful, he helped drag us up the pitch and I thought our front three were very effective in the game.”
It was a typical Morelos performance – at times maddening, at others magnificent – that summed up the striker’s Jekyll- and- Hyde nature. He is now in his sixth season
in Govan yet the jury remains firmly out on the forward and whether he is the man to lead Rangers’ line now and in the future. Heck, individual supporters can flit from one opinion to its polar opposite multiple times over the course of a single match.
The matter will reach some sort of resolution in the coming months, according to Beale. The Rangers manager was asked about the futures of Morelos and Kent – who are both out of contract this summer – and he was adamant that a decision is still to be reached.
He explained: “We are certainly not resigned to them leaving. The schedule has been really heaving and we are finding a break in it to sit down and have a conversation… there is a lot to be discussed.”
Beale can say that again. There probably isn’t another player in Scotland who has generated as much discussion as Morelos has during his stint in Glasgow and it isn’t difficult to see why either. A whole bunch of seemingly contradictory statements apply to the South American and most confusingly of all, they all appear to ring true.
This is the enigma of Morelos: a footballer who has already spurned too many last chances but also looks like he deserves another shot; a striker who Rangers should have moved on from a while ago, yet remains a talismanic figure; a player simultaneously idolised and vilified by members of his own support.
Vonnegut would say that we are all living in a chrono- synclastic infundibulum – and Morelos’s paradoxical nature is at its heart.
One day he can look like a world beater... the next he can look disinterested, demotivated and even unfit