Morelos is playing on the edge. That’s why he’s become a top striker
SAYS JONATAN JOHANSSON
IN Finland, his physical style of football earned him the nickname El
Bufalo. In Scotland, Alfredo Morelos has continued in a similarly combative vein, leaving defenders battered and bruised as he roams the plains of the Scottish top flight in a merciless pursuit of goals.
The leading scorer in the Ladbrokes Premiership, the Colombian’s nine strikes this season have fired the Ibrox side to the top of the table for the first time at this stage in seven years.
So vital is Morelos to any Ibrox title challenge this season that his manager, Steven Gerrard, is ready to ‘fall out’ with people to retain the forward’s services for as long as possible.
It is not hard to see why. His winning goal against Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday meant he has now scored in each of his last seven league matches — equalling a modern record set by Dundee’s David Clarkson in 2014.
The 22-year-old will claim the record outright if he can find the net in an eighth successive match when Aberdeen visit Ibrox tomorrow night.
It is a stunning return on the £1million Rangers paid to HJK Helsinki on the advice of former Ibrox and Finland striker Jonatan Johansson during his spell as a coach on Pedro Caixinha’s staff.
The little-known Morelos had caught Johansson’s eye, scoring 47 goals in 62 appearances for HJK in the Finnish league.
Signing any player is always fraught with risk. But Johansson, who is now manager of Morton, is enjoying seeing his scouting instincts vindicated as Morelos chases records with Rangers.
‘I’d be delighted for Alfredo if he does break the top-flight scoring record,’ Johansson (pictured right with Morelos) told Sportsmail.
‘You do feel responsible when you take a young player over to another country. I knew Alfredo’s good points would suit the Scottish game. With young players it can take a bit of time but he’s really blossoming at Rangers.
‘But I’m not surprised. The talent and the strength were always there. It was obvious that he was a very good striker — too good for the Finnish league.
‘But initially I did not think too much about it because I was working as the Finland national team assistant manager at the time.
‘But when I joined Rangers a few months later, Alfredo was a player I remembered — and I recommended him to Pedro Caixinha.
‘The one thing I saw in Finland was his goalscoring abilities, his hunger for goals. He created so many chances for himself in Finland that you had the feeling in every game he was going to get a hat-trick.
‘It’s the same now and I think the work the coaches and manager at Rangers have done with him this year is great. He looks very sharp and fit.
‘Maybe before he missed a couple of chances, but now in the box he looks really sharp — and that’s why he is getting all these goals.’
Last season, Morelos scored 18 goals in all competitions for Rangers and was the subject of repeated interest last January from Chinese club Beijing Renhe. He is sure to be a man in demand this coming winter window after finding the net 17 times in all competitions so far. On the downside, he has picked up 11 yellow cards and two reds — one later rescinded — with his overly physical style of play on Sunday drawing criticism from Hearts boss Craig Levein and captain Christophe Berra. Suspensions have proved costly with Morelos missing as Rangers lost 1-0 to Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup semi-final last month and he is suspended for this Sunday’s trip to Dundee. But Johansson, who researched Morelos’ background and personality extensively, believes the striker has the kind of edge to his game that players need to scale the higher peaks in football. ‘It’s not just Alfredo who has that edge,’ he said. ‘A lot of top players that I played with in my career also had that edge to them.
‘They had that desire to win, that desire to be physical — or at least as physical as the centre-half you are up against.
‘That’s just part of football. You need it to be a top player. Sometimes it can come out the wrong way but I think this season Alfredo has channelled his frustrations better. I think he looks very positive on the pitch.
‘I’m just delighted for Alfredo because he is a good kid.
‘He came over from Colombia to Finland at a young age and he’s shown huge hunger and desire to succeed. He’s then shown that same hunger when he came over to Scotland with Rangers.
‘He’s worked very hard to get where he is today. I’m delighted to see him doing so well.’
Certainly, Scotland assistant manager James McFadden is in no doubt about the identity of the best striker in the country right now.
He said: ‘I think, on form, you would have to say yes (it’s Morelos). He is a goalscorer. He misses a lot of chances, but he’s always there to take them.
‘And when he misses them, his head doesn’t go down. He continues to get into dangerous areas. The ball always seems to fall to him.
‘We know he has his disciplinary problems, but you’ve got to be on the edge.’