There was a moment in the opening seconds of Rangers’ victory over Hearts where Alfredo Morelos looked to rouse the crowd.
He chased an early ball over the top, tussled with the chasing defender, and won a corner. He then gestured to the crowd to make some noise.
It’s the sort of gesture you usually see when a team is chasing a late winner or looking to hold on to a lead. Not Morelos though - this was a man fresh off the plane from Colombia and had time to make up for.
Morelos had missed the previous trio of games due to international duty. In those three games, Rangers drew one, scraped a victory, and were on the end of a humiliating defeat.
Within that thirty seconds, Morelos showed everything Rangers had missed in the final third; determination, physicality, and raw passion.
There’s strong arguments about the negatives that come with the reliance on Morelos: recruitment to find an alternative has been weak and for five years Rangers have struggled to adapt when he is unavailable.
What this also indicates is the quality of the players Rangers have on their hands. Whether he stays or goes this summer, the club will almost certainly look to find an alternative; no one could be confident that search will be successful but that speaks volumes for the special talent Rangers have more than anything else.
Under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rangers fans are seeing a new evolution of Morelos. Since he arrived in 2017, he has showcased various elements of his games. It now looks as if they are all coming together at the same time.
It is rare in modern football to see a player at a club for five seasons. It’s even rarer to see a player from abroad with no ties to the club staying for this long. Morelos is the first player from outside the UK to be at Rangers for five years since Sasa Papac - it’s fairly uncommon, but when it does happen it usually leads to a strong emotional bond where passion runs so deeply.
Supporting the club and knowing Morelos for the last five years has felt like an emotional journey that a lot of fans could liken to parenthood.
To begin, you had his infancy at Rangers. The first season and the raw, baby-faced talent. New to the country but bursting with enthusiasm, Morelos outstripped all his fellow summer signings. It was new and it had its ups and downs, but everyone knew something exciting was happening.
We then entered the wild childhood years. The strops, the outbursts and the infuriating temperamental behaviour - all mixed in with some of the most impressive forward play Rangers Football Club has seen since the 1990s. When he stepped onto the pitch, you couldn’t predict whether he was going to leave a foot or elbow on a player, or bully a full back-line and score two goals. It was rare that one of the two didn’t happen.
The later years under Gerrard saw a reserved maturity in Morelos. The fiery teenage phase was giving way to a mellowed approach, but playing on the edge is what gave him the advantage as a player. More interested in dropping into midfield than going head-to-head with a centre back, Morelos was showing some development but there was something holding him back.
Under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Morelos looks ready to stand on his two feet and embrace all of his greatest qualities. To complete the analogy, he now looks fully matured. He can now drop off and link-up play, but he can also get himself between the posts and battle with defenders. He can involve himself in a tussle but he also looks more prepared to know when to step away.
Morelos looks ready to step into a leadership role at Rangers. Only one player has been at the club longer than him and he looks like he’s back from international duty with a point to prove. He knows what Rangers missed when he wasn’t here, he knows how good he is and he knows what it means at this club. There’s a fire in his belly and Morelos is currently channelling it towards the goal.
That’s not to say Morelos will no longer have his spats or rushes of blood to the head. He needs to play on the edge to retain his sharpness and that may still have its consequences. But this is the player and man who created an incredible bond with the support - the lad from Colombia who stole the hearts of a support. It takes more than pulling on the shirt every week to truly win over the support - the imperfect honesty of Morelos’ passion is what will lead to his name echoing around Ibrox for generations to come.
Every Rangers fan has been on this journey with Morelos for five years - the idea he’s entering a new evolution warms the heart of everyone that has cheered and exclaimed at every moment of genius and madness.
Rangers’ current squad depth is a debate to be had in the run-up to the next transfer window, but what can’t be up for discussion is how crucial Morelos will be. The quality of the squad may have dwindled, but a firing Morelos is the great leveller for the next 12 weeks.
Morelos played his role to win 55, but he was one of a squad. To win 56, Morelos could be the one that drags his teammates to it. That would be the pinnacle - that would make a proud parent of every single Rangers fan.
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