IT is reasonable to suggest that Alfredo Morelos is playing the best football of his Rangers career.
After enduring the worst period of his Ibrox spell towards the end of the Steven Gerrard era, the Colombian is back to being a consistent threat in front of goal. However, the smoothness with which Morelos is operating under Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been noticeable.
The Colombian is linking play better than at any point since he arrived in Scotland in 2017, with Rangers reaping the benefits after a string of impressive attacking performances.
But what makes his link-up play so strong?
It’s easy to view effective link-up play among forwards as an extension of their technical ability, but Morelos is cut from a different cloth. The Colombian is able to leverage one of his most definable traits to help Rangers progress the ball into dangerous areas.
When Morelos was at his hustling-and-bustling best under Steven Gerrard in 2018/19 – especially in physical Europa League encounters – he was a one-man wrecking ball capable of spinning defenders on his own. Rangers were able to use the Colombian as a focal point to get up the pitch as the Morelos was typically able to hold off his markers.
The upside of this brute back-to-goal strength from Morelos is that defenders are afraid to get tight when he receives the ball to avoid being spun. The Colombian can then receive under little to no pressure in dangerous areas of the pitch.
This was evident in the lead up to Joe Aribo’s strike against Ross County in August.
Firstly, Ianis Hagi receives the ball on the touchline with only the option to move the ball infield.
Morelos is able to read the situation – Hagi lacks many viable options on the ball despite Rangers having bodies in the final third – and provide a passing lane into a dangerous zone on the pitch.
With Alex Iacovitti afraid to get tight to stifle the danger at source, Morelos is able to play a delicate around-the-corner pass into Aribo who has exploited the space.
The midfielder then controls the ball to score.
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Former Kilmarnock defender Stuart Findlay summed up the dilemma central defenders face when competing against Morelos.
He told Open Goal recently: “He does this thing where he lets you think you're going to win the ball so he'll back in and let you sort of half steps in front. Then he untucks his shorts from chewing his a***, sticks it into you and he's turned you.
“He’s the sort of guy that’ll do nothing for 80 minutes against you and not look interested. Before you know it you think you can win against him, you've got confidence against him, he's turned and is in on goal. He's brilliant at it."
Gerrard was quick to identify this conundrum for central defenders against the Colombian and, whether intended or otherwise, his move to a narrow 4-3-3 towards the end of the 2018/19 campaign brought these qualities from Morelos to the forefront.
The former Gers boss emphasised central occupation on the pitch, bringing his wingers infield to operate more as No.10s, which increased the number of players in close vicinity to Morelos.
By instructing the two so-called ‘wide’ players to move inside to play closer to Morelos, it allowed for quick combinations to free runners from deep beyond opposing defensive lines.
This was perfectly illustrated in Nathan Patterson’s go-ahead goal against Royal Antwerp in the Europa League knockout stages lasts season. Although Glen Kamara’s intended pass is intercepted before it reaches Morelos, the benefits of Morelos’ link-up play are evident.
With Hagi occupying the inside left channel, he is able to knock the ball inside to Morelos with a short pass.
This triggers Patterson’s run from the touchline. As Morelos has vacated the forward line, he can receive the ball facing goal, allowing him to slip a perfectly weighted pass through to Patterson in space.
Although it’s been it’s the improvement in Morelos’ goalscoring exploits which have caught the headlines, the Colombian is linking play more smoothly than he ever did under Gerrard.
Rangers have benefitted from the Colombian’s ability to read certain situations and how he can leverage both his hold and link-up play qualities to inject danger into the move.
If we take a look at the Colombian’s receptions in Rangers’ 2-0 win over Hibernian recently, the plan from van Bronckhorst to deploy Morelos in a very specific way to help Rangers overload Hibs’ left-hand side is apparent. With Scott Arfield deployed on the right-hand side, the Gers were able to cut through Hibs with quick, sharp combinations on the right.
Van Bronckhorst spoke at length after the triumph over Hibs about his use of Morelos and how the Colombian is adapting to his style of play.
He said: “Our objective was to make movements to get the ball to Alfredo and to play off him. We knew against a defensive team we needed runners behind the defence and of course, you need a player who can hold the ball.
“I think Morelos is doing really well in finding the moments to be available as a target man but also keep his threat in the 18-yard box because that is where he is very dangerous. I think his knowledge of when to come or when to stay away is getting better and better.”
It is similarly true of Morelos’ reception map in the 2-0 win over St. Mirren on Boxing Day this season. With van Bronckhorst deploying two ‘wingers’ in Scott Wright and Ryan Kent that afternoon Morelos was instructed to receive in central positions to maximise the space on the flanks.
Indeed, when Morelos totalled up 41 receptions in the 4-2 victory over Ross County in August it was the highest tally of the Colombian’s Rangers career. It took just three league games under van Bronckhorst to match that total – in the 3-0 victory over Dundee at Ibrox – which underlines the importance of Morelos’ link-up.
Rangers have reaped the rewards of the Colombian’s impressive link-up play in their last two league victories at Ibrox.
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Morelos capped off a fine brace in the 5-0 win over Hearts with an assist for a rare Glen Kamara strike, which encapsulated everything good about Morelos’ awareness.
With Rangers combining on the right-hand side, Morelos holds his central position.
As the ball is shifted infield to Joe Aribo in space, Morelos takes a step to his right. In doing so, he manipulates the positioning of his marker, Toby Sibbick, to widen the gap on the left-hand side of Hearts’ three-man defence.
This creates the space in which Kamara is able to attack before he receives a deft return pass from Morelos for a one-on-one opportunity.
By placing more emphasis on Morelos’ individual qualities van Bronckhorst has rekindled the Colombian’s impressive link-up play.
Not only is the 25-year-old finishing moves to devastating effect, but he is leveraging his best qualities to help his side advance into promising positions.
It is Rangers who stand to benefit.
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