Giovanni van Bronckhorst could consider the advice of two of the best managers the world has ever produced as he weighs up a selection dilemma over key man Alfredo Morelos for Rangers’ do or die Champions League return clash with Union Saint Gilloise at Ibrox.
The Colombian has been declared fit for the huge match in Govan but exactly how fit he is to cope with a game of such magnitude isn’t clear. Morelos played his first 45 minutes in almost five months at the weekend yet that was all he needed to find the net against Kilmarnock.
Morelos came off the bench at half time against the Ayrshiremen and netted three minutes from time to add to Antonio Colak ’s earlier strike. So does Van Bronckhorst start with Morelos in the hope he can get the goal to get them back into the game or wait to see how the match is going and inject his goal threat into the match later on?
And the same goes for Ryan Kent, to a lesser extent as he appears behind Morelos in his fitness. He has tormented plenty of opposing defences on big European nights but hasn’t featured in any of the last two games due to injury. Is the former Liverpool man a lethal weapon to bring off the bench or, again, start with him and see how much he has in the tank?
It’s two big decisions for Van Bronckhorst and with a potential £40 million riding on it he’s paid the big bucks to come up with the answers. Sir Alex Ferguson was in no doubt last season when he was overheard criticising former pupil Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for leaving star man Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for a 1-1 draw against Everton.
The Portuguese ace was brought on just before the hour mark but couldn’t help them get the victory and Ferguson, in a conversation with UFC fight legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, said: “I also think that when they (Everton) saw that Ronaldo wasn't playing, it was a bit...you should always start with your best players.”
Solskjaer’s decision might have been slightly different in that Ronaldo’s fitness wasn’t in question - but Ferguson’s point remains the same. You should ALWAYS start with your best players. And Morelos and Kent fall into that category for Rangers.
Another example was Harry Kane in the Champions League final. The Spurs captain was rushed back to face Liverpool in Madrid in his first appearance since damaging ankle ligaments the previous month. The consensus was that he was well off the pace and shouldn’t have started.
But Jose Mourinho, working as a pundit at that time and who knows a thing or two about getting big decisions right, disagreed and said of that situation: “There are some matches where protocols mean nothing, nothing. So if that was the case, I think it isn’t the case to blame Harry or medical departments. That is just the nature of the way football is.
“I would play only with one leg if I was a player and I was playing in a Champions League final. With crutches. How can you stop a player playing in a Champions League final? Every player breaks protocols to play a Champions League final or a cup final.”
This might not be a Champions League final - or any final for that matter - but it is in all but name for Rangers. It’s over a decade since they reached the Champions League group stage and there is so much riding on it as they look to overturn a two-goal first leg deficit.
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