As a fully paid-up member of the strikers’ union, I can’t quite believe what I’m about to write.
But when picking his Rangers team for the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic, I think Michael Beale will be pondering whether to play one or not. That might sound crazy to supporters who fully expect Alfredo Morelos to lead the line at Hampden. But believe me, it’s something the manager will be considering. It will be in his head, 100 per cent.
Morelos isn’t producing enough for the team right now. He just isn’t firing Has he been awful? Recently, no. Previously, he had been – that’s when Michael spoke about him publicly. Weeks ago, Michael said he needed more from him. And he’s probably got a little bit, to be fair. But not enough to suggest that he’s going to have a major impact on this semi-final.
So do you pick him just for the sake of having a proper striker up there? Or do you try to find a different way to beat Celtic? Of course, it will depend on how Michael wants to play. Up until now he has effectively been playing with two strikers. At Celtic Park for the last Old Firm game it was Morelos and Malik Tillman with Fashion Sakala on the bench. This time, he could decide to leave Morelos out and go with Tillman and Sakala up top.
If he does, those two will need to initiate Rangers’ pressing game. Remember, that actually worked well in the league fixture, despite losing 3-2. Their system off the ball – with Todd Cantwell and Ryan Kent behind them on either side – was excellent.
The issue for Michael will be if he drops Morelos and loses the game. If he goes into it without a recognised centre-forward, a guy who has over 100 goals for the club and is Rangers’ top all-time European scorer? He’ll be on a hiding to nothing. That’s management for you. Beale and Ange Postecoglou must pull out their hair trying to make these big calls. People might think it’s madness to leave Morelos out of a game of this magnitude.
But I’m telling you, Beale is thinking about it. His staff will have had the conversation. If he plays, Michael needs a real top-level performance from Morelos. But there are few players capable of turning it on and off like a light switch. Last week at Pittodrie, he needed the Morelos of two years ago when he was bullying Aberdeen. He didn’t get it. So that’s the dilemma. And he has to get decisions right because we can’t under-estimate how important this game is for Michael. The atmosphere at Hampden will be electric. I was at the Etihad on Wednesday night for what was effectively a Premier League title decider. But the atmosphere for Manchester City v Arsenal was NOTHING compared to what this Old Firm game will be like.
I said in this column before that – even with the title gone – the last three derbies were crucial for Michael. He lost the first even though Rangers played very well in my eyes. They turned up at Parkhead but made two big mistakes and got punished. These games are won and lost by moments in both boxes. At Hampden today, this is Rangers’ trophy. So these players have to show a level of pride in retaining it. Secondly, it’s their only chance of silverware this season.
If they don’t win then it’s a trophy-less campaign. Rangers can’t have that any more. They had 10 years of that previously and it won’t be accepted by the supporters any longer. Idon’t think Michael will accept it either. He’s here to win. And this is his chance. The league was over when he got here but this is a cup that’s there for the taking. It’s a chance to stop a Celtic Treble.
If Michael can stop it he’ll change the whole dynamic of the summer. There will be new signings coming into Ibrox in the next window, which will bring positivity. But imagine if, on top of that, they can say they’ve retained the Scottish Cup?
Michael would be able to say he’s won one trophy out of two against Ange. That’s the chance he has, to finish the season on a real high by lifting silverware. Because that’s what people will remember going into the summer. Of course, it’s the league that has to be won next season.
But that wasn’t Michael’s job this term, it was impossible but the Scottish Cup is different. He needs one or two of his players to produce a big moment at Hampden by creating of scoring a goal. The likes of Kent, Cantwell, Tillman, Sakala – they need to produce for Rangers when it really matters now.
Whether Morelos can be the hero or not remains to be seen. If he plays he should ask himself how he wants to be remembered by Rangers fans. As the guy who isn’t certain even to start in a massive cup tie against Celtic?
Or the Morelos with fire in his belly and a hunger for goals from a few years ago? For his and Rangers’ sake, I really hope it’s the latter.
