Alfredo Morelos is often a pivotal player for Rangers and Kevin Phillips has spoken to Football Insider about what the striker must do to rediscover his form.
What did he say?
Rangers had such a promising first half to their campaign and even in the new year they offered a lot of optimism to their supporters, despite the Scottish League Cup final defeat to Celtic.
A win over Celtic in late December put them in a great position to take the initiative in a title race, but defeats to Kilmarnock and Hamilton since mean there is now a 13-point game between the two sides.
Bayer Leverkusen also blew them away in the Europa League last week and much of their decline is due to Morelos’ lack of goals.
The striker is on a run of one in 12 games, meaning the Gers have been lacking their primary attacking outlet, and it is little surprise that they have struggled because of that.
Phillips made clear to the Colombia international that he is capable of returning to scoring ways if he follows the instructions given, and he also pointed to Jamie Vardy as a player who recently showed such attributes to end his own goalless run.
Speaking to Football Insider, the former striker said:
“You have just seen it with Jamie Vardy. Seven games without a goal and gets dropped but comes off the bench and scores two.
“I do not think I ever went nine games without a goal but if I was on a drought I would work harder. I would certainly be looking at goals I have scored and reminding myself what it is like. Then staying out on the training an extra half hour and practice hitting the target.
“The worst thing you can do is mope about and feel sorry for yourself and hope everyone else feels sorry for you. You need to keep working hard, get your head down and show good attitude. If Morelos keeps getting in those positions as Jamie Vardy does, the goals will come.”
Lack of confidence
As mentioned, the Glasgow outfit have declined in a number of areas in recent weeks, and after a Scottish Cup defeat to Hearts Steven Gerrard even expressed doubt over his future at the club.
Such negativity is likely to influence the squad, and after falling so far behind in the title race due to Celtic’s relentless winning habit, it is understandable that players may become discouraged.
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That could be what has disrupted Morelos’ form, though the recent Europa League home match against Braga showed that he is snatching at chances – and that indicates a lack of confidence.
The time off now gives him a chance to recharge and work hard like Phillips says, allowing him to work on the weaknesses in his game in order to come back firing.
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Gerrard too should be looking at ways of adjusting Rangers’ style of play to suit the 23-year-old, and though the chances of silverware may be pretty much over, there is still the bonus of building momentum ahead of next season.
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