Analysis Corner: Morelos Myths
By Dougie Wright (@dougie_wright)
Alfredo Morelos has had a mixed time of it since arriving in Glasgow.
On one hand, his debut season ended with fourteen goals as he adapted seamlessly to life in Scotland. Considering Rangers’ on-field problems, and that it was his first season in Scotland, it was a pretty good return.
Despite this, Morelos has picked up his fair share of critics. General accusations of a “bad attitude” have been made, while certain sections of the media have made dull jabs about the Colombian’s “street value” and “puppy fat”.
Six goals in his last seven games have silenced all but his harshest critics. Yet there is still a lingering perception of Morelos as a foul tempered brute who misses sitters. Let’s mythbust both of these in turn.
1) Morelos is a dirty player
Morelos has a weird reputation for being a bit of a thug.
Last season, the Colombian picked up an average of one yellow card for every three full games he played.
This is a decent amount, but hardly enough to earn him a permanent spot on Crimewatch.
By way of comparison, John McGinn and Graeme Shinnie picked up around one yellow card every two games. However, neither seem to have picked up the reputation for on pitch skulduggery that Morelos enjoys.
Perhaps his sulky demeanour has influenced this perception. Yet the fact remains that this guy has played nearly 100 full games as a professional and is yet to see a red card that was not later quashed on appeal.
The notion that he is a particularly violent or dirty player is nonsense.
2) He misses too many chances
While offering a critique of Alfredo Morelos’ overall game on Sunday, Chris Sutton claimed that although Morelos was a promising player, “he does miss chances”.
Albeit that there is yet to be a striker in the history of football who has scored with every shot they’ve taken, let’s assume Sutton meant instead that Morelos misses more than his fair share of chances.
This is probably based on a succession of chances Morelos had against Celtic last year where he failed to score.
Last season, Morelos took 84 shots and scored 14 goals.
That means that overall 17% of his shots hit the back of the net.
Moussa Dembélé is probably going to be the most expensive export in Scottish football history, and rightly so.
Yet the Frenchman scored 9 goals last season off the back of 59 shots, which gives a 15% conversion rate – marginally lower than Morelos’. However, I’m yet to read anything about around Dembélé’s profligacy in front of goal.
All strikers miss chances. Even the top scorers in any given season only score around 20% of their shots. Missing a big chance in a crunch game doesn’t make you a terrible finisher any more than scoring it makes you a goal machine.
There are naturally areas where Morelos could add to his game.
On many occasions, he will shoot from a tight angle in a crowded box when a pass to a better placed team mate would be more efficient. Furthermore, Spielverlagerung analyst Alex Lawrence has pointed out that the Colombian tends to attack the back post too often, when a run to the front post could create more space for oncoming team-mates.
In any case, the 22 year old is a pretty exciting prospect. He holds the ball up against bigger, stronger player with ease, his awareness of midfield runners helps him join up play when a long ball comes in from deep, he presses well and is extremely adept at finding space in the penalty box.
Altogether, he seems to have been given much too tough a time of it here in Scotland. If people put their prejudices aside, they’d be able to see that he’s one of the best players in the country
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