Golden Boot winner makes ‘very rare’ Rangers claim after Morelos ‘annoyed’ by Gerrard
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard likely had no choice but to publicly criticise Alfredo Morelos, according to Kevin Phillips.
The 2000 European Golden Shoe winner, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, said Gerrard’s comments were probably the only way to motivate Morelos, 25.
As quoted by BBC Sport (October 20th), Gerrard criticised Morelos’ record in front of goal this season.
He insisted five goals in 15 games is “not enough” for a player of his quality.
However, Morelos responded today by scoring his sixth goal of the campaign in a 2-1 win at St Mirren Park.
When asked by Football Insider how he would have responded to such a challenge from his manager, Phillips said: “That would annoy me and spur me on if my manager said that.
“It is very rare for a manager to come out and say that publicly. Stevie G is not daft though.
“Sometimes it comes to a point where you have to come out and criticise your player publicly. You might have tried everything else in the book behind closed doors. He’s chosen to come out publicly because maybe that was the only option left.
“Stevie G has put it out there to see if he could get a response and he did. Some players respond to that.
“It never really happened to me in my career. If it did though, I would’ve thought, ‘Right, I will go and show you.’
“You can learn a lot about a player from how they react to challenges like that.
“The hope will be that he goes on a run now. five goals in 15 was not good enough for a player of his quality.”
In other news, an Ibrox pundit has claimed Rangers face another “massive” financial blow after a confession from Gerrard.