Steven Gerrard names ‘maverick’ who received eight reds at Rangers as hardest he is managed
Steven Gerrard already has plenty of experience as a football manager, but there is one player who stands out as the most difficult he has taken charge of
Steven Gerrard has opened up about the toughest player he has ever managed(Image: The Overlap/YouTube)
Steven Gerrard has said former Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos is the most challenging player he’s ever managed.
He reflected on the demanding period supervising the controversial Colombian forward. Morelos was dogged by disciplinary problems throughout his Rangers tenure yet remained a crucial weapon with his scoring prowess, netting 17 goals during Gerrard’s campaign when the club clinched the Scottish Premiership crown.
Gerrard disclosed he was forced to bring in Kemar Roofe and Jermain Defoe as backup choices because he couldn’t rely on the erratic Morelos. Throughout his Rangers career, Morelos received eight red cards for various offences. He departed the club in 2023, moving to Brazilian outfit Santos, and now represents Atletico Nacional in his homeland Colombia.
Speaking on The Overlap, Gerrard identified Morelos as his most difficult charge, saying: “Morelos at Rangers was tough to manage. Maverick behaviours. So important to Rangers because he was the goals, but he was challenging.
“He’d bend the rules and after he’d scored a brace, you always knew something was sorted in the post – either him being late or some incident. When you’re going into a job, you want to try and set rules and have values of your team and stuff like that.
“Sometimes you’d have to bite your tongue and turn a blind eye to one or two, it’s just trying to not get caught by the players when you’re doing it. But yeah, he was important to Rangers and I knew he was so important.
“I knew the time would come where I could get into a place where he’s maybe less as important. That’s why I brought Jermain Defoe in. That’s why I brought Kemar Roofe in.
“When he was having these periods, where he would be challenging or break your rules and your values, Defoe and Kemar Roofe were itching to play and they were as good as him. Jermaine was much better than him at the age, but they were the reason why we won the league because their goals in the team and the squad is how we eventually won.”
The Liverpool and England legend stunned Ibrox when he departed for Aston Villa merely six months after steering the Light Blues to the Scottish Premiership crown. He has acknowledged that he now regrets his hasty exit from Rangers.
He’s conceded it was premature to leave Rangers but stressed that the Rangers hierarchy were unwilling to go that extra yard. Looking back on his switch from Rangers to Villa, he said: “The level was a big jump. Probably didn’t realise at the time when I made that decision.
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“In hindsight again, we talk about hindsight; we’d all be great with hindsight, wouldn’t we? Would have stayed at Rangers longer, more experience, stay up there for longer. So I regret doing it now, sitting here, I didn’t at the time. It was tough.
“Also, the conversations with Rangers after we won it, the recruitment and the finance chats that we were having didn’t feel like Rangers were ready to go again. It was a bit more of a like, ‘oh, let’s settle this and fix that and do that.’
“The promises weren’t as strong as it what I thought they would be. Then the Premier League offer and opportunity comes in, it’s tough. It’s tough to say no to that Villa, a great club. I have nothing bad to say about them.”
Gerrard had been in talks for a stunning comeback to Rangers earlier this campaign before the deal collapsed and Ibrox chiefs turned to Danny Rohl.
