When it comes to Rangers’ tactics against Dundee, it’s fair to assume we all believed it would be all-out-attack.
Yet, Steven Gerrard chose to leave one of his star-strikers on the bench in Kyle Lafferty. Alfredo Morelos was given the nod, and he failed to nick a goal. Granted, he bagged an offside one that should’ve counted, but didn’t grab a goal that stood.
There are a number of reasons that the Rangers manager could’ve decided to do this, and fans will have their own views.
Firstly, this could have be a one-off. Gerrard may have been saving Lafferty given he’s still just arrived at the club. With Morelos fresh off of a big win on international duty with Colombia, his morale was sure to be sky-high.
Another option is that Gerrard believed Morelos to be more suited to facing Dundee. This is highly unlikely, however, as Lafferty has several strikes against the Dees to his name in Scotland. Picking either of the two forward men would’ve given Dundee problems.
An enforced decision?
Most likely, however is that he was just saving Lafferty. The Rangers manager will have been concerned when he heard Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill claim Lafferty missed international training.
Lafferty has different attributes to Morelos, but remains a goal-threat for every side in the division.
Gerrard does have a good excuse for not playing both up top in that regard. It surely isn’t because he didn’t like the look of the pair together against Celtic. It’s important to remember that both men took part in the tiring Europa League win against Ufa of Russia with nine-men.
It’ll be extremely interesting to see whether the Rangers manager reverts back to two up top against St Johnstone next week. Villarreal will see Rangers come out with the lone-striker once more. They’re too dangerous and going with another man up front would leave unnecessary gaps.
It was an interesting choice from the Gers manager, but is this switch permanent?
