Steven Gerrard preaches 'both sides' of Alfredo Morelos | OneFootball

Steven Gerrard admits that 28-goal striker Alfredo Morelos is ‘no angel’, but insists the Colombian is a family man who gets a bad rap.

After picking up six red cards last year (one of which was rescinded), he has only earned two so far this year – both of which have come in December as a result of a second yellow card.

Though many teams may steer clear from Morelos in the transfer market due to his suspected attitude problems, but Gerrard sees Morelos as the guy who went back to Colombia to buy Christmas presents for kids and to play in a charity match to benefit his foundation.

In fact, over 300 non-perishable bags of food were collected at the match, and Morelos took to the streets to hand-deliver the items personally to those in his hometown of Cerete.

“We’ve given him an extra couple of days for a couple of reasons,” Gerrard said in Dubai.

“He’s not available in the short-term, but, more importantly, he loses a day going home, he loses a day coming back.

“Add to that, over the course of the nine months he gets very little chance to go and see his family, whereas the London lads if they get a day or two can shoot down to London.

“For a young lad, it’s important he gets valuable family time. Listen, I know both sides of Alfredo.

“I’m not going to sit here and paint a picture of an angel, he’s a maverick. I love working with him, he’s a fantastic talent as a player, he’s still young, he’s still making mistakes.

“He’s not the type of person that much affects. If you give him a ball and a grass pitch, you get smiles out of Alfredo.

“I’ve had a good dialogue with him since the last game. He’s fine, he’s happy at home, he’s gone and done what he does annually.

“For people that don’t know him, he’s over-generous. Even the charity stuff that he does at Rangers, he’s always the first to put his hand up and put his hand in his pocket. He does give a lot.

“Certain people do misunderstand the whole Alfredo, but there’s still work to do to get him exactly where we want him.”

His Old Firm derby red card will keep him out of the upcoming matches against Stranraer, St. Mirren, and Hearts.