We Need To Talk About Steve
There’s something wrong with him, isn’t there?
The Voldemort-a-like who hustled and bustled as a lone striker for weeks on end earlier in the season now cuts a lonely figure. This was a player who fired away key goals against Sunderland, QPR and Newcastle, and still sits on a healthy figure right now, but something has changed in him.
Let’s look at the player we brought in. This was the verdict of a Millwall fan upon his move to Norfolk:
The Good - Morison’s main attributes lie in his strength, determination and general upsetting of defenders. He gets a few goals too! He works hard up front and he has very good pace. His running with the ball is especially good. He works the line very well. He’ll hassle the centre-backs with his height, arms and strength. He has a very good first touch with his back to goal. He can hold up play whether the ball is played in to his feet, chest or head. He actually works he whole back line. He drifts wide and attacks the full backs on either side with his pace and running strength.
Fair enough. We’ve seen examples of all of this at points in the season. You don’t get goals as a lone striker without bring determined and hard working. Against Swansea, for example, he put in one of the best ‘number 9′ performances you’ll see in a long time, completely doing over their defenders and working hard for every ball. He would run the channels and create chances as well as finish them, even if sometimes this one-on-one finishing was poor (see Chelsea, Man City). This was a player who, as Christmas approached, was the number one striker and had taken to the Premier League arguably better than Holt. He was a different sort too; he would go to win headers rather than fouls. He had honest endeavour rather than sneaky guile. He was an early Player of the Season contender.
The bad – He scores in patches. It’s odd to put this in the bad but he’ll go 5 or 6 games without a goal, and then go on a run of games scoring consistently. He has an awful record when put through 1-on-1. Away at Swansea he missed a hat-tricks worth to start with. He has very little composure which I think is important for a striker. If he doesn’t have time to think – he scores. Simple as that. But put him in a situation where he has time, and generally he misses. Despite noting it as an asset, his constant drifting wide causes your own team problems, in that unless you’ve midfielders making runs into the box, it can leave you short of numbers.
Again, sounds familiar. Already noted his lack of composure at one-on-ones and it seems this is a regular thing. And then there’s the pulling wide… this is when I began to hear the first mutterings of dissatisfaction among the easily upset at Carrow Road. We played several games with just him up front, and his tendency to pull wide and run the channels left us without options in the box. This isn’t just a fault of Morison, of course. Holt also pulls wide all the time, and it wouldn’t be a problem for either when they are supported by wingers/midfielders taking up central positions. So there’s good and bad.
The Ugly - This season we’ve started to see a different side to Steve. He’s moaning at the refs a lot more, especially when things don’t go his way. On top of this be has become very petulant on the pitch. He’s picking up stupid yellow cards. His body language doesn’t lend itself to a player that is working hard or trying. It’s easy to think he is sulking or not trying because of his movement on the pitch. If you, like us, have supporters that equate players running around like headless chickens as “giving their all” then he will quickly be regarded as lazy and not trying hard enough. And that’s when the stick and groans will come.
Oh.
That’s familiar. That’s what I’ve been hearing lately, and that’s what I read online when Morison’s name is mentioned. He’s called lazy, sulky and worse. And it’s easy to see where this comes from. He cuts a dejected figure on the pitch and he doesn’t seem to communicate that well. His face seems to show disgust when something doesn’t come off, and all too often he will stop running for an opportunity that, to the crowd at least, looks still on. And there’s no acknowledgement to teammates, no thanks or apologetic sign. He just turns around and walks back.
Walking. That seems to be the impression, but is it an unfair one? You put any striker next to Holt and you’ll look lazy by comparison. Holt never stops running, never stops harassing defenders or chasing lost causes. It’s part of what makes him better than people think. He succeeds on sheer determination and what he lacks in natural ability or finesse he makes up for with desire. This has endeared him to us. Is the rub on Morison that he looks bad in comparison? That when he doesn’t run for every chance or harass every defender, we think he should be?
After all, not every striker needs to run around like a headless chicken to be effective. Chris Martin is forever excused by many Norwich fans for his perceived lack of work rate because he apparently makes up for it in other areas. Is this not the case with Morison too? I mean, he has the goals to prove it… and lets not forget he’s set up a few too.
But something does seem to have changed. The player that started superbly and led the line for games on end is now on the bench, and lets not pretend that the introduction of Wilbraham over him in the recent Man Utd game was anything less than a message to the former Millwall man. His shoulders look to have dropped, and for a team exceeding all expectations, he doesn’t look to be enjoying himself. Not like he did earlier in the season.
Is it just in the minds of fans? Or is there something in it? Time will tell if Morison will hit the form of earlier in the season again, and like everyone I hope he does. But with Holt firing, Jackson tireless and taking his chances, Vaughan returning to fitness and even Wilbraham playing well off the bench, he may begin to find his chances limited. And if he looks sulky now, god knows what that will do to him.
note – ignore any ‘rumours’ you’ve heard or read online about him. you know the ones – and don’t mention them in comments. they are utter trash.
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It’s quite clear his attitude has change and Lambert picking Wilbraham ahead of him against Man U was a sure sign. It cut to Lambert just after the sub and you could see Morison behind him unstrapping his tape in a rather aggressive way. For me, Lambert has sent Morison a message, it’s up to Morison if he chooses to take that message on board. If he doesn’t I can honestly see us shipping him out before the start of next season. This is coming from someone who thought he was amazing for the first 10 or so games this season!
A few thoughts:
- Morison started strong, but has faded massively since Xmas. Holt started slow, but has become stronger as the season progressed. This also happened last year (Milwall fans where saying that he was crap since Xmas when we signed, Holt had a slow start too) and also happened the year before with Holt in League 1 (I thought he looked like a fat Alan Lee vs Col U). Coincidence? Or maybe part of the reason Lambert bought Morison?
- Wilbraham has been excellent off the bench recently, so fully deserved to come on regardless of Morisons form. Lambert always picks the best players for the job & also those on form… part of the reason we’ve been great as no-one is guaranteed a place. Wilbraham coming on is a message to every player – take your chances when you get them.
- Just because you look like you can’t be arsed doesn’t mean you can’t be arsed… I’ve always thought that Morison doesn’t look happy, but only now is coming up as he’s been poor recently.
There was a moment in the Leicester game, which was one I managed to see. The ball was played out wide right ahead of Morison. He didn’t get the ball and wasn’t going to, because he wasn’t looking for the pass and wasn’t moving, and so made no effort to get past his marker and reach the ball. But he put his hands out in front, palms up and made a very obvious complaint about the ball not being played to his feet. I hated it. It was the most public display of not supporting the team spirit that I have seen displayed by a player this season. He also made the gesture right in front of PL, which also made me even more shocked. He was subbed probably within 5 minutes, and like everyone else I loved Wilbraham’s attitude and effort in comparison – and he’s a player who has certainly received plenty of stick in his time. I have no idea what is wrong in his head, but something certainly is, and since PL is a man motivator not a psychiatrist, I guess we’ll see soon enough whether the motivator is enough. I’m not sure it is myself, especially if he is repeating a pattern here.