Sam Allardyce gambled on the highly-rated England youngster when he took him off Sir Alex Ferguson’s hands less than two years ago. This season, the teenager has turned into a revelation and produced some match-winning performances for the East London club.
His talent was never doubted at United, with Sir Alex Ferguson telling Allardyce that if he sorted out the teenager’s attitude, then he’d have a world-class player at his club. Reluctantly, Ferguson sold Morrison for a reported fee of around £850,000 as the ex-Scottish manager looked to revive the starlet’s career which he thought, would be better done so away from Old Trafford.
Morrison featured heavily in Birmingham City’s league campaign last year during a season-long loan, playing over 30 times for the Midlands club and has now broken into West Ham’s first team, scoring five goals in all competitions so far this season. The midfielder has already scored twice in the Capital One Cup and has a strong chance to impress against City in the Semi-Finals in January.
His impressive season on loan in the Championship has earned the midfielder a place in the England U21 team this year. Ravel Morrison has featured often in the Qualifying rounds of the UEFA U21’s Championships, scoring twice in the 5-0 win against Lithuania. This impressive form both in the league and for his country will surely be giving Roy Hodgson a headache as he’ll be considering the young West Ham midfielder in his 2014 World Cup squad in Brazil.
The explosive midfielder has the ability to drive through teams with his pace and has a creative mind in the final third, given his vast amount of flair. One part of Ravel Morrison’s game that Sam Allardyce will be looking to improve, is the amount of assists the youngster gets. So far, Ravel Morrison has only managed to provide two assists – both of which coming in the league, and so the West Ham boss will be hoping for one or two more in either leg of the Semi-Final ties against City.
Last time Morrison and West Ham faced the Citizens the East London side lost 3-1, however the flamboyant attacking midfielder looked lively during the game, with a few tricks to please the crowd but unfortunately that just wasn’t enough.
Allardyce will be looking to retain the young prodigy’s confidence against the bigger clubs, which often sees him being caught in possession. West Ham fans will be hoping that his temper won’t get the better of him either, which has seen him pick up a suspension for the Liverpool clash in the league after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
A result against Man City in either leg will heavily focus around the mercurial Morrison and if the England U21 international can perform to the best of his ability, then Sam Allardyce will fancy his chances at upsetting the odds.
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