Ravel Morrison's Mexican adventure is the perfect second chance he needs
After years of failing to deliver on his potential, the Englishman is now rebuilding his career in Mexico’s Liga MX
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Your support makes all the difference.It’s ironic that a footballer who once appeared destined to take on the world is rebuilding his career at a club called Atlas.
Indeed, it’s likely that Ravel Morrison would have had to grab himself one to find out where his new club were located.
At first glance, the Mexican top flight doesn’t seem to be the obvious place for a footballer whose flair is matched only by his flaws.
But after having an immediate impact in Mexico’s Liga MX, perhaps both club and player might just be onto something.
At his unveiling in Guadalajara back in September, Morrison was certainly making all the right noises.
“I’m looking forward to coming to play here, the past is the past,” he said. “It’s different when we get on the field. [I’ll] just let football do the talking. The other negative side is in the past.”
Of course, it hasn’t been the quietest month in the Central American country, with an earthquake measuring 7.1 in magnitude leaving a large number of football stadiums to act as emergency relief centres.
In a bid to ensure that the salvage effort was not hindered by resources being diverted elsewhere, midweek and weekend matches were postponed within hours of the quake hitting.
Edson Alvarez and Alejandro Diaz, from America, one of Mexico’s most popular clubs, were just two of a number of players who joined that effort.
“We are all Mexicans today, so must gather our efforts and help out,” said Diaz.
After making a promising debut in his opening appearance as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat away to Monterrey, just three days before the quake, a national crisis was probably the last thing Morrison imagined himself walking into. Where Morrison goes, though, drama tends to follow.
He had to wait another two weeks for a second opportunity to show Atlas supporters what he was capable of, again coming on as a substitute against Veracruz at the Estadio Jalisco in a 2-0 win.
Both goals came after the 24-year-old’s entry.
So, can this unlikely move pay off for a footballer who had Sir Alex Ferguson, and a good many others, tearing their hair out in frustration?
One footballer who has seen Morrison in action in both England and Mexico is former Crystal Palace striker, Antonio Pedroza.
Chester-born Pedroza admits that Mexico was probably the last place he expected the former Manchester United youth star to resurface, if only because he knew that Morrison was so highly in demand while he was playing in England.
“I am surprised because when he was at Manchester, everybody used to say amazing things about him,” Pedrosa tells the Independent.
“There a very different club to Manchester United, there isn’t the same sort of history at Atlas (it’s 66 years since they last won the league) so I think it will be hard for Ravel to do something big with them.
“At the moment, nobody knows Ravel (in Mexico) so he has to start doing things on the pitch so that can change.”
A free-kick from 35 yards in his Mexican opener against Monterey certainly got pulses racing in the country and earned him some instant love from Los Rojinegros supporters on Instagram.
Keeping going over the course of the season, though, will be tough in a physically demanding league and one where defenders aren’t known for taking prisoners, particularly against players as skilful as Morrison.
“The Mexican league is very technical and we all know that Ravel has that technical quality,” says Pedroza. “But you have to be very fit to play in Mexico because players are expected to do a lot of running, a lot of tracking back. He will need to have that fitness to do big things here.”
There has never been any question of Morrison’s quality - every coach who has had ever worked with him will bear testimony to that. It’s his hunger and desire to fulfil that ability that has seen him shipped from club-to-club as managers scratch their head over how to get the best out of the wayward Wythenshawe wonder.
“Anyone can be judged on anything,” said Morrison after signing for the club. “I could do one thing and be great and I can do one thing and it could be bad, but I’m the same person just judged in different ways.”
Whether his time at Atlas makes him a Central American superstar only time will tell. After a year stagnating at Lazio, the clock on his career is already ticking.
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