Was Ravel Morrison the big mistake of Sir Alex Ferguson?

With him, coach legend Sir Alex Ferguson made one of his biggest mistakes: Ravel Morrison.

Because of him, Manchester United let the young Paul Pogba move free of charge nine years ago. An expensive mistake, as it soon became apparent: the “Red Devils” bought back the French superstar 2016 for 105 million euros.

Hopeful Morrison, however, had long since crashed. At the time, however, successful coach Ferguson was by no means alone with his high opinion of the game designer.

Former players still click their tongues when they think of the arts of the 1.75-meter tall technician. In 2011 Morrison led the young team to two goals in front of 25,000 fans in Old Trafford United’s cup victory. The hype surrounding the young man was at its peak. But Morrison’s decline began a little later.

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In order: As a 15-year-old, Morrison joined Manchester’s youth academy in 2009. Already as a 16-year-old he trained in the star ensemble of the English record champion. “He had more talent than any other young man we’ve ever contracted,” Ferguson recalls in his biography Leading.

Rooney: “Morrison was brilliant”

The exceptional talent played freely in professional training. In the Daily Mail United icon Wayne Rooney wrote: “He had everything a player needed in his position. He was brilliant. He was carefree.”

The former England international had one scene in particular with the youngster in his head: “He gave Nemanja Vidic three leg shots in one minute.” Compared to Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard of the same age, “Ravel was miles better”.

But the 34-year-old now also knows: “He is proof that there are guidelines that every player in professional football must follow.”

Rooney’s allusion: Shortly after Morrison signed his first professional contract with Manchester United in February 2011, the scandals of the highly talented kickers started. Two of his friends were on trial for a knife attack. Morrison threatened two witnesses not to testify in court. As a minor, he narrowly escaped prison.

Ferguson’s rehabilitation fails

Despite the vortex, Ferguson continued to support his protege. The traditional club wanted to go through a “rehabilitation process” with it, it said.

A year after his early professional debut, Morrison got two more chances in the League Cup. But it stayed that way. He remained pale during the missions. He showed little bite in training. The 27-year-old skipped the team training. “Sir Alex told me that I have to concentrate more on football and work harder,” said the problem child years later.

In the summer of 2012, Ferguson realized that he had bitten granite at Morrison’s. The midfielder went to West Ham United on a free transfer. “It was very painful to let him go,” said the 78-year-old. “But the problems escalated. We had to cut the ribbon.”

Capable of “level just below Ronaldo and Messi”

At West Ham, Morrison was under contract for three years. He did not make the breakthrough there either. The London club lent him to Birmingham, the Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City.

With the Rangers he scored six goals in 15 competitive matches. Morrison was also impressed by the new teammates. “Ravel could have reached a level just below Messi and Ronaldo,” said his former teammate Joshua King about a year ago Guardian. “He is the most talented soccer player I have ever played with.”

Allegations of violence and homophobic insults

However, Morrison was back in court in 2014. He is said to have hit his ex-girlfriend. The court dropped the charge for lack of evidence. But the mud battle continued: After the verdict, the ex-girlfriend claimed that the soccer player had threatened her with the words “I pour acid on your face”.

He also got into trouble with the English Football Association. The athlete insulted another user on Twitter. The association rated this as a homophobic statement and sentenced it to a fine of 8,350 euros.

In 2015, Morrison was already considered a failure in England. He tried his luck abroad at Lazio Rome. There he only played four competitive games in two years. In 2017 the Italians loaned him out again to the Queens Park Rangers. During this time, the Jamaican Association tried to appoint Morrison to the senior team. After he had run through all of England’s sub-national teams, the “Three Lions” train had long since left him. But the debut for Jamaica never came.

In summer 2017 he tried the Mexican first division club Atlas FC. But he couldn’t fight for a regular place there either. Lazio reacted and finally gave up the Morrison experiment. The migratory bird came to the Swedish league at Östersund – his eighth professional station. Number nine followed after half a year: Sheffield United. The former United hope bearer is now on loan at Middlesbrough FC.

Morrison is now 27 years old. He is trying to finally prevail at his tenth professional station – outcome open.

What remains are the spectacular stories about the former child prodigy. United icon Ferdinand, for example, revealed in the podcast a few days ago Beautiful gamethat he offered himself to Morrison as a mentor. In doing so, he tried to convince Ferguson to hold the highly talented kicker. In vain, the 41-year-old recalls. “Ravel slipped, but he could have been a £ 100m player.”

Morrison: “It makes me angry”

Morrison himself now regrets having missed his chance at the Red Devils. “It makes me a little angry that I could have made it much further. I hope it will go even further, “he told the radio station TalkSport.

His former teammates trust him to still get professional sports. “I saw a training video,” says Ferguson. “What he delivered there was still crazy. He was doing crazy things.”

Despite all the advertisements and scraps, Joshua King attests to his former teammate’s good character. “He was unhappy. People have a wrong impression of him. Sometimes it is difficult to grow up. But he has a big heart.”

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