What does Ravel Morrison’s good form for QPR mean for West Ham?

Ravel joins a new club and delivers with some style and panache to rave reviews and glowing headlines. Sound familiar Hammers fans? Some things never change, and Ravel Morrison’s capacity for hitting the ground running and doing the business seems to be a part of the lad’s make up and personality.

After being tipped for several years by all and sundry as the lad-most-likely-to-succeed at Manchester United, as we all know, ‘other things’ got in the way of his meteoric rise to fame and fortune and even the old master Sir Alex Ferguson decided enough was enough and shipped the brilliant but wayward player out of Old Trafford and into the waiting arms of Sam Allardyce and West Ham United.

What a result we all thought. All we have to do is tame the boy, give him some freedom and watch him dazzle…if only it was that easy. It wasn’t long before big Sam himself decided a move north was in his best interest (Morrison’s or Sam’s?) and he was sent packing off to Birmingham City under the watchful eye of Lee Clark, the grateful manager who made full use of young Morrision’s skills which saw him impress hugely and start to blossom into a player.

Clark was gushing in his praise for the 21-year-old Morrison, and was sorry to see him leave for West Ham after his load spell ended. Seemingly “reformed and more mature”, Morrison started to impress in the claret and blue, and a great solo goal at White Hart Lane in October 2013 made everyone sit up and take real notice. The boy had arrived, he must go to the Brazil 2014 World Cup, he was a genius…the hyperbole was flowing and as often happens when things are looking on the up, things just, well, faded and died.

A series of lacklustre performances led to regular stints on the subs bench, and it’s then that rumours surfaced about rifts involving Allardyce, Morrison and his agent. All was not well, clearly, and despite poor performances from certain midfielders, young Morrison was still ignored and unused. Something had to give. And it did.

Ever one to sniff an opportunity, wily old Harry Redknapp, now boss of out-of-form QPR, sensed a coup was possible. With Big Sam now willing to offload the mooching and unhappy Morrison, ‘Arry boy was in like a shot and saw the whizz-kid as just the playmaker (did you see those words Sam…PLAYMAKER?) to lift and inspire his failing favourites.

Four goals in five games, rave reviews, and this kid should go to Rio…isn’t this where we came in folks? Ravel has again hit the ground running and it seems that new faces, new challenges, new expectations fire the kid to hit the heights before, well, slowly falling back down to earth once the magic and excitement of the “first date” disappears and diminishes. I see some form of pattern emerging with Ravel Morrison.  Flashes of early brilliance followed by a cooling of the fires. Its as though he becomes bored or restless and needs a new challenge to get him involved and committed. We saw a fair few games for The Hammers where he just wasn’t at the races and seemed otherwise engaged.

I personally feel he has been played out of position and used incorrectly by management. Just as Chelsea ruined the younger Joey Cole by limiting him to the wing and making him track back to defend, so we saw the talented ball playing, creative Morrison stuck deep in the midfield, almost next to Mark Noble, playing easy sideways ball ten yards to feet and having no impact on the game in terms of forward play guile and skill.

This is a lad who should have been given licence to play in the final third, linking, jinking, slipping and sliding clever balls through, and generally causing panic for defences. Sam’s use of a talent was pointless and wasted, and it seems that Harry has realised just where he needs to play, and how he needs to be used.

So, back to the question posed at the outset; “What does Ravel Morrison’s good form for QPR mean for West Ham?”

It means he could rediscover his zest and love for the game and return as the real-deal, ready to blow the Premier League apart. It would be the return of a truly creative force, so badly lacking in the present West Ham set up. It also means however that he could decide that he needs a manager with the belief and vision to use him as a free spirit in order to maximise his huge potential, and that, I’m afraid, spells bad news for West Ham. I really don’t think that Ravel Morrison is a Sam Allardyce type of player. Not enough bite, power, size or energy for Allardyce who seems to view anyone under 6’2” who can dribble as a luxury to be tolerated.

Of course, young Morrison himself needs to get wise and see the bigger picture if he is going to prevent a repeat of the George Best scenario. There is for me however no doubt that a committed, happy, unshackled and free flowing Ravel Morrison would be a huge benefit to a hard working, powerful, but ultimately safe, limited, and  easy to read West Ham team, and time will tell whether all parts of this bizarre and complex jigsaw are going to fall into place.

I for one hope they do.