At the age of 18 Ravel Morrison was regretfully sold by Sir Alex Ferguson to West Ham for £1million, claiming that he needed to get out of Manchester and start a new life. Yesterday he scored a terrific single effort for the Hammers, with his manager Sam Allardyce claiming he has "sorted himself out."
The question now is as to whether Ravel Morrison would be a candidate for the England team. The reason this is such a big question is entirely down to Morrison's controversial past, rather than his undoubted playing ability. Not only did Morrison have attitude problems during his time in Manchester, he also had some very serious off field problems, such as when he received a 12 month referral order when he pleaded guilty to witness intimidation.
Morrison has been said to be the greatest talent to emerge at Old Trafford since Paul Scholes, high praise indeed, his goal yesterday going a way to prove that point. However, the question now lies with whether he has genuinely been tamed. Time after time he was given chances, however controversy has followed him everywhere: the intimidation, throwing his girlfriends phone out of a window, making homophobic threats on twitter, having attitude problems while out on loan at Birmingham. So has he now finally decided that it is time for him to shine and put his past behind him?
A big step towards playing for England was taken earlier this week when Morrison was called up for the England under 21 team for the first time, although he has played for younger England teams, he was reported in 2012 to be interested in joining the Jamaican national team. Morrison has now scored four goals in eight appearances this season now, consistently putting in impressive performances that would surely merit a place in a England squad.
In recent history England players who have had a poor disciplinary background in the past, such as Joey Barton, who is convinced that if it wasn't for his history, that he would have been a key player for England, although he also said he would not be playing Championship football this season...
His team mate and captain Kevin Nolan, appears to believe that Morrison has changed his ways:"Ravel has been fantastic since he came back [to West Ham]. Last year we had a lot of problems with his lifestyle off the pitch as well as on it, but he went to Birmingham [on loan] and worked really hard, and got back in the team at the end of last season and it was like he was a new man. He is one now. He needs to stand up.
"Me and Mark Noble speak to him and have had big long chats with him all last season, we try to protect him and take him under our wing and we will continue to do that. Obviously we are going to be excited by his talent, it's frightening and I think if you ask anyone at Manchester United they will tell you the same.
"But it's about nurturing him and making sure he does the right things on and off the field - you are now starting to see the player that Manchester United saw in him when he was younger."
So has, as his manager put it "the penny dropped" ? Should Ravel Morrison be given the chance to play for England, is he even good enough to play for England? All interesting questions that will be answered in time, but for now he remains a hot prospect, who needs to continue to work in order to stay innocent off the pitch, if he can manage that, who knows what lies ahead in his future.
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