The Spaniard has endured a frustrating first season with Chelsea. Llion discusses whether the scrutiny that Morata has received has been warranted.
Given the nature of modern-day football, Morata’s £58M arrival from Real Madrid was the subject of much fanfare and expectation during the summer window. Despite being Karim Benzema’s understudy with the Spanish giants, Morata outscored the Frenchman in La Liga last season – he amassed 15 goals in comparison to Benzema’s total of 11 as Madrid convincingly won the Spanish division.
This was undoubtedly an impressive achievement and one that was widely appreciated among Chelsea supporters in light of Diego Costa’s expected departure. His popularity soared with a tremendous start to life in the Premier League. A criticism which is often levelled at foreign players is whether they can adapt to the constant tempo of the Premier League, and yet, Morata had seemingly transitioned without any problems.
The 25-year-old scored seven goals in his first eight games for the Blues, which included a stunning hat-trick away at Stoke City (although it wasn’t a cold and wet evening).
However, he has only amassed eight goals in the 36 games that followed. This has prompted much criticism of the striker’s performances, yet have those judgements been justified? Should his season be viewed as a success?
Firstly, Morata has been forced to contend with difficult circumstances that have thwarted his ability to fulfil his potential on the pitch. The Spaniard has missed eight games for the Blues this season, with hamstring and back injuries. He even admitted that he rushed his return from injury, and his on-field performances could have improved with greater patience.
Moreover, he was forced to deal with the psychological trauma of losing a close friend, which conceivably affected his mental wellbeing. Had these issues not happened, then perhaps Morata would be playing with a greater sense of comfort on the pitch.
Furthermore, this is also the first season that Morata has been entrusted as a team’s leading striker. Before arriving in the summer window, the Spaniard had played pivotal roles for his previous teams, but he had never assumed primary responsibility with Juventus or Real Madrid.
In fact, Morata had only registered 188 appearances over the course of seven seasons (before his arrival), an average of 26.9 games a season. Contrastingly, he has already attained 43 appearances for the Blues this season. Accordingly, it is probable to suggest that fatigue has impacted his performances, especially when considering that Conte didn’t trust Batshuayi to compete for the forward position in the league. The arrival of Olivier Giroud has been a testament to the significance of healthy competition.
To date, the former Real striker has scored 15 goals in all competitions, which I believe is a reasonably good return for his preliminary season as a Chelsea player. While this statistic has angered some of our supporters, who have yearned for Morata to display greater ruthlessness in front of goal, it is a respectable return from the Spaniard.
For context, Diego Costa only scored five more goals in his inaugural Chelsea season, and he was arguably a member of a superior side. The former fan favourite had also registered 36 goals in the 13/14 campaign for Atletico before joining the club – testifying his goal-scoring credentials. Last season was the first time that Morata had reached 20 goals in a single season.
This isn’t to insinuate that Morata should be devoid of judgement, quite the contrary. I, like several other Chelsea supporters, have found myself frustrated at his tendency to miss simple opportunities – which is best epitomised by our games against Arsenal this season.
Morata has also developed a propensity to avoid physical confrontations and needlessly fall to the ground. Accordingly, he complains incessantly to the officials before being booked. He has received ten yellow cards, and one red card for the Blues this season which is frankly unacceptable and highlights an area of his game that requires urgent attention.
That said, he has displayed glimpses of excellence this season. Plausibly, we have the best header of the ball in world football at our disposal, and his understanding with Azpilicueta has been borderline telepathic – Dave has provided assisted seven of Morata’s 15 goals this term.
Moreover, his movement is excellent and he his understanding of the game is exceedingly refined. If we can nurture his confidence, then I fully expect Morata to thrive next season.
His demeanour is reminiscent of Fernando Torres; the ability is there for all to admire. It’s merely a matter of retaining his self-belief!
What are your thoughts? Let us know!
