Morata has got big shoes to fill at Chelsea but unlike Torres he’s off to a flyer — he can handle anything
ALVARO MORATA has already made a good start to his Chelsea career in the Premier League but playing in the Champions League will suit him even better.
I watched him from afar when he was at Real Madrid and Juventus and I think he is the complete striker.
Technically Alvaro is fantastic, as is his movement. He will be in his element on this stage. The Champions League is the top competition in the world. I felt it when I played, your standards had to step up.
With players of Morata’s ability, performing in the Champions League is what it’s all about. It’s imperative.
I’m not saying his Chelsea career will be solely judged on the Champions League but it will play a part in what legacy he builds at Stamford Bridge.
At the highest level you need your striker scoring goals.
Surprisingly Diego Costa scoredd only twice in this tournament for Chelsea,helsea, although he did get eight goalsals for Atletico Madrid during their runun to the final in 2013-14.
Everyone remembers all thee special things Didier Drogba did for Chelsea in the Champions League while he was at the club. When I talk about legacy, Didierr is the perfect example.
There will be tough games, especiallyecially once you get through the group..
When you go away from homeme or fighting for a result, you need your forward to make the differencee and win the game.
Alvaro has already proven a few people here wrong who were ques-questioning whether he could cope withwith the combative game in this country. ntry.
At Leicester he went up againstst two of the most physical centre-halvesves in the League and came out with a goal and good performance. I think he can handle anything. Plus we haven’t’t seen him really link up with Eden Hazard yet. Great strikers feed off great play-play- ers, so he will definitely get the chances he craves — it will be about sticking them away. I was happy when Chelsea signed him. He has big shoes to fill because Costa was a huge personality inin the ddressing-room and a key player.
The circumstances surrounding Costa ata the moment makes Morata’s arrival even more of a talking point. PeopPeople were always going to ask ‘is he goingoing to be as strong as Costa? Are wwe going to see as much of him?’
So the way he has started, with tthree goals in four League mmatches, is a credit to him. That’s brilliant from Chelsea’s ppoint of view because they are ccounting on him up front.
When you have one striker like MoMorata leading the line, you need him fit and scoring goals.
ThThere is pressure on him, of coucourse, after replacing Fernando ToTorres (left) as Chelsea’s record bubuy. If he’d got off to a negative stastart, all eyes would have been on him a lot more.
I remember when Chelsea sigsigned Torres — it was a huge statemment by the club at the time.
But there was a lot of talk around FeFernando when he was struggling to score. The fans stuck behind him but you could see how he was taktaking the criticism from elsewhere pepersonally. He was quietly spoken anand at times when he was sitting in the dressing-room, it looked like thethere was a huge weight on his shoshoulders.
ThThere is no answer to it other than scoriscoring goals and it wasn’t coming easy forf him. That is very tough to take, I don’t care what personality you have, so the fact Alvaro has hit the ground running takes that concern out of the equation.
Chelsea begin their Champions League campaign tonight against Qarabag and as a club, they are back where they belong. Maybe missing out last season was a bit of a wake-up call, although it probably gave everyone some breathing space to go again.
Everyone is aware, including coach Antonio Conte, that it will be much harder to fight on both fronts, at home and in Europe, this season.
But I think they have the potential to go all the way. Defensively, Chelsea are as good as anybody.
The structure that Conte set up last season with three at the back clearly works as they won the title and they have added a few players in midfield — I know they lost Nemanja Matic but Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater give them depth.
When I look at the other English teams in the Champions League, some of them will struggle at the back, whereas Chelsea have a great base.
After that it comes down to the attacking players being in form, so Chelsea have a lot to be optimistic about.
At times in the dressingroom it looked like there was a huge weight on Fernando’s shoulders
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