Morata needs to show inner steel to save faltering Chelsea career

Spanish striker must dispel fears he is too weak for his job – both mentally and physically

The alarm bells started ringing before the first ball of the Premier League season had been kicked and Alvaro Morata claimed in the Spanish press “they’re already killing me”. Morata had missed a penalty in Chelsea’s Community Shield shoot-out defeat by Arsenal and did not like the gentle pre-season analysis that followed.

That marked Chelsea’s £57million record signing as potentially being a bit flaky for the rough and tumble of English football and suspicions from outside the club that Morata is weak, both mentally and physically, are growing by the week.

The defeat by Manchester United was the 10th successive match Morata has failed to score in this year. The fact Romelu Lukaku had one of his best games and netted for the hosts, and Diego Costa was on target for Atletico Madrid on the same day, only made it worse.

Chelsea insist Morata is happy and settling well in England, but there is also word from around the dressing room that the Spaniard likes a good whinge. Whether it is caused by the English referees, opposition defenders or his aches and pains, Morata is described as being a man who too often gives the impression his glass is halfempty, and that has manifested itself in his performances.

Without a goal since Boxing Day, and having struggled with a back problem, it is understandable that Morata has not been feeling his best. He has also had to contend with the death of a close friend in his native Spain.

But Chelsea fans are beginning to lose patience with the ease at which he goes to ground and how he allows missed chances to get to him, and there is a feeling that he looks like a man ready to give in.

Morata now needs much broader shoulders to deal with the criticism and analysis of his performances than when he thought he was being “killed”.

Although the 25-year-old hit the bar with a golden chance at Old Trafford and had a late effort ruled out for offside that Chelsea believe should have stood, Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness ripped into him. “I think he’s a near-miss man,” said Souness. “Can they give him another year to settle? Can big teams wait that long? His general play wasn’t good enough. You swap those centre-forwards around today and Chelsea win the game.”

It is well known Antonio Conte’s first choice to replace Costa last summer was Lukaku and that may be part of the issue for Morata who, for the first time in his career, has to live with expectation. He was never the main man at Real Madrid and was not one of the more expensive signings at Juventus, where he enjoyed his best spell.

Morata started well at Chelsea, scoring seven times in his first seven appearances – including a Champions League goal away at Atletico Madrid, with Costa watching from the stands. The fact Costa could not play for Atletico until last month helped Morata during his early days as it was impossible to make comparisons.

It is well known that Lukaku was Conte’s first choice and that may be part of the problem

But just a month after scoring in the Wanda Metropolitano, Morata was quoted in La Gazzetta dello Sport as describing London as “too much stress” and claiming he should never have left Italy.

The storm blew over within a day that ended with Morata’s denials and a rather ludicrous claim that he would be happy to sign a 10-year contract with Chelsea. Nobody took Morata seriously then and Costa’s return to action has highlighted the fact that Chelsea did not obtain a like-forlike replacement for him.

Since he has been eligible to play for Atletico, Costa, Chelsea’s top scorer last season, has scored five goals to Morata’s none. It did not go unnoticed by fans that, after watching Morata spend far too long on the ground appealing for free-kicks against United, Costa was up to his old tricks. Reports filtered through to those waiting for trains back to London that Costa had made a ridiculous challenge during Atletico’s 5-2 success over Sevilla, started a fight, got booked and then scored.

That was exactly the Costa that Chelsea are missing in big games and, although he, too, likes a good moan, Morata’s Spain international team-mate usually takes his complaints out on the opposition.

Conte has remained supportive of Morata, but admitted it would have been “suicide” to start him ahead of Eden Hazard, Willian or Pedro for the Champions League draw against Barcelona last week. That eye-catching comment reflected the tactics Conte wanted to employ, but it would still have disappointed Morata that he was not picked to start Chelsea’s biggest game of the season so far.

Conte must this weekend decide whether to stick with Morata for the trip to Premier League leaders Manchester City, ask Hazard to play as a “false nine” again or give a chance to Olivier Giroud, who showed more grit during his 12 minutes as a substitute than Morata did in 90 against United.

Morata’s first job is to show Conte he is up for the battle and can fight his way back to form. Only then will he be able to work on proving Chelsea would not have been better with either Costa or Lukaku.