Morata toughens up to banish his timid image
Striker was berated by fans for his lack of physical presence but looks much improved this season
Maybe he had watched Diego Costa bully his former club Real Madrid in the Uefa Super Cup. Maybe he had read the comments from Chelsea fans on social media. Or maybe, in his second season in English football, the penny has dropped for Alvaro Morata.
Because this was not the Morata who so frustrated the Stamford Bridge faithful and even former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who last season complained “every f------ time he goes down, it’s a free-kick”.
There was, of course, no Wenger in west London yesterday evening and this was a very different Morata to the one who spent more time on his backside than celebrating goals during his first Premier League season.
Morata went into this match with just one Premier League goal to his name in 2018 and three in all competitions. There had not been much encouragement during the openingday victory over Huddersfield Town that his terrible record was about to get any better.
But Morata looked like a man intent on proving a point against Unai Emery’s Arsenal and he did just that in the 20th minute. Cesar Azpilicueta pumped a long ball forwards and the Spaniard outmuscled Shkodran Mustafi, cut inside and sent a low shot into the net.
Apart from the fact he did not kick Mustafi for good measure, it had all the hallmarks of a Costa goal and something Chelsea have been missing for far too long.
Chelsea’s head coach Maurizio Sarri has form for getting the best out of his strikers. Just ask Gonzalo Higuain, who became the most lethal hitman in Serie A under the Italian at Napoli.
Sarri supposedly told Higuain in his first meeting with the Argentine that he was “too lazy” and that he needed to change his attitude to become the best centre forward in the world.
Whatever it was that Sarri did or said, it worked as, in three seasons, Higuain scored 91 goals for Napoli before being sold to Juventus for just over £80 million – ironically to replace Morata who had returned to Real.
Higuian has confirmed that Sarri wanted him to join the 59-year-old at Chelsea, saying: “The esteem I have for Sarri is great, but the only person who wanted me at Chelsea was him.” Chelsea’s preference was always to give Morata, who had been a club record £57m signing when he arrived from Real last summer, another chance, so Higuain was allowed to join AC Milan.
A large part of Sarri’s brief is to get the most from the talent already within the Blues squad and, while he has his work cut out in moulding the defence into an effective back four, there are certainly encouraging signs that he will get the best out of Morata.
On Friday, Sarri had claimed that Morata’s problems were only in his mind, saying: “I am not worried about Morata. Morata is a very great player. I think that, in this moment, he needs only to gain confidence. But he is a great player.
“He needs to score. As all the strikers do, I think. He needs to gain confidence, but he’s improving so I’m not really worried about him.”
Sarri, it seems, was right not to worry too much as, with the goal he so badly needed, Morata’s confidence clearly soared.
Shortly after Henrikh Mkhitaryan had pulled a goal back for Arsenal,
Whether or not the Spaniard can maintain this form will have a big impact on Chelsea’s season
Morata almost restored Chelsea’s two-goal advantage with a powerful drive that forced Petr Cech into a superb save.
The supporters who had pined for the days of Costa bullying Arsenal defenders into submission as they watched his two-goal performance for Atletico against Real were certainly enthused by Morata’s improvement. Whether or not he can maintain this form will have a big impact on Chelsea’s season, given Sarri does not have too many other options at his disposal. It was a surprise Sarri allowed Michy Batshuayi to join Valencia on loan after telling the Belgian he would have been his third-choice forward this season. Batshuayi would seem a better fit for Sarri’s style of football than Olivier Giroud, but it is the Frenchman who has stayed and he replaced Morata with 15 minutes remaining.
The fact that Tammy Abraham did not make Chelsea’s match-day squad for a second week suggests the young Englishman will not figure much and could yet leave on loan.
So it seems the responsibility to lead the line will rest on Morata’s shoulders, at least until January, and the 25-year-old might just prove to be the biggest beneficiary of Sarri’s appointment.