Morata blames former manager for his poor form

Morata blames former manager for his poor form

Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata has hit out at former boss Antonio Conte for his ‘direct’ style of play affecting his form last season.

The Spaniard was brought into Stamford Bridge by Conte last summer for a then record fee of £58m. He began the season in brilliant form, scoring seven goals in as many games, but he then seemed to hit a blip and his form plummeted.

Morata was even linked with a move away from the club this summer, with the Blues supposedly wanting to bring in Argentina international Gonzalo Higuain. Those deals didn’t happen though, and Morata remains the main man up front for Chelsea.

Speaking about his future, Morata admitted that it would be easy for him to return to Italy or Spain, where he is an established player, but says he is determined to stay in England and fight for his position at Chelsea.

“For me, it’s easy. I could have gone back to Spain or Italy, all the people believe in me there, but I want to change things here,” said Morata.

“I want to, not for all the haters, but for me and for Chelsea. Chelsea gave me everything that I needed and now I have time to give back all that Chelsea give me.

“The most important thing is the way we play. Last season it was direct balls and for me to protect the ball in the air is not my best quality.

“Now I can attack the space, I can play one touch and go in the area for the crosses. It’s better for me.”

Morata scored his first goal of the season this weekend as Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-2, and the No.29 will be hoping to better his goalscoring tally of 15 from last season.

“Sarri works with the ball always and when you always have the ball the strikers have more chances,” said Morata.

“I want to score more than 30 goals, but I would prefer to score 15 or 20 and get the Premier League or one big trophy.”
[Quotes via Sky Sports]