Chelsea: Alvaro Morata showed he is a better fit for improved Sarrismo

Maurizio Sarri has helped Alvaro Morata dig out of his confidence hole. Now Sarri’s choice of Chelsea striker can be made on tactics and not just form.

Alvaro Morata has been the subject of a lot of criticism this season. The Chelsea striker has not been as sharp as he was at the beginning of last campaign and has taken the blame for some of Chelsea’s mistakes. However, Maurizio Sarri is turning up the hope for the Spaniard. And this isn’t because Sarri “likes” Morata more than Olivier Giroud. Rather, Morata fits better into Sarri’s tactics.

Sarri brought new tactics, philosophies and mentalities towards how to play a football match. He changed the team’s formation and gave players new roles. At the same time, he reorganized the way the team approaches each game: a quick-passing structure with most of the possession. Chelsea have never had a style like this, one where it takes the entire team to get up the field. It can be risky in the Premier League, but it is enjoyable and it has been working very well.

Alvaro Morata is a better fit for Sarri’s style of play than Olivier Giroud. Make no mistake, Giroud’s contributions are excellent. Despite not scoring goals himself, he sets up everyone else. His link-up play with Eden Hazard, Pedro and Willian is outstanding.

But Sarrismo does not demand players to get up the field all at once, to overload the opposition’s box or relay crosses. The team does not use their passing, possession and dribbling to run straight at an opponent defending in numbers. Instead, the extensive amount of passing serves to draw out the opposition. This leaves space in the back for Morata to exploit, and that is exactly what Chelsea’s No. 29 is good at.

Alvaro Morata likes to run in between defenders and behind them. He takes advantage of the space despite having two or three players marking him. He also opens the space for himself and for others, allowing more opportunities to be created.

This is what Chelsea needed against Burnley: not a “holding 9” like Olivier Giroud, but a creative front man.

Against Burnley, Chelsea drew out the opposition, passing the ball just out of their reach. This forced the Clarets to play a higher line and make mistakes. For Morata’s goal, it was N’Golo Kante who took advantage, gave Ross Barkley a running pass, who then in turn released Morata with a delicate pass in behind the defense. A very well worked-out play, and Alvaro Morata made no mistake in putting the ball in the back of the net.

For the rest of his time in the game, Morata was looking for ways to open the defense. He dropped to the midfield several times to give continuity to the passing strategy. He took five shots, putting three on target. If the ball came to him and he had space to work with, he looked for ways to advance the play and move into a shooting lane. If he was covered by defenders, he found the right lay-off to a teammate to keep things alive.

These are all indications he is close to his best once again. Even his celebration hinted at excitement and purpose, rather than relief. With three goals in his last four games in all competitions, Sarri has shown he can get the best out of the Spaniard. And in this crucial part of the season, if Morata can score more often, the Blues are likely to have a successful campaign.

However, it is always good to remember that despite Morata’s good performance, this was a struggling Burnley. They are not the most difficult of oppositions to break down nor to play against. But a goal is a goal, and it is a clear sign of how Murizio Sarri can get the very best out of Morata and give him all the tools to score. Every minute on the pitch not only helps Morata adjust and develop, but it also helps Sarri to figure out new ways to make the striker succeed.

Chelsea face Frank Lampard’s Derby County next in the Carabao Cup. At this point it is unclear whether Morata or Giroud will start. Sarri will decide not based on form, but rather who can break down the opposition. If Morata has the opportunity and scores, it isn’t hard to imagine the Spaniard returning full force to show his best side once again.