Alvaro Morata is doubtful for Sunday’s fixture at Brighton. This winter already has too many similarities to his first at Chelsea, and he will not want to make things worse by rushing back to the lineup.
Alvaro Morata missed two games last January due to a back injury. Perhaps if he had missed more, the second half of his first season at Chelsea would have gone better.
The striker appears to be medically cleared to play against Brighton tomorrow, but still seems very much a question mark for the lineup. Part of that could be Maurizio Sarri’s new exploration of a post-striker world at Chelsea. But some could be coming from the Spaniard himself, as he knows from experience how a premature return from injury can throughly derail a season.
While Morata only missed two Premier League games due to his back injury (inconveniently for and never mentioned by his detractors, they were two of the Blues’ most embarrassing losses of the season: 3-0 against Bournemouth and 4-1 against Watford), the injury affected his play for weeks and months after. A large part of his difficulties came from the uncertainty around his injury coming from the medical staff.
"[T]he doctors didn’t know what I had. It was strange. Sometimes when you know you are out for one month, it’s OK in your head, because you know it is one month. But when you are trying to give your best and you are not in your best moment, it’s difficult. – The Guardian"
This injury rarely comes up in conversations about Morata’s drop-off in the second half of 2017/18. Morata scored 10 of his 11 Premier League goals before missing those two games. It’s simply easier and far more narrative-tastic to talk about how he is fragile, lacks heart, doesn’t fight, something something narrative something.
Morata rushed back to the squad and into a battle with Olivier Giroud for the starting striker spot. His performances dropped him into psychological quicksand, and he ended up in a three-way battle with Giroud and Eden Hazard’s false-nine for the starting XI. None of those players, nor the club, nor Antonio Conte can claim any sort of victory from that battle.
Morata will see plenty of elements of last year’s injury, its attendant ambiguities and the club’s situation after leaving the pitch against MOL Vidi. Morata went down in considerable pain late in the first half and was substituted before the break. The injury appears to not be serious, but he is still doubtful against Brighton. Meanwhile, Eden Hazard played the last Premier League fixture as the false-nine. And Morata’s injury is pouring fuel over the rumours of Chelsea buying another striker in January, possibly another one over age 30, if the Gonzalo Higuain rumours have any substance (which they probably don’t).
Like so many other things, this simulation we’re living in is already in reruns.
As much as he will want to push back against these pressures building up around him, Morata will want to ensure he does not play the same role and write the same outcome in this familiar tale. Taking the extra time to recover fully, determine the root cause of the injury and receive a more comprehensive clearance to play could avoid a repeat of last winter and spring. Aside from taking care of his body, this extra level of caution could put his mind at ease. When he steps onto the pitch the next time, he can say with completely confidence “This is not like last time. None of this is like last time.”
That is very much the perspective he took coming into this season. It gave him something of a fresh start, and through the first few months his goal-scoring pace is only slightly off of last season’s.
If he can simply keep things going – and, better yet, use that constancy as a platform to improve – he will easily top last season’s performance. Everything else will just have to sort itself out.