When Chelsea announced the signing of Alvaro Morata there was a genuine excitement among most fans, as the club were bringing in a different type of striker.
However, there were some supporters who were not so enthusiastic about him. They saw him as Fernando Torres 2.0, there were just too many similarities. Both handsome Spanish strikers arrived for a record fee, had a similar playing style and took the number nine shirt.
Chelsea, throughout the Roman Abramovich era, have been a hugely successful club in terms of trophies but have not always played so-called “good football”. One of the reasons behind that has been the consistent presence of a strong target-man upfront, so direct style made more sense.
So when Chelsea signed Torres there was a lot of hope among fans and the owner that Chelsea would play a more eye-catching style of football. That seemed like a natural next step in Chelsea’s evolution. However, other players at that time were not suited to such a playing style and Torres never truly clicked at Chelsea.
Abramovich tried really hard to make his marque signing work for Chelsea. He changed many managers in the period to bring the best out of Torres but it never seemed to work. Even though the fans stood firmly supporting Torres throughout his Chelsea career, they lost the early hope and enthusiasm they had with their £50 million man. Many fans had given up the dream to see a fast, technically gifted and clinical striker in Chelsea colours after the failures of Torres and Andriy Shevchenko.
All that seems to have changed following the arrival of Morata. All his goals have a touch of class about them. His linkup play has been excellent and he suits Conte’s playing style perfectly.
Many people believe Torres was not mentally strong enough to bear the burden of his price tag which affected his confidence and thus his form. Torres took a long time to score his first goal for Chelsea and the goal drought only amplified the pressure. Morata, however, has hit the ground running and scored on his league debut. He now has six goals in as many games for the Premier League champions.
Torres came to Chelsea and had to adapt to a different system, while Morata was familiar with Conte’s way of playing due to his time at Juventus who continued with a similar style of play, even after Conte left them.
The media were also very harsh on Torres, he was painted as a disloyal money hungry player even though he left Liverpool to win trophies. The media seemed to revel in his failures. He was constantly under the microscope. Morata simply does not have this added pressure.
Torres was widely believed to be a club signing like Shevchenko, who was unwillingly shoved down the respective manager’s throat. Morata‘s case is totally different in this regard. Conte has been a long time admirer, having tried to sign him twice before. So Morata knows that he has the full support of the coach, this has helped him settle really fast. While Torres was always left wondering if he was the part of the manager’s plan or not.
Torres was also unable to form a good partnership on the pitch with his Chelsea teammates like the one he had at Liverpool with Steven Gerrard. Morata, on the other hand, is quite familiar with some of his Chelsea teammates from the national team and has already formed a good on pitch partnership with Cesar Azpilicueta and Cesc Fabregas.
Morata has different battles to fight compared to his fellow countryman. Will he be able to fill the boots of Diego Costa? The question of who between Chelsea or Manchester United got the better deal won’t go away before the end of the season, but the early signs show that he is going to be a success and the striker the fans had hoped for in Torres.
