Álvaro Morata’s start to life in the Premier League has been slowed by injuries and fitness issues, including a hamstring strain that only added to a summer filled with disruptions and uncertainties in his preparations for the season as Manchester United and Chelsea wrangled over new striker signings.
And yet, despite those issues, Morata, who set a target of 20+ at the start of the season, has not only scored several crucial goals already — 6 times he’s scored Chelsea’s first goal in a game (out of 9 total strikes) — he has set a new Chelsea record by being directly involved in 12 goals in his first 11 Premier League games (8 goals and 4 assists). When asked about this record, he also showed that he’s very adept at saying all the right things.
“I like to score, I like to help the team but the most important thing is to take the three points.
“[The record] means that the team are playing well [but] it doesn’t matter, if at the end the year we don’t win anything.”
-Álvaro Morata; source: Facebook
MORATA POST-MATCHAlvaro Morata: 'I like to score, I like to help the team but the most important thing is to take the three points'
Posted by Chelsea Football Club on Saturday, November 18, 2017
With Morata scoring so many goals, people have started to notice his celebration routine, which tends to be a two-step process, the second part of which is the classic “Spanish archer”, often associated with Fernando Torres though Torres himself started doing in tribute to one of his idols at Atlético Madrid, Kiko, who’s usually credited with inventing the pose back in the mid-90s. That Morata resembles so much of the “good Torres”, both in terms of his play on the pitch and his mannerisms off of it, is working out excellently so far.
The first part of Morata’s celebration is more personal and while those who paid attention all those times Álvaro talked about how much his wife means to him figured it out a long time ago, the striker made it clear on Instagram just whom the ‘A’ he flashes with his fingers is referring to.
“Always A I love u so much @alicecampello,” reads the caption to melt your cold steel heart. Morata has not shied away from talking about the mental aspect of top level professional football, and it’s clear that he draws a ton of strength from the stability and the overflowing love present in his personal life.
“Yeah we have a very hard week [ahead]. Sometimes it seems that we have a very good life, but no one knows that we only have one day at home.
“But we need to work and we need to keep getting the three points in the Champions League.”
-Álvaro Morata; source: Facebook
Chelsea jet off to Azerbaijan for the midweek clash against Qarabag, then follow that up with Liverpool away at Anfield on Saturday before a run of three straight games at Stamford Bridge takes us into early December ... hopefully featuring many more Morata celebrations.