Swap Willian for Martial and play him as striker.

No longer the pressure of being our record signing.

No longer the curse of the no. 9 hanging over his head. 

No longer plays under an ultra-defensive manager.  

If he can’t get his head straight and sort himself out now there’s no hope!

Alvaro is our new Spanish Ambassador for the Club

 

13 minutes ago, robdog said:

Alvaro is our new Spanish Ambassador for the Club

 

No he’s not, it’s definitely Dave!

On 24/07/2018 at 03:33, Kentonio said:

Was he 'clearly w**k' when he first arrived at the club and was scoring for fun? He had injuries, came back probably too early because we didn't have anyone else, and then hit a lean patch and didn't recover his confidence. The lad has tons of talent, and just needs to be supported while he learns Sarri's new system which should hopefully fit his abilities very well.

Frankly I'm sick of watching people calling our players w**k after 1 season, which a few years ago would have meant us binning the likes of Drogba amongst others. Morata has 15 goals last year and falls over too easily. Drog got 16 and spent as much time on the floor as Morata does. Obviously I'm not saying Morata is going to be Drog levels of amazing, but considering his potential we'd be fecking stupid to kick him out after 1 season.  

The fact is, Morata has 53 goals in 236 games in the top flight so far in his career. That's a poor return however way you slice it. Some strikers score that in a season and half. You're holding out hope for him because of a 9 game run. I've simply had enough of making every and any excuse for a player ever since Torres. Took me a long time to finally accept that Torres was w**k and "El Nino" never coming back. 

At this point, I would prefer Batshuayi over Morata by far and I think it's a mistake for us to be looking to send Batshuayi out on loan again. He's a better finisher than Morata right now. If Morata proves me wrong and has an absolutely fantastic season, I'll be happy to eat my humble pie with all the joy in the world. But I'm just not holding my breath any more for players unnecessarily. Which is why I think binning Bakayoko right now is the right move and I'm happy we're making that move.

4 hours ago, robdog said:

Alvaro is our new Spanish Ambassador for the Club

 

Movacic looks shorter than I would have imagined. If all three of them have a great season for us, we might very well be challenging City.

12 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

Movacic looks shorter than I would have imagined. If all three of them have a great season for us, we might very well be challenging City.

To be fair he is stood next kepa and Morata who are both 6'2". 

 

I will be honest, I'm not his fan and once Batshuayi will return to the team and will be in sharp, I'd take him over Morata. But now, we have only Morata as our main striker and I want him to succeed and open the game against Huddersfield. It will be important for him and for us. Last season he started very well with us, let's hope this season he will start and finish well. Good luck Morata!

Needs to start well in the opening games but also needs the service....if he doesn't get the service then we can hardly blame him.......missing decent chances however, well that's a different matter.

23 minutes ago, CFCCAN said:

if he doesn't?? get the service then we can hardly blame him.

Playing the bulk of his minutes in the 3-5-2 when he and Hazard were expected to go 2v6 the whole game wasn't exactly the ideal platform for Morata (or Hazard).

I think what has caused the most negativity around him is his La Liga breeding of flopping at first contact. If he stands and fights, he'll get much more support from the fans. (That and he won't be asked to go 2v6 all game).

We'll find out soon enough. 

Edited August 10, 20187 yr by Skinnedy
Typo

The thing is he should flourish in this system. Just needs a bit of confidence and an early goal.

21 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

The fact is, Morata has 53 goals in 236 games in the top flight so far in his career. That's a poor return however way you slice it.

Can we slice it for the actual number of 90 minute games he has played ?

I'd bet good money that way over half of those 236 "games" are brief appearances as a substitute ... let's not get too down on Morata un-necessarily !

 

<<EDIT, OK I looked it up : 7138 minutes played in La Liga, Serie A and the PL  from 2012 to date, ... so assuming 95 minutes per game (inc. 5 minutes for stoppage time at the end of each half) then that would be 75 full games played, so 53 goals doesn't look too bad then  :-)  >>

Edited August 10, 20187 yr by Sexyfootball

Look at it this way. If he gets back to his early form from last season, we will be almost challenging for the title this season. If not then we can get a top striker next season by selling him and Batshuayi. 

38 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

<<EDIT, OK I looked it up : 7138 minutes played in La Liga, Serie A and the PL  from 2012 to date, ... so assuming 95 minutes per game (inc. 5 minutes for stoppage time at the end of each half) then that would be 75 full games played, so 53 goals doesn't look too bad then  :-)  >>

This is a very important point. And comparing el nino to Morata is not fair, the age difference alone is enough to seperate them from eachother. The younger the player is, the more inconsistency in thiere performans there will be. Another valid point, is that Sarri`s tactic is very different from Contes, so with more possesion and more offensive play, he will naturally get more chances to score. 

By sending Batshuay on loan to Valencia, Sarri sends a signal to Moratta that i think will be good for his confidence. I think we are good to go and challenge city and liverpool for the premiereship this season.

I wish people would stop quoting Liverscum along with Man City as the ones to beat for the title. I know they’ve bought well and they were looking good for a time last season but the thought of them winning the league makes me a little bit nauseous.

3 minutes ago, goose said:

I wish people would stop quoting Liverscum along with Man City as the ones to beat for the title. I know they’ve bought well and they were looking good for a time last season but the thought of them winning the league makes me a little bit nauseous.

I Don't think Salah will have such a stellar season, teams are going to be a bit wiser?

He'll turn things around. He's got it in him.

 

His attitude has impressed me this season already. Saying he wants to stay and try to rediscover his best form, going out of his way to welcome the signings.

Hopefully he will do great. It doesn’t matter if he only scores 15 again, as long as he sets up 15 goals for the team too. I think he’d be better as a team player, rather than a prolific goalscorer.

3 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

Can we slice it for the actual number of 90 minute games he has played ?

I'd bet good money that way over half of those 236 "games" are brief appearances as a substitute ... let's not get too down on Morata un-necessarily !

 

<<EDIT, OK I looked it up : 7138 minutes played in La Liga, Serie A and the PL  from 2012 to date, ... so assuming 95 minutes per game (inc. 5 minutes for stoppage time at the end of each half) then that would be 75 full games played, so 53 goals doesn't look too bad then  :-)  >>

More importantly, why weren't teams more willing to give him more minutes if he was so good. 75 games in 6 years? Pathetic. Maybe most teams realised he wasn't fit to lead the line and better as an impact sub. 

If he can somehow conjure up a goal tomorrow it’s going to do wonders for his confidence because Christ knows he needs a boost.

Fingers crossed.

2 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

More importantly, why weren't teams more willing to give him more minutes if he was so good. 75 games in 6 years? Pathetic. Maybe most teams realised he wasn't fit to lead the line and better as an impact sub. 

At Real, I'd guess it was because they also had Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain, Kaka, Bale in the years he was there, and at Juve, must probably because he was on loan and the coach preferred the club-owned players.

38 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

At Real, I'd guess it was because they also had Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain, Kaka, Bale in the years he was there, and at Juve, must probably because he was on loan and the coach preferred the club-owned players.

or maybe he just wasn't good enough

1 minute ago, charierre said:

or maybe he just wasn't good enough

Yes I am sure you and RIP Mourinho are correct, and the managers of Real Madrid and Juventus were wrong, and should not have had him in their squad or played him repeatedly on match days :-)

Let's be brutally honest, if he was any good he'd still be there, whereas we are desperate to keep him because we have invested heavily into him. RM made big bucks after learning he wasn't good enough, they even loaned him out first just to make sure.

Now if that was us it would be the other way round, pay big money for unproven player, waste two season trying to get him started with a crank handle, then scrap him for a heavy loss.

29 minutes ago, coco said:

Let's be brutally honest, if he was any good he'd still be there, whereas we are desperate to keep him because we have invested heavily into him. RM made big bucks after learning he wasn't good enough, they even loaned him out first just to make sure.

Now if that was us it would be the other way round, pay big money for unproven player, waste two season trying to get him started with a crank handle, then scrap him for a heavy loss.

Are you for real?  RM realized he needed time to evolve, like we did with Cortouis. They ended up selling him because he was tired of waiting for his turn to shine. He have had one season here, to adjust to the most powerfull league in the world. On a team that spend more time playing sideways and backwards under Conte season 2. And he had some injuries. 

Now he have adjustet, now he knows what it takes to make it in the premiereship. I expect a lot of goals and assists from him in this season. With the new style Sarry brings, he will get a lot more chances than last season. Cant wait to get startet and see him turning it around.