I agree with what others have said, it's very difficult to score against a team with all their players back. He didn't play badly to be fair but obviously some will use any opportunity to slate him.

2 hours ago, Malcolm9 said:

I agree with what others have said, it's very difficult to score against a team with all their players back. He didn't play badly to be fair but obviously some will use any opportunity to slate him.

And some others blindly defend him.

He is our #1 striker. Playing 'not bad', doing 'nothing wrong', only failing because 'all those defenders are in the way'  It's not good enough by a long chalk. Rudiger had one shot at Newcastle from 10 miles away and still cracked the woodwork.

I've seen enough now to predict he's just isn't a striker with purpose, certainly not a natural striker, put our kid up front, the one with the big heart, plenty of pace, plenty of strength, not to mention his height, give him a shot at it, a couple of goals and he could ignite, nothing ventured and all that. Try Morata off the bench, see if that helps him, but to just keep plonking him up front every start is wear thin now. I notice each game that goes by Sarri is getting quicker at replacing him in the second half.

 

 

Neither Morata or Lukaku are elite strikers tbh. Morata can get a decent number of goals per season, but it's unlikely he'll ever score 20+ goals in one season. While other title contenders have a 20+ goal a season striker/attacker, we don't. The sooner we fix that problem, the sooner we will be legit title contenders.  

At least we didn’t sign Lukaku 

 

Imagine Morata done this, I think the board would explode .

 

Back on topic, I certainly wouldn’t be using an away game to Newcastle playing a 9-0-1 to slate him.

 

He probably should have taken a better touch and got his shot away at one point but other than that he done fine for the most part IMO.

It was tough game for a striker, especially with how few good crosses came into the box. 

I'm still holding out he will come good.

However, when azpi did get the ball into him in the second half, he miscontrolled it and the half chance went in a flash. This is something that happens far too often, and if that was a top striker, he's turning those half chances into goals in tight games. 

I'm not sure what will happen with the striking situation, I don't think Batshuayi will play for us again, Giroud will most likely move on at the end of his contract, and morata needs to improve dramatically to be the answer long term.

I don't see hazard playing there in this system, as he wants to be involved and getting alot of of the ball, he isn't going to want to play as the focal point and make runs off centre backs all game. 

Not too many great strikers available at the age where we would be willing to spend big on. Icardi would be my shout, but maybe someone a little less conventional like werner, martial or perhaps fekir. 

Anyways let's hope morata turns it around. Bournemouth will be a nice game for a striker.

1 hour ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Imagine Morata done this, I think the board w?ould explode .

He did do it... Twice last season against Arsenal. 

2 hours ago, enigma said:

Neither Morata or Lukaku are elite strikers tbh. Morata can get a decent number of goals per season, but it's unlikely he'll ever score 20+ goals in one season. While other title contenders have a 20+ goal a season striker/attacker, we don't. The sooner we fix that problem, the sooner we will be legit title contenders.  

I never expected Morata to be a good goal scorer, but I expected him to be a better footballer. I saw a lot of good play from him when he first came, it's why I can't take people seriously when they say "he can only score a few headers", he definitely had more to his game then. Right now he looks to go down off anything instead of holding it up. It's like the free kick he won for us against Newcastle against Yedlin. More times often than not that's not going to be a foul, you need to stand your ground and stop going to ground so easily, it looks like he is never going to learn that's what really loses me faith. That and missing one on ones, which just isn't healthy whatsoever. But in today's game I wasn't disappointed in him, I think the fault purely lies with other players not getting the ball in fast enough, we needed to give him more service. We can't expect a striker to score in a game where we can barely give him a sniff at goal.

This is why I didn't want Lukaku, his build-up play is atrocious, he's only a player who shines in the final 3rd, match of the day won't show you the 90% coverage of him losing the ball and running it into dead areas. As for Morata, he hasn't exactly shown much of an improvement against Lukaku at playing with his back to goal, and that for me is a big disappointment because I never saw him as a clinical striker to begin with.   

7 minutes ago, Slojo said:

I never expected Morata to be a good goal scorer, but I expected him to be a better footballer. I saw a lot of good play from him when he first came, it's why I can't take people seriously when they say "he can only score a few headers", he definitely had more to his game then. Right now he looks to go down off anything instead of holding it up. It's like the free kick he won for us against Newcastle against Yedlin. More times often than not that's not going to be a foul, you need to stand your ground and stop going to ground so easily, it looks like he is never going to learn that's what really loses me faith. That and missing one on ones, which just isn't healthy whatsoever. But in today's game I wasn't disappointed in him, I think the fault purely lies with other players not getting the ball in fast enough, we needed to give him more service. We can't expect a striker to score in a game where we can barely give him a sniff at goal.

You are describing the difference between epl and la liga.  Morata didn't suddenly forget how to control a football.  As we know EPL is incredibly physical and when he doesn't get the calls he used to at RM his mind goes elsewhere.  Now he's got to be hyerfocused when trying to collect the ball worrying about being shoved or kicked out.  It affects your game tremendously, and can make you look stupid when no one is even around you.

TBF I also expected much more skill and technique from him.  I think he's still slightly better on the ball than Costa but not near enough to consider him a viable replacement.  This is Morata's season to prove that he can play here with an attacking system that has turned the likes of former winger Dries Mertens into a feared striker.  If Morata can't do it in this system, he cannot be trusted at the club anymore and we should sell him.  

Last half of last year Giroud was better, and he's still probably better today.  Morata needs to show he can play, quickly, or he will lose his spot again.  

13 minutes ago, TheChelsRVA said:

You are describing the difference between epl and la liga.  Morata didn't suddenly forget how to control a football.  As we know EPL is incredibly physical and when he doesn't get the calls he used to at RM his mind goes elsewhere.  Now he's got to be hyerfocused when trying to collect the ball worrying about being shoved or kicked out.  It affects your game tremendously, and can make you look stupid when no one is even around you.

TBF I also expected much more skill and technique from him.  I think he's still slightly better on the ball than Costa but not near enough to consider him a viable replacement.  This is Morata's season to prove that he can play here with an attacking system that has turned the likes of former winger Dries Mertens into a feared striker.  If Morata can't do it in this system, he cannot be trusted at the club anymore and we should sell him.  

Last half of last year Giroud was better, and he's still probably better today.  Morata needs to show he can play, quickly, or he will lose his spot again.  

I forgot to also mention that in the La Liga you get those fouls, whereas in the PL you don't. I'm just repeating points I've already made in other threads so I apologise. 

And I fully agree with what you said regarding him and Costa, for him to be a better replacement we need to see more from him of what he can do with his back to goal, right now I don't see an upgrade on Costa and that's the disappointment because he cost us 60 million. 

4 hours ago, enigma said:

Neither Morata or Lukaku are elite strikers tbh. Morata can get a decent number of goals per season, but it's unlikely he'll ever score 20+ goals in one season. While other title contenders have a 20+ goal a season striker/attacker, we don't. The sooner we fix that problem, the sooner we will be legit title contenders.  

Of course, a world class elite striker would be great, but I think an Andy Cole level striker (nippy, good movement, decent first touch, strong for his size and consistent) would fit perfectly for us now!  Trouble is finding one.

47 minutes ago, Dixon said:

Of course, a world class elite striker would be great, but I think an Andy Cole level striker (nippy, good movement, decent first touch, strong for his size and consistent) would fit perfectly for us now!  Trouble is finding one.

Icardi is the man. 

6 minutes ago, big blue said:

Icardi is the man. 

Probably cost at least £100 million which is probably too much for us on one player.

14 minutes ago, Dixon said:

Probably cost at least £100 million which is probably too much for us on one player.

I guess it depends how desperate we are, and how much money we could raise from morata and Batshuayi, Icardi may only cost us £20m net. I didn't think we would ever spend £70m on a keeper, but we've shown we are willing to spend big depending on the circumstances.

5 hours ago, EdinburghBlue said:

At least we didn’t sign Lukaku 

 

Imagine Morata done this, I think the board would explode .

 

Back on topic, I certainly wouldn’t be using an away game to Newcastle playing a 9-0-1 to slate him.

 

He probably should have taken a better touch and got his shot away at one point but other than that he done fine for the most part IMO.

We really don't need to imagine. 

On 25/08/2018 at 13:19, enigma said:

It's exactly what we miss. A goal scoring midfielder and a 20+ goal a season striker. Not easy to find I know, but if you have either one, especially a 20+ goal a season striker, it makes it so much easier to win the league. 

Have you ever considered the fact that it was what Drogba did up front, his hold up play, closing down, aerial ability, assists etc that allowed our midfield and defenders to play further up in the opposition half and score those goals?

Drogba was the greatest centre forward I have seen in  Chelsea shirt, and I did see Osgood and Dixon. Costa wasn't as good as Drogba's shadow.

18 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

He did do it... Twice last season against Arsenal. 

Did he? Which were they? The only ones I can recall are the one-on-one and the volley, neither of which were half as bad as that attempt at an open goal by lukaku - unless I’m forgetting one. The only chance I remember close to that level for us recently was Torres at Old Trafford.

40 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Did he? Which were they? The only ones I can recall are the one-on-one and the volley, neither of which were half as bad as that attempt at an open goal by lukaku - unless I’m forgetting one. The only chance I remember close to that level for us recently was Torres at Old Trafford.

 

The first chance he's clean through with all the time in the world do whatever he wants, it's about as good a goal scoring chance any striker could ask for. He opens his body up and tamely puts the ball well wide of the outside post when he's basically square on facing goal. 

Second one is a bit harder because the defender keeps pace with him more or less but he forces himself too wide, could be argued that he could/should have cut across the front of the defender to create a better angle or possibly draw him into making a foul...again though he fails to even hit the target. Looks like he's tried to chip the ball in rather than keep his shot low and hard. 

Third one in stoppage time on the volley he's just hit it straight at Cech. 

There's entire compilations of all of his big misses for Chelsea last season on YouTube... Don't think we're in any position to be mocking Lukaku for one miss. People in glass houses and all that. 

This could all have been avoided if everyone had listened to me in 2014 and we'd signed Mandzukic instead of Costa...

On 25/08/2018 at 15:04, enigma said:

We have always had issues with the striker position. 

??

14 hours ago, just said:

Have you ever considered the fact that it was what Drogba did up front, his hold up play, closing down, aerial ability, assists etc that allowed our midfield and defenders to play further up in the opposition half and score those goals?

Drogba was the greatest centre forward I have seen in  Chelsea shirt, and I did see Osgood and Dixon. Costa wasn't as good as Drogba's shadow.

I think he's talking about his goal record, Drogba's goal record wasn't the greatest but when he played the likes of Anelka, Kalou, Malouda & Lampard would score a f**k load of goals with him in the side, he was a menace for the opposition. 

3 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

 

The first chance he's clean through with all the time in the world do whatever he wants, it's about as good a goal scoring chance any striker could ask for. He opens his body up and tamely puts the ball well wide of the outside post when he's basically square on facing goal. 

Second one is a bit harder because the defender keeps pace with him more or less but he forces himself too wide, could be argued that he could/should have cut across the front of the defender to create a better angle or possibly draw him into making a foul...again though he fails to even hit the target. Looks like he's tried to chip the ball in rather than keep his shot low and hard. 

Third one in stoppage time on the volley he's just hit it straight at Cech. 

There's entire compilations of all of his big misses for Chelsea last season on YouTube... Don't think we're in any position to be mocking Lukaku for one miss. People in glass houses and all that. 

I posted the one on one compilations myself, but they weren't as bad as an open goal, let's not stretch it. An open goal is always as bad as a chance with the keeper in the way. I think the main point is talking about the outrage mob on here if Morata has one minuscule mistake or doesn't do enough. If Morata missed that this place would be on lockdown, particularly if we didn't win, where I've seen Giroud also miss a lot of chances in a Chelsea shirt and he hasn't even been here for a full year yet. 

I get it though, one was 60 million the other was much cheaper and always a rotational player but regardless, if we are really criticising Morata after the Newcastle game I dread to think what will happen on here when he has an actual bad game. 

11 minutes ago, Slojo said:

if w?e are? really criticising Morata after the Newcastle game I dread to think what will happen on here when he has an actual bad game. ??

Just out of interest bar wearing a blue shirt against Newcastle what did he do well? 

11 minutes ago, charierre said:

Just out of interest bar wearing a blue shirt against Newcastle what did he do well? 

If you didn't do well does that mean you did bad? I wouldn't say so, I think he did all he could do bar one error. Besides that we couldn't get the ball into him and that had nothing to do with him. Giroud didn't exactly turn the tables when he came on did he? And he's more of a target man. 

The error in that game lead with our build up play, it was too slow, there was a severe lack of final third attacks because nobody could get the ball in to Morata, Newcastle had fun defending us until we eventually got our penalty. To put this blame on Morata is absurd, I don't even think Diego Costa would have scored in this game and he was the master of scoring in games where he barely got a sniff at goal. 

Didn't Giroud win the header and knock the ball down for Alonso for the winning goal? Thus turning the tables.

Just now, Slojo said:

If you didn't do well does that mean you did bad? I wouldn't say so, I think he did all he could do bar one error. Besides that we couldn't get the ball into him and that had nothing to do with him. Giroud didn't exactly turn the tables when he came on did he? And he's more of a target man. 

The error in that game lead with our build up play, it was too slow, there was a severe lack of final third attacks because nobody could get the ball in to Morata, Newcastle had fun defending us until we eventually got our penalty. To put this blame on Morata is absurd, I don't even think Diego Costa would have scored in this game and he was the master of scoring in games where he barely got a sniff at goal. 

Did he put himself around trying to play his way into the game, maybe win some 50/50 balls or even 60/40 in his favour? It's all too easy to blame others. Top strikers make small runs to create room for others, play others in, in short make a nuisance of themselves even if they don't get on the scoresheet. He did none of these things, when Alvaro disappears in a match he certainly does, brings new meaning to 'ghosting in on the blindside'. He at present isn't earning his massively overinflated wages. Fans will always get behind a player who gives his all, its about time Morata gave this in every game.