Fresh off winning his second Champions League, Alvaro Morata looks like he may well depart Real Madrid again.
Despite scoring 15 goals in La Liga, the second-most in Madrid’s squad this season as they snatched the title away from Barcelona for first time in five years, Morata played just 1,341 minutes, which is shocking for a player of his enormous quality.
The Spaniard needs to play with more regularity than he does if he wants to rival Diego Costa for the starting position in the national team, and with the World Cup due at the end of next season, that’s a crucial battle for Morata and one he will leave the Bernabeu in order to win.
He’s been linked with many top clubs, but Manchester United are consistently among those clubs in part because they need a centre-forward (especially now Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to depart and Antoine Griezmann isn’t arriving) but largely because José Mourinho is in charge.
It was Mourinho who gave Morata his Real Madrid debut, back in the 2010/11 season. He remained a bit-part player for the next season but eventually became a more established member of the squad that the Portuguese came to trust. There’s also the fact that, stylistically, he’s just a great fit for José Mourinho’s type of attack.
Power
Morata is a tall forward with broad shoulders, who plays with an assurance and sense of strength that allows him to hold the ball up well, ensuring that opposing defenders have a hard time getting it off him. This allows him to play as a reference for the attack.
Which is, of course, essential for José Mourinho, who organises his attacks around strikers capable of holding the ball up and bringing others into play. From Derlei to Didier Drogba, to Diego Milito to Diego Costa, there’s always a target man for Mourinho.
Moreover, the ball will be coming into the box from wide areas. An ability convert crosses is essential, and six of Morata’s 15 Liga goals came via his head. Given how many crucial headers United scored this season, that aerial quality helps him slot in.
Pace
Far from being a static target man, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been for United in 2015/16, Morata can really move. We’re not talking about just being faster than Ibrahimovic, there are grandparents out there faster than Ibrahimovic. No, Morata can really move.
And this allows him to add an essential element of dynamism to the attack. United’s counter-attacking ability wouldn’t be so crippled as it was with the Big Swede up front. Morata can collect long balls and hold it up as the Swede can, but he can also accelerate into space and lead the break.
Just recall what he did to Bayern Munich when playing for Juventus in 2015/16. He surged fully 50 yards, blowing by three different Bayern players and making them look utterly ridiculous and helpless before drawing two more Bayern defenders and playing it to Juan Cuadrado who finished simply. It was basically something Leo Messi would do, except Morata is 6’2 and built like a superhero.
Skill
When Alvaro Morata was in the Madrid youth teams and just making the odd cameo in the first team, Mourinho insisted that the centre-forward play out on the wing. He did this because he believed that, not only would it give the youngster more opportunities in the first-team (he played his first Clásico as a winger, validating Mourinho’s theory) but it would improve him.
Playing on the wing, Morata had to embrace his technique and skill. His first-touch improved, as did his balance when running with the ball (see also: the Bayern assist). Morata’s vision expanded and he went from being an athletic forward to an athletic forward who possessed the kind of skill that allowed him to make the difference in attacks.
Big Game Performer
One of the things Mourinho most prides himself on is the ability to perform in big games. Not to necessarily win them, just ensuring his team is incredibly hard to beat.
But he does like to win, and for that to happen he needs a striker who can deliver in the crunch moments.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic routinely came up big for United in many crunch clashes, including winning the Community Shield and League Cup with his goals. His replacement Marcus Rashford was much younger, but nevertheless has already scored against Arsenal, Manchester City and in the Europa League semi-final, showing he can deliver on big occasions. It’s essential.
Morata has a spectacular big game record. Obviously the Bayern assist (his second of that tie, he got an assist mere seconds after coming on in the first leg) is great proof, but little compares to his 2014/15 exploits in Europe.
Morata scored home and away against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, knocking his then-former club out. He also bagged the equalising goal in the Berlin showpiece. An enormous display of big match ability that will win the heart of even a stoic like Mourinho.
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