'Honest' Alvaro Morata could be too nice to lead Chelsea line, says former Blues striker Tony Cascarino

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James Benge1 November 2017

Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has questioned whether Alvaro Morata has the force of personality required to lead the Blues’ line.

Morata missed a sitter at the Stadio Olimpico as Chelsea collapsed to a 3-0 Champions League group stage loss to Roma, with the Spanish striker seeing his goalless run extend to six games.

Though Morata’s goal output remains impressive he has largely struggled to find the net against Chelsea’s toughest opponents, scoring against Atletico Madrid but firing blanks against Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal and in two meetings with Roma.

In several of those games Morata has been criticised for not imposing his will on opposition defenders, an accusation that could never be levelled at the man he succeeded as Chelsea’s first-choice striker.

Diego Costa was never one to go missing when Chelsea required a battler up top and Cascarino echoed comments from former Blues boss Claudio Ranieri, questioning whether Antonio Conte’s side were missing a more robust presence at the tip of their attack.

“Alvaro Morata is a big talent but I wonder if Chelsea are missing the nastiness of Diego Costa up front,” Cascarino wrote in The Times.

“Morata is such an honest player: last night he literally picked up Federico Fazio when the Roma defender fell to the floor. I can just imagine Costa shoving Fazio aside if he had been in the same position.

“Morata scores plenty of goals and is a fine all-round player but Costa was always on the edge; bullying people, fouling or being fouled. Perhaps Chelsea as a whole have become nicer to play against.”

Conte himself might even concede that Morata lacks the bite of his predecessor at the tip of the Chelsea attack, even though it was the Italian manager who chose to inform Costa by text message that his services were no longer required at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking in September Conte said that Morata, who he had also signed as one of his final acts as Juventus manager, was “a very polite player” and “a really good guy.”

“If you have a daughter you’d be open to have this type of person with your daughter, to marry your daughter,” Conte added.