Juventus: Alvaro Morata turning into a complete package

There was a time when Juventus had strikers such as Roberto Bettega, Giampiero Boniperti, David Trézéguet, Omar Sívori (the fastest to reach 100 goals for the Old Lady), Filippo Inzaghi, and so on. While each of them had a different way of leading the line on the field — some of them were target men, foxes in the box, dummy runners, poachers, and some even mastered the role of the false 9, they were all destined to make the history book of the Turin-based club.

Last summer, the Italian giants found themselves in an odd situation. Their dire need for an individual known for goals was engulfing other necessities. But as the saying goes, there is a way if there is the requisite will.

Failing to surpass the expectation since leaving Juventus in 2016, Alvaro Morata re-joined the Bianconeri on a season-long loan deal from Atletico Madrid. Prior to moving to the Madrid side, he was at Chelsea, where he spent two miserable seasons.

Joining Juventus was one of the best things that could have happened to the Spaniard in the last summer transfer window, given he is one of the most reliable frontmen the Spain national team head coach, Luis Enrique, will be looking forward to utilizing in the forthcoming European championship.

How things have gone so far for Alvaro Morata at Juventus?

Alvaro Morata was surely thrilled to join the club where his career first burst into life. The two-time Scudetto winner with the Bianconeri during his first spell at the club, Morata found the net in his first start for Juventus in Serie A against Crotone last October.

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And since then, it has been a steady growth in the figure that has seen the 28-year-old amassing 16 goals and 11 assists from 31 games across all competitions.

Morata, as far as the Serie A and Champions League stats are concerned, now holds the second-best minutes-per-goal ratio in Juventus — just behind Juve’s Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.

Morata has a goal to his name every 134 minutes this season, a number belittled by Ronaldo’s ability to find the back of the net every 95 minutes. And consequently, Morata is the second top-scorer for the Bianconeri. Do you know who is the first? Yes, it’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

But on the other hand, the centre-forward by trade, Morata leads the list for the most assist maker this time. If we try to be precise, the Spain international has 27 goal contributions from just 31 matches, which should be considered an excellent output from a player many find hard to deem as the difference-maker for Juventus.

The secret behind Morarta’s empathic numbers

There is a term often used in football these days — overachievement. When a player achieves better numbers (goals or assists) than what his gameplay generally expects, it is called that the player is overachieving. So, is Alvaro Morata, the only prolific no. 9 Juventus have under their ranks, overachieving at the moment?

The statistics related to the Spaniard’s game suggest that yes, he is overachieving. But the same statistics also apprise that Morata’s overachievement is caused by the underlying efforts he has been putting on the field week in, week out.

First of all, let’s discuss the numbers behind Morata’s overachievement.

The former Real Madrid star, according to Fbref.com, has occupied an xG (expected goals) of 0.49 and npxG (non-penalty expected goals) of 0.44 per 90 minutes. At this rate, he would be scoring 49 goals from 100 matches and 44 non-penalty goals from 100 matches.

But, in reality, he has recorded 0.50 goals per 90 minutes for Juventus, which is way better than what is expected of him. Now, let’s come to the assist-making department.

Morata has registered an xA (expected assists) of 0.28 this season, meaning he is expected to be making 28 assists from 100 games. But, in reality, he has racked up 0.57 assists per 90 minutes (almost one assist in two games). Hence, he is overachieving in this aspect as well.

Since it is clear that the striker is an embodiment of overachievement, let us focus on why this is happening to him.

If we consider taking a look at Morata’s 2020-21 heatmap, we will see several red spots outside the 18-yard box, depicting that he is hovering around the midfield area more than often to receive the pass and manipulate the game.

Furthermore, if we take another look at the long list of Morata’s career stats on the Fbref.com website, we will see that the Alvaro Morata, in this ongoing 2020-21 season, has the best xA ratio, indicating the Spanish sharpshooter is occupying those places from where one could expect an assist from him. In simple words, he is getting into more effective areas through his canny off-the-ball movements.

Scoring two goals against Lazio to hand Juventus a significant 3-1 victory on Saturday, Morata not only became the match of the match but also proved the notion that he has turned himself totally into a penetrative offensive force from a dogged forward waiting for chances to come in his way, he can score goals as well as create some for other, and last but not the least, he is now a complete package.