Alvaro Morata opens up on pressure after Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit & dealing with abuse
Alvaro Morata has admitted that he is feeling the pressure of filling the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus.
Ronaldo left the club after Matchday 1 of the 2021/22 Serie A season and made a stunning return to former club Manchester United. The forward’s exit left a big hole in the Bianconeri dressing room, with Juve only bringing in Moise Kean to mitigate against Ronaldo’s departure.
The 36-year-old scored 101 times in 134 Juventus appearances and was crowned Capocannoniere in his final season at the club.
Morata, who scored 11 times for the Old Lady in Serie A under Andrea Pirlo having returned to the club on loan from Atletico Madrid, was expected to step up this season in Ronaldo’s absence but the Spaniard has struggled to find any form.
Morata is feeling the pressure
The Spaniard has scored just two league goals in 11 appearances, although he has been disrupted by a hamstring injury. The 29-year-old has failed to score in his last four starts with Juventus sitting eighth in Serie A after 12 games.
Morata has attributed his recent woes to the injury and the increased scrutiny following Ronaldo’s exit. “We are all under pressure after Ronaldo left. Myself maybe more because I am on loan,” he told El Pais (via the Daily Mail).
Morata’s loan from Atletico was extended by another season in the summer, although it remains to be seen whether Juventus will buy the striker permanently at the end of the season. They are reluctant to pay €35m to purchase him outright, after spending €20m on loan fees.
“I was out for almost a month and because I rushed my return I did not feel fully fit. I had to work a lot for the team and I didn’t have the necessary clarity to score and be 100% ready,” added Morata.
“In the last few games, I played on the left, almost as a winger. But the important thing is to play and do what the coach wants. Obviously, I would like to play better and score more but before the injury, I was fine and then struggled to recover.”
While Morata’s inefficiency in front of goal and unawareness of the offside law are perpetual sources of frustration for Juventini, the Spaniard does provide plenty to Massimiliano Allegri when he’s on his game. The striker’s a relentless worker and is usually adept at playing with his back to goal and bringing others into play.
He’s a talented, multi-faceted forward who has endured drastic losses of confidence throughout his career.
‘I didn’t even want to get out of bed’
Morata’s fragility has manifested on several occasions. At Chelsea, his confidence was shot and was doomed for failure despite a bright start. Then in the summer, Morata was frequently booed by Spanish supporters as La Roja went in search of Euro 2020 glory.
The striker struggled in the group stage but caught fire in the knockout phase as an impressive Spain side reached the semi-finals. Morata scored three times at the tournament, including the equaliser against Italy in the semi-final, but went on to miss in the penalty shootout as his side exited the competition. Once again, the vulnerable Juventus forward emerged as the perfect scapegoat.
Speaking on the abuse he and his family received in the summer, Morata said: “There have been times when I didn’t even want to get out of bed. I’ve often said I’ve had a lot of bad times and, with another mindset, maybe I could have been a better player.
“But I also have great willpower to get out of the dark times, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the career I had,” the Spaniard admitted.