From Nigel : Morata
Hi Myles,
Like most gooners I’m quite excited about the prospect of us signing Morata.
However as usual I’ll believe it when I see it, especially after being teased with Benzema and Higuain in previous years.
I’ve been looking at his goal stats though and they’re pretty poor.
12 goals in 47 appearances this season and 15 in 46 the previous (I don’t know how many of these were substitute appearances). I know Italy’s a more defensive league but these stats don’t make me think he’s one of the best strikers in the world or worth the reported £38m or so.
Yes he’s still young but is there something more to these stats that makes you think he’ll succeed where Giroud has failed?
Giroud’s stats this season are 24 in 54 and 19 in 36 the previous season btw.
Myles says:
Thanks, Nigel.
I didn’t realise Alvaro Morata’s goal tallies were so low.
Skill-wise he’s a lot better than, say, Mandzukic, but he’s not as consistently prolific as Higuain or as physical as Benzema.
It’s a weird one and very hard for me to make a sensible comment on this.
Morata might be one of those footballers who can make a good team great but could never make a bad team good.
In a way, I see Giroud through the lens of Chamakh.
Chamakh, far from being a No.9 who would boldly score 12 goals from crosses in a season, turned out to be a wimp who plunged deep into the box and then looked to pass rather than shoot.
And maybe that’s what your swarm-phootball professor wanted: a set-up guy with good peripheral vision, who could play in runners to score from ten yards. Swarm-phootball aims to push fullbacks high, and play wide attackers infield, so they can play each other in and take turns to shoot from 8 or 10 or 12 yards.
That style hasn’t won any titles yet and with Guardiola, Mourinho, Klopp, Koeman and Pochettino all competing with each other in England, I don’t think 2017 will be an opportunity for Arsenal to surprise them all by nicking the title.
Like a lot of Gooners, Nigel, you probably want any striker who’s not Giroud, who is at least doing what Wenger hoped Chamakh would do.