Alvaro Morata Compares English Football to What He's Experienced in Spain and Italy
Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata appears to be fitting in perfectly with the notion of an English 'number nine' after scoring three headed goals and providing two headed assists since moving to the Premier League from Real Madrid.
"At the moment, I've only scored and assisted with my head for Chelsea, so I hope to use my feet as well soon!" Morata said to ChelseaFC.com as he compared English football with what he has previously known from playing in Spain and Italy.
"It's true that English football is different to Italy and Spain. You don't have much time to calm down, or relax, because all the time the ball is on fire!" he explained.
"You need to be in good condition to play here and approach every match with a good mentality."
It is not completely alien to what Morata is used to, though, particularly in terms of the tight marking he experienced in Serie A during his time with Juventus.
"In terms of the marking, it is probably the same here as in Italy with the teams that are maybe not at the top of the league - those teams are compact and it's hard for us sometimes to break them down," the Spain international commented.
"But when the other team wants to play with the ball, you can find space. That's when you find the spaces to attack the other team."
Morata was left on the bench as Chelsea ran riot with a 6-0 win over Qarabag on their return to the Champions League on Tuesday night. He will hoe to be back involved, however, when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge in a huge London derby in the Premier League on Saturday.