"He has everything that is needed to be our centre forward : physical strength , the ability to play in small or large spaces, he's strong at heading and he strikes the ball well. But for some reasons , he has not yet found the necessary regularity
and it's not the fault of his coach (Massimilliano Allegri). The player has his own responsibility ". "I don't know if he lacks belief. He is a nice guy, he's not spoiled , he is humble and quiet and that is an important thing ". "He lacks consistency in games. We hope he finds it both with Juventus and us. He needs to appear more during games", was the statements made by Spanish coach Vincent Del Bosque on Juventus and Spanish striker Alvaro Moratta.
While Moratta might seem to lack consistency, that wasn't the case in last seasons Champions League as boyhood club Real Madrid regrettably found out, as his two goals in either of the home and away game dumped them out of the competition in the semi-finals . This ultimately cost Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti his job as he was sacked after going trophyless for the capital club . The painful part is that two seasons ago, Moratta played in the finals in Lisbon as Real Madrid defeated capital neighbours Atletico Madrid to lift their record 10th Champions League trophy. Moratta ended up scoring 10 goals in 37 league matches for Real after graduating from the clubs academy (Castilla). Ironically Moratta was sold to Juventus in the summer of 2014 for €20m with Real Madrid having an option to buy him back .
The main problem that has blighted the career of the youngster is his tendency to turn up in big games but blow cold in games of very little at stake. Moratta has been a youngster with huge potential after scoring his first Real Madrid goal within 60 seconds of his introduction (83rd minutes) in a 2-1 win over Levante. He also scored on his first official start just after three minutes before leaving the field for Raul Albiol before the hour-mark, after Sergio Ramos was red carded in a 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano on February 17, 2013.
Meanwhile Moratta's return of six goals in 26 league games this season for Juventus is not encouraging, considering the impact Argentine new signing Dybala has made (scored 14 goals and provided eight assists in 29 league games so far this season). At 23, critics forget that Moratta is still a youngster due to the fact that his career rise started at an early stage. His main attributes includes quick feet, excellent movements with and without the ball, pace , heading accuracy and excellent hold-up play which he must surely improve on if he is to go further or reach the heights of his football mentor Fernando Morintes.
Overall, while he scored an impressive 43 goals in 83 games for the Castilla , his tally of 14 in 57 games for the Old Lady shows the inconsistency Del Bosque has spotted. It is still too early to judge Moratta as most players of his age are yet to achieve even half of what he has achieved, yet that doesn't mean the Madrid born forward doesn't need to up his game. For sure time is still on his side.
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