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Chelsea is still unbeaten after 14 games into the 2018-19 campaign. Players have happily admitted that they've been enjoying the new style of gameplay that Sarri has bought along with him. While the Blues have managed to score three or more goals on six out of the 14 occasions, their strikers are finding it difficult to get on the score sheet.
Morata stepping up to take responsibility
Álvaro Morata ended his goal drought early into the season by scoring against Arsenal, which was their second match of Premier League, which Chelsea went on to win 3-2. He has managed to score four goals for the Blues in the 2018-19 campaign. With Morata starting to adapt to football in England, his striker teammate Olivier Giroud is still searching his shooting boots.
2018 summed up for Giroud
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Giroud last scored for Chelsea on 6th of May against Liverpool. Even though he had a goal-less tournament, France's National Team coach Didier Deschamps acknowledged that Olivier played a crucial role in France's road to the World Cup trophy.
After the World Cup, he has had nine appearances across UEFA Nations League (3), Premier League (4), UEFA Europa League (1) and International Friendlies (2), in which he has succeeded in scoring on only three occasions, two of which came in International Friendlies and one in UEFA Nations League against the Netherlands.
Comparison: Morata vs Giroud
When the Blues failed to sign a new striker this summer, comparisons were made between the two Chelsea strikers ahead of the season as to who'll be the first choice striker for Sarri. While these comparisons were justified to an extent as both were going through a period of miserable form in front of the goal, the two players have different skill-sets and hence different roles to play when part of the playing eleven.
Morata is young and is more speedy as compared to Giroud. Furthermore, he has some tricks up his sleeves. These factors help him make the runs for final through balls from midfielders and gives him more one on one opportunities against the goalkeepers.
On the other hand, Giroud is slower and hence rarely gets those cutting through balls to score comparatively easier goals. So the majority of chances that come his way are from corners and crosses to head the ball into the net, which is not an easy task to accomplish.
Strength is one of the departments, if not the only, in which Giroud has outplayed Morata. Not only Giroud has been found winning the first header from the goal-kicks, but even the commentators have stated that Morata goes to ground too quickly under pressure.
So when the team plays around Giroud, then he is used as more of a man with whom Hazard, Willian, Pedro, and other midfielders can play one to one passing in the final third. The fact that he has the highest number of assists (4) for Chelsea in this season further cements the above observation.
Competition for Playing XI spot
With the change in manager this summer, there has been intense competition amongst the Chelsea players for almost all positions to impress the new boss. This competition has led to players such as Hazard, Willian, Pedro, Barkley, and Loftus-Cheek preferring to take a go at goal by themselves on more occasions instead of creating chances for Morata and Giroud.
The fact that 21 out of the 31 goals scored by Chelsea this season have been racked up collectively by Hazard, Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, Pedro, and Willian, further fortifies the above theory.
While it's great for a team to be not dependent on one striker to do the bulk of the scoring, which is the case with Chelsea, it's equally important to have a striker who is confident and has been scoring at least once in two or three matches.
It seems Morata has gained Sarri's confidence by scoring four goals in this campaign. Though he looks like the preferred choice for the time being, it would be too early to say that things will remain the same. Morata was scoring at a healthy rate at the start of 2017-18 season, but his return from an injury ruined his scoring form altogether. Eventually, it was Giroud who came to the rescue for the Blues.
It would be interesting to see how Chelsea plans its financial assets and what players it targets in the January transfer window.
