Alvaro Morata: A Progress Report for Juventus' Front-Line Starlet

On July 19, Juventus signed Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid.  A product of the Spanish giant's academy, Morata had displayed great potential but wasn't seeing the field. His move to the Bianconeri—which included a clause that would allow Real to buy the player back in 2016 or '17—was in part a quest for more playing time.

In that, he has already succeeded. According to WhoScored.com, Morata has played 667 minutes between Serie A and the Champions League this season—a tad more than 90 percent of the total he had in the same competitions a year ago under Carlo Ancelotti.

His performances, however, have been uneven.  The 22-year-old has only started five of the 19 matches he's played, and as a result, he's been slow to find his footing. This uneven play has begun to divide some fans.

Some believe that his inconsistency is proof that he's not up to par with what should be expected at a club as storied as Juventus. Others have acknowledged his struggles but maintain that his potential is nearly limitless and that he will be an important part of the future of the team.

In this space today, we're going to try to determine which of these positions is more correct.

Morata's struggles definitely stem from his lack of consistent starter's minutes. That's not necessarily a problem in itself—plenty of players have settled into a substitute's role. But considering how little he played at Real Madrid—where a smorgasbord of talented players were fighting for three substitute spots per game—he never had a rhythm to begin with and needs to establish one even as a sub, let alone a regular starter.

His form was further disrupted by his desire to prove himself.  Shackled by his limited playing time at the Bernabeu, his early performances saw him press and try to rack up goals, as opposed to playing with the flow of the attack. He got himself onto the scoresheet—sometimes spectacularly—but very often he disrupted the team's moves toward goal.

The other side of the argument focuses less on tangible statistics from this season and focuses on what the future may hold.

There is no doubt that Morata is talented in the extreme. He is very much in the mold of other Spanish forwards of the Aragones/Del Bosque era like David Villa, Pedro, and Fernando Torres in his Liverpool prime. He can roam the entire attacking third sideline to sideline, create his own shot with his feet, create openings for others and still has the finishing instinct to put away poacher's chances.

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His performance for Spain in the Under-21 European Championships in 2013 is often used as an example of just what he can do. He won the Golden Boot in that competition despite starting the majority of the games he scored in on the bench. He consistently sliced through defenses, took the ball in stride and deposited clinical strikes past some of the best young talent in Europe. It was a large-scale announcement of his talent.

That talent has been on full display at times this season. His bending, left-footed strike against Empoli in November sealed a 2-0 win and a bounce-back from back-to-back defeats against Olympiakos and Genoa. His brace in Juve's high-octane slaughter of Parma was clinical. His second was one for the highlight reels as well, reaching out with his trailing foot to loop a volley past Antonio Mirante to finish off the 7-0 win.

What's more, the youngster already looks to be improving. The way he helped orchestrate the textbook counter-attack that led to Arturo Vidal's clinching goal in Juve's 3-1 win against Napoli was an encouraging sign, and things have only continued trending upward.

His performance against Hellas Verona on Sunday showed that he is starting to get past his pressing need to score and turning into the more complete forward people think he can be. His assist led to Paul Pogba's early thunderbolt. He wasn't officially given an assist on Carlos Tevez's goal four minutes later, but it was his service into the box that was eventually deflected into the the Argentine's path.

In truth, Morata ended the day coming off a bit too selfless. Twice in the second half, he was bearing down on the Verona goal with a clear shooting opportunity but elected to pass instead, taking some of the steam out of the move and giving the defense time to get more bodies back to help.

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The type of forward he is clearly fits Juve's style more than the man currently ahead of him on the depth chart, Fernando Llorente. Llorente is a fine player, but he is more of a traditional target man and isn't the type of striker that is effective with the ball at his feet. If Juve played with a lone frontman he'd be ideal, but deploying him as part of a pair does not play to his strengths.

Morata can roam the field the way Tevez does and allow the attack to flow.  Rather than merely stopping the ball in the attacking third—allowing the defense to organize behind it—he can keep it in motion, keeping the defense stretched and opening up holes for supporting players to move through.

More performances like the one against Verona—easily his best of the year—will likely earn him more chances ahead of Llorente. His countryman isn't showing any signs of the midseason breakout similar to the one last year that eventually saw him pot 16 goals in the league and two more in Europe.

At full form, Morata's style could make Juve's top-ranked attack deadlier than ever. Tevez and midfielders Vidal, Pogba and Claudio Marchisio will all benefit from the effect his ability to dribble and run with the ball in the attacking third will have. So far, that form hasn't been there. Over his last few games, however, that has begun to change.

Having two consecutive starts like he did this week—both on Sunday and in Juve's Coppa Italia game against Verona—likely started building up both a rhythm and a different mentality. Oftentimes a substitute attacker is on the field because his team needs him to help them score—and quickly. As a starter, there is less urgency for the forward and more time for him to let the game flow without snatching at chances that aren't all there.

Consider as well the fact that it takes time to get used to playing in Serie A, which tends to be the most tactically sophisticated of Europe's elite leagues. It's no wonder that, until recently, he's shown more of his true promise in the Champions League rather than in league play.

In this writer's opinion, those that dismiss Morata as unworthy of black-and-white stripes overlook the fact that they are not seeing a finished product. If he wasn't that good, Florentino Perez wouldn't have gone to the trouble of ensuring Real Madrid would have the chance to bring him back—and potentially at a €10 million loss, no less.

Morata is starting to show his true colors. He's the striker that fits the best as Carlos Tevez's partner. If he fulfills his potential, he may even surpass El Apache by the time next season comes to a close. But that won't happen if he keeps on being blocked by a player who isn't the right fit for how this team plays.

Fully developed, he is not. But that development is finally starting to show, and there is likely more to come. Morata could turn into the future of Juve's front line—but only if the Bianconeri are willing to let him.