Alvaro Morata Is the Juventus Player to Watch in International Action This Week

With the international break providing the perfect moment to reflect on their progress, Juventus have much to be proud of as they enter the final stretch of the 2014-15 campaign. AS Monaco stand in the way of Italian football’s grand Old Lady and a place in the Champions League semi-finals, an impressive improvement considering last season’s group-stage exit.

She has already reached that same stage of the Coppa Italia, narrowly trailing Fiorentina as a 2-1 scoreline carries over to the second leg. Currently enjoying a 14-point advantage atop of the Serie A standings, it seems victory in either competition would complete a superb double and punctuate a fantastic campaign.

Massimiliano Allegri deserves huge credit for his role, the coach quickly coming to terms with life on Italy’s most prestigious bench and adding some much-needed tactical flexibility to the side. His calm approach has brought the best from a number of players, and has had particularly notable effects on the team’s forward play.

Currently boasting the most prolific attack on the peninsula thanks to their tally of 55 goals, Carlos Tevez has once again been consistently excellent. His brace against Borussia Dortmund means he has now found the net on 23 occasions in all competitions, adding eight assists and continuing to harass defenders the way he always has.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Alongside the Argentinian star, Fernando Llorente has lost his once-assured first-team place, the form of Alvaro Morata forcing his compatriot to watch from the sidelines with increasing regularity. Llorente has still made an important contribution, but it is now the younger Spaniard to whom the Old Lady now most often turns.

Morata’s play has seen him become a much-improved goalscorer, his own strike at the Westfalenstadion taking him to a total of 11 goals so far this term. He has netted in some vital ties too, finding his name on the scoresheet against Milan as well as in both legs of that emphatic Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund.

He has also added four assists, including ones which led to vital goals against Napoli and Cesena, all of which points to a willingness to work for the team which must be applauded. The 22-year-old is everything the Bianconeri could ask of a striker: Fast, hungry, hard-working and increasingly deadly in front of goal.

As the graphic below—courtesy of Squawka.com—shows, Morata has hit the target with 57 percent of his attempts, the highest of the club’s strikers in 2014-15. That same source shows he has also created 18 clear scoring opportunities for his team-mates, which highlights his vastly improved passing since moving to Turin.

Squawka.com

According to statistics from WhoScored.com, the young striker completed just 69.2 percent of his passes last term, that figure leaping to 74.6 percent during the current campaign. The same site shows the figures for his defensive effort—0.5 tackles and 0.2 interceptions per game—are not great, but during matches it is evident he is working hard without the ball, taking his lead from renowned workaholic Tevez to constantly harass and close down opposing defenders.

His effort has been rewarded with a call-up to the Spain squad for the forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Ukraine, as well as a friendly away to the Netherlands. Speaking at a press conference to announce his choices, coach Vicente del Bosque singled out the Juventus striker for praise while recognising his potential for growth.

“As a young player, he has his dips,” Del Bosque noted, per Dermot Corrigan of ESPN. “There were some games when he was not so good, but now it seems he is better. We have a lot of hope placed in him. I believe he is the future of the national team, but we must think about the present and we believe in him for this moment.”

Those words will be hugely encouraging for the former Real Madrid star, and with Diego Costa and Pedro the only other strikers selected he is likely to feature in one or both of those games. With that in mind, Alvaro Morata is definitely worth watching closely during international action this week.