Chris Sutton: Alvaro Morata signing was a risk for Chelsea

Antonio Conte must take the blame for Chelsea’s problems in attack, says former Blues striker Chris Sutton.

The Premier League champions are in the midst of a mini-crisis after successive defeats and an injury to top scorer Alvaro Morata. There are also serious questions about Morata’s understudy Michy

Batshuayi ahead of their Champions League clash with Roma on Wednesday.

Sutton believes Morata’s track record suggests he was always a risky signing to replace Diego Costa, with the Spaniard never managing to start on a regular basis at former clubs Juventus and Real Madrid.

‘Costa was a centre forward who played a lot of games and over the last couple of seasons was dependable,’He said ‘If you look at Morata’s record in terms of starts over the last three or four seasons he hasn’t started that many games. That was always a risk bringing him in and then not having another striker. Can he be relied on to play 30/40 games? I’m not so sure he can.

‘There is obviously Batshuayi but I don’t think Conte trusts him. The fact he had [Eden] Hazard on in the Man City game [at Stamford Bridge on 30 September] instead of Batshuayi, Conte doesn’t seem to have great faith in him.’

Batshuayi’s poor performance at the weekend came under scrutiny after Chelsea fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace. But Sutton feels the Belgian deserves some sympathy with Conte failing to instil him with the confidence he needs.

‘I think he probably feels that Conte doesn’t rate him that highly,’ He said. ‘In the game against Man City, putting Hazard on, you have to say at the weekend he looked short on confidence. A couple of times this season he hasn’t looked high on confidence and he’s not playing regularly.’

 

The form of Morata will also have played a part in Batshuayi’s struggles, according to Sutton.

‘To come in and replace Morata who started the season really strongly, scored plenty of goals and looked a handful – that puts the pressure on him. So when Chelsea fail as they did at the weekend he comes under extreme scrutiny.

‘But you can’t get away from the fact he was poor at the weekend and I have to say they missed Morata.’

The current problems at Chelsea can be traced back to the transfer window when they failed to adequately strengthen their squad for the additional toil of Champions League football.

‘The fault lies with Chelsea in the window,’ said Sutton. ‘They didn’t do the business. That was always going to come back and bite them. They were fortunate last season.

‘Chelsea’s problem lies in their lack of strength. They should have strengthened when they had the chance. Now they’re fighting on two fronts – that is their problem. Last season they won with a relatively small group of players and they didn’t have many injuries. This season they’ve had a few injuries.’

Sutton added: ‘I admire what he [Conte] has done but I think he’s made errors in not strengthening in the window I do. That will ultimately cost them this season. Especially when you see what the Manchester clubs are doing. You could argue when you are champions that’s a good time to attract players.’