Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata blames former boss Antonio Conte’s “direct” style for his indifferent form last season.
The Spain international made an impressive start to his Blues career, scoring seven goals in his first seven games, but his form tailed off after Christmas.
Morata found the net just three times in 23 appearances as Chelsea missed out on Champions League qualification, and that barren run saw him miss out on a place in Spain’s World Cup squad.
The 25-year-old looked set to leave Stamford Bridge this summer, with Juventus among the clubs interested, but he was determined to stay at Chelsea.
“For me, it’s easy. I could have gone back to Spain or Italy, all the people believe in me there, but I want to change things here,” said Morata.
“I want to, not for all the haters, but for me and for Chelsea. Chelsea gave me everything that I needed and now I have time to give back all that Chelsea give me.
“The most important thing is the way we play. Last season it was direct balls and for me to protect the ball in the air is not my best quality.
“Now I can attack the space, I can play one touch and go in the area for the crosses. It’s better for me.”
Morata has started all three competitive games under Maurizio Sarri and after scoring his first goal of the campaign in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Arsenal, he hopes to repay the faith shown in him by bettering last season’s tally of 15 goals.
“Sarri works with the ball always and when you always have the ball the strikers have more chances,” said Morata.
“I want to score more than 30 goals, but I would prefer to score 15 or 20 and get the Premier League or one big trophy.”
Morata is on a mission to repay Chelsea’s faith in him and prove how much he loves life at Stamford Bridge. Morata admits he could have been sold this summer but decided to stay and prove himself instead – and he finally got his reward in a game just made for strikers.
The Spain star missed the World Cup after ending his debut season at Chelsea on a barren run, and fans called for him to be sold when he missed a penalty against Arsenal in pre-season.
But in a match featuring 39 shots, Morata struck his first goal of the new campaign and only his second in the Premier League since Boxing Day.
He struck after Pedro scored the opener, only for Arsenal to come roaring back with goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi before Marcos Alonso snatched a late winner.