Fernando Torres has been a complete and utter failure for Chelsea since arriving from Liverpool for the ridiculous fee of £50 million just over a year a year ago. There’s no way of sugarcoating it, because strikers, no matter how well they play, need to score goals. And Torres hasn’t been playing that well anyway.
Amid all the problems Chelsea have this season, the first under Andre Villas-Boas, is the goalscoring. Didier Drogba isn’t exactly the man he once was, Frank Lampard is either injured or fighting for a place in the lineup. Daniel Sturridge has his days and Nicolas Anelka is gone. That leaves Torres as the man in the spotlight, and he has seemed to fail at every juncture.
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From hair-raising misses to simply looking like he’s doing a favor by showing up and wearing blue, Torres’ numbers are rather embarrassing, considering his output before the transfer and in general, being such an expensive player. A total of 3 league goals in 34 matches, with the last of them coming back in September. A total of 5 goals in 46 matches in all competitions. Need I say more?
While Torres has spent quite a lot of print on excuses and finding ways to explain why he left Liverpool and how he was treated unfairly, time and the pressure have finally gotten somewhat of an honest response from the 27 year old striker, who looked like the best in the world when healthy not too long ago.
To be honest, after one year I was expecting things would be better than they are now. It is a difficult situation because I am happy in my personal life. We really like the club and we’re very happy here to be involved with the staff and the players. On the pitch, it is a difficult time for Chelsea because we are not finding the results, but we’re changing things like playing a different style and still we have a young team to do it.
Chelsea’s style has definitely changed, but it hasn’t proven to be the right kind of transition. From a tough, gritty, aggressive team, nothing seems to have remained. Problem is, the softness that has ensued isn’t helping them in the race for a Champions League spot, forget about challenging for the title.
Personally, I have to improve. In my time at Liverpool there were games where I would not be playing well or I would be doing nothing but every time I touched the ball, I scored. It’s such a strange feeling now because I am feeling better than ever physically. I am not finding the chances and when I do find the chances, I cannot score. My present and my future are here. I have many things to do here and I want to do it because I always did what I wanted in every club I’ve been at, so this is not going to be different.
Torres may be talking about his future with the club, but if his scoring numbers continue to look this bad, he can forget about any big club with high and mighty aspirations picking up his huge salary.