Chelsea Manager Not Concerned About Torres’ Form, But He Should Be
Although Carlo Ancelotti recently revealed that he was happy with Fernando Torres’ form at Chelsea, Torres has yet to score for the blues and has looked poor in front of goal. This is a definite cause for concern for a struggling Chelsea. However, whilst Torres has been struggling, his teammate Nicholas Anelka scored a double against FC Copenhagen last week, and in contrast has looked increasingly dangerous in front of goal. A cause for concern for the £50 million signing.
Torres endured another goalless game against rivals Manchester United on Tuesday, whilst his fellow new signing, David Luiz, continued his positive start, and arguably looked more attacking and dangerous than his world cup winning counter part. This goalless drought which Torres is currently going through is a definite worry for Chelsea fans. At Liverpool Torres was always a danger – especially against the so called giants of English football. Although Vidic was given his marching orders during the game on Tuesday, it was not due to his old enemy’s (Torres) doing. Torres did not torment the Serbian, unlike when he was playing at Anfield, but instead continued to look out of sort in a Chelsea team.
Speaking about his January signings, interestingly Ancelotti remarked ‘We don’t have to compare them. Torres didn’t score but I don’t ask my strikers to score’. This would appear to be an unusual thing to say, as although strikers are not always supposed to shoot on sight, for Ancelotti to state that he is not asking a £50 million signing proven scorer, to score, does seem to show that Ancelotti is defending Torres’s form. It also shows that Ancelotti maybe concerned by Torres’s lack of goals with his effort to defend the struggling striker.
However, in his defence, Torres did have energy and was involved in Chelsea’s play against United. As Ancelotti put it ‘he worked for the team’ – a key attribute in every legendary players armoury. But on the other hand, Torres did fail to see a crucial pass to Anelka during the game; a pass which could have killed off their northern rivals. At Liverpool Torres was a hero and a legend who could be relied upon to frighten the defence of the opposition. A trait which Torres has yet to pick up in a blue shirt.
Although Torres has yet to score for Chelsea and his form so far has looked poor compared to his French teammate, he has started to link with his new team. However, he still has not yet reached the performance and character he is known for at Liverpool where he was known for his flare and team playing qualities. Although Ancelotti says he is not worried about his out of form striker at the moment, I’m sure that others around him are starting to become impatient with the Spanish star.
