Chelsea are 1-0 down at home to Manchester United in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final, and with twenty minutes to go, Carlo Ancelotti decides to substitute 33 year-old Didier Drogba, who has scored one goal in his last eleven games for the Blues. A hum of disappointment quickly surrounds Stamford Bridge, not because the home supporters are uninspired by Nicolas Anelka’s introduction (although the Frenchman hasn’t scored since February), but because their new £50million ‘hero’ remains on the pitch for the remainder of the match, eventually completing 617 minutes without a goal for his new club.
Chelsea fans are not known for their patience, and their chairman is always quick to point out when something is wrong, but is it now time for Fernando Torres to realise he made a big mistake in forcing through his Liverpool exit, especially considering the different directions both clubs are now heading in?
Allow me to start by clearing up one issue – Fernando Torres is not a similar case to that of Andriy Shevchenko. Torres’ Chelsea displays are not a result of failing to adapt to the style or rigours of the Premier League – the Spaniard scored 75 goals in 126 games for Liverpool during his first full three seasons in England, and spearheaded Spain’s attack during successful European Championship and World Cup campaigns whilst a Liverpool player.
However, almost exactly 12 months ago, Torres revealed that he felt daunted by the prospect of an extended career in England based on the continual demands of Premier League football. “This is my third season and I’m still amazed to see Gerrard, Rooney and Lampard, players who have been here a long time, still playing at such a high level and with such impressive rhythm because the English league really wears down a player. I just can’t imagine what state I’ll be in within five or six years if I continue to play here – it could easily give me problems when I stop playing. The physical level is superior to all other countries.”
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Torres announced these concerns following a knee operation which he never fully recovered from before joining his Spanish team-mates in South Africa last summer. He had actually scored 18 goals in 22 League games for Liverpool before the operation, but his performances and evident fitness concerns at the World Cup delayed his move to Stamford Bridge until January. It was thought that Torres would leave Anfield last August following Liverpool’s failed bid to qualify for the Champions League, but the striker committed to Roy Hodgson’s vision, which in hindsight was an egregious decision.
Torres then faced a fitness struggle in the midst of a rancorous ownership and managerial transition and was not the only high-profile Liverpool player to express doubts about the future of the Merseyside club. Pepe Reina has been broadcasting almost monthly updates on his contract situation since the start of the season, and it looks more than likely that he will depart this summer given that Liverpool have yet again failed to infiltrate the top 4.
In January of this year, Liverpool sacked their second manager in 6 months and Torres was only starting to regain his form sporadically between injury spells. Meanwhile, Chelsea had been two months in to a sequence that saw them drop down the Premier League table after their worst run of results for 15 years. These factors, in addition to Torres’ two goals against the Blues in November, convinced Roman Abramovich to renew his interest in the forward and he spent £50million to secure his services. Although he has yet to convert for his new club, Torres is beginning to demonstrate his class gradually and was unfortunate not to score against United in last week’s first leg.
Torres does not legitimately fit in to the categories of Michael Owen, who began his career exceptionally and struggled to improve over time, or Andriy Shevchenko, who dominated Europe until the age of 29 when he should have been hitting his prime but instead rapidly regressed. Torres is of the same mould as Samuel Eto’o, a striker who has delivered explosive goal-scoring form consistently throughout his career.
The Cameroonian is almost exactly three years older than Torres, and three years ago found himself in a similar position to the Spaniard. He had scored 19 goals for Barcelona during an injury-plagued season and was unsettled by a change of manager at the Nou Camp, as Pep Guardiola had announced his intentions to neglect the striker. He stayed, and in fact scored 39 goals in Guardiola’s first season as Barca completed a European treble, but was sold that summer to Inter. Apparently not good enough to remain with the European champions, Eto’o led Inter to Champions League glory the following season, which is something Abramovich might have considered when signing the cheque for Torres. Abramovich’s craving for Champions League supremacy is well known, and Torres could conceivably be the man to lead Chelsea to a European Final, if not this season, then next.
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