TORRES: £50M SCAPEGOAT HUNG OUT TO DRY.

Most of you would have woken up to a whole load of stories in the press this morning about Fernando Torres and his position within the Chelsea team being under threat. Headlines such as "AVB will drop Torres if the drought continues" fill some newspapers this morning with the focus on the fact that Torres has scored just the one goal in 21 games for us.

Now you would look at the stats and think to yourself "Why is he still playing?" being harsh about it and I know there are some Chelsea fans out there that can't understand why he is being selected ahead of Didier Drogba in the first couple of games.

AVB spoke yesterday about Torres in response to all this and said:

"It can never compromise the objectives of the team and the things you want to achieve. It's not just about scoring goals, it's about creating opportunities and he's been doing that. The moment when it compromises the running of the team I think it has to come to an end.

You don't lose your talent because you went 21 games just scoring one goal, The talent is there. The question is regaining that confidence – that comes with training and time and finding the back of the net. One of our main focuses is getting the best out of the players, to free themselves and exploit their talent. You just have to persist.

I don't think he's lost pace. I don't think it's even a question – it's related to the space that you find, the timing of the run and the opponents."

(Source)
There is one thing people are missing here. It's all well and good looking at his scoring record at the moment and being critical and in some peoples minds the facts are plain to see. However, there are a fair few of us out there that are becoming increasingly frustrated with the fact that people are ignoring his runs and they AREN'T passing the ball to him.

Now whether or not that has been through jealousy, or some ridiculous rivalry within the squad it has become a joke and that is why I think that Juan Mata and Raul Meireles have been brought into the side.

If Fernando Torres had been played in on goal or had open chances created for him three or four times a game and he wasn't hitting the target then I would have a problem with him starting games. The simple fact is, he isn't getting the service, hasn't had the service and as a result the media are ignoring the simple truth that we all can see.

This whole confidence thing as a striker in a football team or even for you working in the team you do is a two-way thing for me.

For example, if you are at work reading this and part of a team or a structure that directly affects you, you have confidence in yourself to do your job to the best of your ability but at the same time, you have confidence in others around you to pull their weight at the same time to ensure what you are trying to achieve by the end of everyday IS achieved.

You know full well if when working with someone, they aren't pulling their weight and if it directly affects you, you aren't happy and your confidence in them suffers.

For Torres it's the same thing. I am 100% sure that he has the utmost confidence in his own ability without question. I believe he has lacked confidence in our side ever since he came here because as the time has gone by, he doesn't believe that he will get the service. As a result, he has become the £50m scapegoat, hung out to dry and it's so far off the mark it's ridiculous. Just the other day he was the target for a columnist.

Now be honest with yourselves reading this and think back to Chelsea's games you have seen WITH Torres playing and think back to how many times you can recall him being put through, in behind the back four with a slide rule pass in between defenders so he can run onto the through ball at pace and be one on one with the keeper?. Instead, how many times have we seen Torres stand there gesturing to the likes of Kalou, Malouda and Lampard because they have ignored him? Do you see what I am getting at, do you see what I mean?

I honestly believe this and I am talking 100% confidence in Torres' fortunes at our club changing and as early as tomorrow at Sunderland because of three players. Those players are Juan Mata, Raul Meireles and Danny Sturridge.

Like I said commenting on the post I put up on here asking you guys "who starts the game tomorrow", I believe that AVB should go with Torres through the middle and Mata and Sturridge playing either side of him. I also believe that Raul Meireles should start in our midfield in place of either Mikel or Ramires.

Watch this video of Juan Mata's performance for example against Norwich. One thing remains constant in this, he ALWAYS looks to get forward with or without the ball and look out for the clip at 1m 45 seconds with the ball he sees and plays over the top to Ramires, this is something Torres will feed off for the rest of the season.



Torres like any other striker in the game feeds off service. I can't believe that we are sitting here still talking about the same thing I RANTED about back in March! With these three players he WILL get the service he needs and will be a success at our club. I think AVB has addressed it.

We all want to see Chelsea be successful and Fernando Torres recreate the form he showed at Liverpool by scoring plenty of goals. He will only do that by people giving him the service he needs and by passing the bloody ball to him.

Starting tomorrow, I think we are about to see Fernando Torres' Chelsea career really get going!

KTBFFH

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