Will Torres ever regain form?

Contrary to recent suggestions that Fernando Torres “is back", I thinks he’s still light-years away from recapturing the glorious form of his Liverpool days.

After coming on as a 2nd half substitute to replace Florent Malouda in last Saturday’s match against Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge, Torres’ first two major contributions to the match were to lose his footing and fall over when finding himself in terrific positions to either drive at goal himself, or square the ball for other onrushing Chelsea attackers. Granted, one or two others had slipped on the slick Stamford Bridge surface during the course of the game, but none more spectacularly than Torres. Twice, the Chelsea midfield clipped the ball over the Wigan defence and into the right-side channel where Torres was haring forward. I couldn’t help but chuckle (it’s either laugh or cry at this stage) as he sprinted on to the ball, only for him to end up on the ground, throwing his hands in the air and cursing the sod. On the first occasion he attempted a right footed faint shot to side-step a back-tracking Wigan defender and bring the ball back onto his left foot, only for his standing left leg to give way and allow the Wigan defender to stroll away with the ball. On the second occasion, I don’t even know what Torres was attempting and in truth, I don’t even think he knew, but the result was the same. Advancing into the box, Torres ended up on his backside and the ball dribbled over the end line. Each time, as he darted into the box, one couldn’t help but feel an inevitability to his oncoming self humiliation. You can make excuses about the slick surface all day but I think it’s Torres’ indecisiveness, crippling self doubt and over all lack of confidence that resulted in him on the deck on both occasions. His body language tells you everything you need to know. With slumped shoulders and his head down he never really looked like he was going to deliver something masterful.

At Liverpool, playing under Rafa Benitez, El Nino (The Kid in Spanish) was at his best. He was the lone striker in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Gerrard acting as the advanced midfielder and Xabi Alonso pulling the strings in the middle. Benitez’ teams were quite defensive and played a largely counter attacking game, which invariably meant that many of Liverpool’s attacks came about through a very quick and direct transition from defence to attack when they won possession in their own half. Gerrard and Torres thrived on these situations when their superior speed and technical ability allowed them to destroy defences, given all the space they had to exploit in the attacking third after the opposition had been dispossessed. This may be the system needed to obtain the very best from Torres. It’s unlikely however that Abramovich will ever indulge such a defensive system from a manager. Ever since he’s arrived at Chelsea he’s yearned for success through Barcelona style football. It’s this yearning that ultimately led to him parting ways with the likes of Mourinho and Ancelotti, even though they are Chelsea’s most successful managers of his era, in favour of managers like Scolari and Andre Villas Boas. It’s interesting to note too that Torres has not always been the main striker for Spain, where the national team is dominated by Barcelona players and they invariably play the short passing game with players regularly interchanging positions, akin to Barcelona. At Euro 2008, where Torres scored the winner in the final, Luis Aragones (Spain manager at the time) regularly selected Villa to play as a lone striker instead of Torres.

He has had some saving graces over his two year slump though. His terrific attitude and willingness to work for the team has never been in doubt. That, with his off-the-ball movement that’s still world class, and the reason why he’s still getting himself goal scoring chances, he could still have something major to offer. For football's sake, I hope he does. He’s seen the last two years of his career pass him by and at 28, when he should be at the peak of his powers, he's in serious danger of not making Spain’s World Cup squad..

If Torres is ever to return to his electric best, surely it can only happen if he’s given a prolonged run as a central striker, playing in a system that suits him, and most of all scoring goals. With Chelsea frequently changing managers, and Abramovich cherry picking his favourite players from around Europe, regardless of what his managers want, it’s hard to know if Chelsea or Torres will ever achieve consistent success.

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