Today I'm going to write about something completely
different - something with no connection to the law. It's a topic that's very
close to my heart. Readers, I can't take it any more: why oh why can't Fernando
Torres score?
I've been a Chelsea fan since a few months before the FA
Cup win against Leeds in 1970 I think it was!
I've been to more games at Stamford Bridge than I care to remember. I've
seen the team plenty of times this season, and I've watched, in agony, as
Torres - Britain's most expensive player - toils in vain to score a goal.
Between 2007 and 2011, Torres made a total of 102
appearances for Liverpool, scoring 65 goals. That's a fine strike rate in
anyone's books, as is 'El Nino's' tally for Spain - 27 goals in 91 games. In a
career that began, in 2001, with Atletico Madrid, the quiet and dignified
Torres has reputedly amassed a £14m fortune. In the modern era, the 27-year old
no doubt seemed good value to Roman Abramovich - himself not short of a bob or
two - when Chelsea paid £50m for him in January 2011.
Form is temporary; class is permanent
When Torres arrived, there was a real buzz at Chelsea. I
was far from alone in feeling excited by the thought of such a brilliant
striker leading the line for the club, albeit that by then he had hit a run of
less than brilliant form for Liverpool and Spain. But as the old football
saying goes: 'Form is temporary, class is permanent'. Surely, Torres' undoubted
class would resurface, and he'd be scoring for fun for the Blues in just a game
or two?
The statistics tell a different story. In 35 appearances,
Torres has netted just three times for Chelsea. Opposing teams' supporters show
him no mercy, barracking him in every game, but professional footballers are
used to this sort of thing. No, being on the receiving end of some cruel chants
is not the reason for Torres' continued difficulty in front of goal. What,
then, is up with him?
I believe that Torres is a truly great player. Analysis
by the likes of Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson on Match of the Day has, at
times, indicated that he may have lost a bit of pace, but I am not convinced.
Certainly, he is a different proposition to Andriy Shevchenko, who definitely
lost a yard in his spell at Chelsea. Torres still moves quickly enough, and his
sense of the game is first class. He anticipates passes, sees things that other
payers don't, makes excellent runs and has often been unlucky, rather than
inept, in front of goal. Again, then, what ails him?
Torres needs to visualise the goals he's scored
I think Torres' woes are psychological, and they arise
from a three steps forward, three back pattern which he desperately needs to
break. For example, he may score a fine goal - but then he will miss a
sitter. He will play superbly, but then, the next game, he will be invisible.
For example, against Swansea in September, Torres played everyone off the park,
scoring in the first half, but he then managed to get himself sent off in the
second half. The next day's papers were full of 'from hero to zero' headlines,
and sadly they sum up what is going on with him: each misfire just sends his
confidence plummeting again.
Is there an answer? I think so. Torres remains a world
class player; it's just that his drought in front of goal has continued longer
than most. What he needs to do is keep going. He needs to remind himself of the
goals he's scored and visualise himself scoring them again. The drought will
end - and when it does, it may well be that opposing teams are on the end of a
deluge.
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