Could Milan move reignite Torres' stalling career?

By David Lee Wheatley (Twitter: @davewh1980)

Fernando Torres said he knew the writing was on the wall the very minute that Diego Costa pitched up at Stamford Bridge from Atletico Madrid in a multi-million pound deal. Despite initial denials to the contrary from Blues boss Jose Mourinho, the Spaniard was on his way out of the door.

The £50million man has suffered one setback after another at Chelsea since his astonishing move from Liverpool in 2011, with his personal form contrasting sharply with that of his time at Anfield.

Torres’ fall from grace has been both spectacular and well-documented, with many an observer proclaiming the end of the Spaniards’ career at the top-level for at least the last couple of seasons. A knee operation while still on Merseyside in January 2010 was widely pinpointed as the moment everything went wrong for the once-prolific forward.

In spite of all the criticism, the Madrid-born striker managed to collect a significant amount of silverware during his stay in west London, playing a major part as Chelsea claimed the UEFA Champions’ League crown in 2012. However, he has been subjected to the usual ‘what a waste of money’ chants right across the country, while also looking a yard off the pace on many occasions. Additionally, his inexplicable loss of goal-scoring prowess has seen him spiral downwards from being classed as one of the deadliest strikers on the planet to becoming a ridiculed figure in some quarters due to several glaring misses in front of goal.

A new dawn is upon him with a two-year loan switch to Serie A and Milan having been completed shortly before the summer transfer window closed. The Rossoneri have been in the market for a new no. 9 since Mario Balotelli jumped ship to join Torres’ former club Liverpool in August and they earmarked El Nino as the perfect person to replace Super Mario at the San Siro. They appear determined to help rekindle the Spain international’s appetite for the game following his hugely frustrating descent from greatness over the last few years.

Whether Torres can return to his sparkling form of pre-2010 at the age of 30 is highly debatable and, quite frankly, unlikely. It seems his best days are firmly behind him and certainly there has been very little evidence to suggest otherwise within the previous four years or so.

Italian football remains notoriously difficult for attacking players to score an abundance of goals due to the defensive nature of the game in the Calcio-mad country. It isn’t quite as hard as perhaps it was in the 80s for example, when it was unusual to see anybody hitting 20-plus strikes in the top-flight, but it’s still hard going for forwards.

Last season’s top-scorer was Ciro Immobile, then of Torino, with 22 league strikes. A total anywhere close to that from Torres in a Milan shirt would represent a very fine campaign for the one-time World Cup winner, especially when considering his meagre contribution of five goals for Chelsea in the Premier League during 2013/14.

It’s been a rough ride since that 2010 surgery took place, which seemingly robbed Torres of his pace and a fair dose of confidence, just when he should have been enjoying the absolute prime of his footballing life. A new beginning at the San Siro will undoubtedly do the player good, with the opportunity to start afresh in a new league, in front of excited fans desperate to witness the return of the real Fernando Torres.  

However, if this latest adventure in northern Italy doesn’t work out well for Torres, then we can surely kiss goodbye to the old Fernando forever.  

Follow me on Twitter @davewh1980

Champions' League club focus: Chelsea

 

 

By David Lee Wheatley

 

 

It was a tale of two highly contrasting legs at the last-eight stage for Chelsea when coming up against the new-found riches and limitless ambition of Paris Saint-Germain. The French side ran the Blues ragged in their first meeting, with a 3-1 victory scant reward for their endeavour. However, Chelsea turned the tables on their confident opponents when recording a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge with a late strike from forgotten man Demba Ba, which secured an away goal triumph few would have predicted on the evidence of the Parc des Princes clash six days earlier.

Mourinho’s men must now overcome La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, who saw off the mighty challenge of compatriots Barcelona in the quarter-finals and head into the European Cup semi-finals for the first time in 43 years. Despite the Spanish capital club’s lack of experience at the very highest level of European football, they do have two Europa League trophy wins in their locker over the last four years and appear ready for the next step on to the biggest stage of all.

The west London side sit second in the Premier League going into this weekend’s round of domestic fixtures and have suffered from several inconsistencies in their performances throughout the campaign. Atletico represent a formidable obstacle to their chances of replicating the glorious Champions’ League success of 2012 and the underdogs tag could well be bestowed upon the Blues in anticipation of this titanic tie.

Possessing arguably the strongest central defensive pairing in Europe gives Chelsea great strength within their back-line, but it is often undermined and put under unnecessary pressure by the antics of the erratic David Luiz in the defensive midfield role. The Brazilian is undoubtedly a talented footballer, but he suffers from a lack of discipline and focus, which is essential in that holding role protecting Gary Cahill and John Terry. Luckily for Luiz, that all-English partnership has been largely solid as a rock and has bailed the team out of a hole on numerous occasions this season.

Atletico will pinpoint Luiz as the Blues’ main weakness, but will also welcome the news that combative full-back Ivanovic is suspended and chief attacking threat Eden Hazard is doubtful with a calf injury. With the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Demba Ba and particularly Fernando Torres failing to find any level of goalscoring form, Mourinho will be desperate for the Belgian to feature. The Portuguese has favoured a 4-2-3-1 formation throughout the majority of his first season back in English football, with Hazard crucial on the left-hand side of the three men deployed behind a main striker. Andre Schurrle would likely deputise in his absence, but it would be a bitter blow to Chelsea’s hopes of progressing to lose the majestic former Lille man from the line-up.

Demba Ba has scored two goals in two consecutive games heading into the weekend and has possibly done enough to keep his place up-front. However, powerful centre-backs Godin and Miranda won’t exactly spend sleepless nights worrying about facing the physical ex-Newcastle forward ahead of Tuesday’s home leg. It will be interesting to see if Mourinho plumps for former Atletico icon Torres in the hope that playing against his old club could reignite the fire within the striker’s belly in order to finally get the best out of the fading star. Despite his troubles in a Chelsea shirt, he is still revered at the Vicente Calderon and would cause more concern to the Madrid defence than anyone else in terms of their mental approach to the match.   

Suspension to Branislav Ivanovic should mean Cesar Azpilicueta returns to right-back from the left where he has been impressive, while Ashley Cole will probably come back into the fold. Ramires and David Luiz would be expected to begin in the defensive section of the midfield, but there are whispers of Luiz being deployed at right-back, thus leaving Cole out in the cold and forcing the surprise inclusion of Mikel. Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Lampard and Schurrle will battle it out for the three berths behind a lone frontman and then Ba, Eto’o and Torres will look to secure that one available position up top. It’s doubtful that Mourinho would experiment again with Schurrle in that striker role, as it failed to work out to any satisfactory degree when attempted in the first leg against PSG.

 

Chelsea’s backs are against the wall and they will thoroughly deserve a spot in the Lisbon final should they dispose of the Spaniards over what promises to be two hard-fought meetings. A lack of goals from recognised strikers and the liability of Luiz could well prove to be the downfall of this solid, if unspectacular outfit.

 

Twitter: @davewh1980