Former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707
Former Liverpool and current http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 teammate, Yossi Benayoun has backed under-fire Spanish striker Fernando Torres to return to his goal scoring form. The Israeli international claimed he thought Torres was currently one of the best strikers in the world, but had trouble adjusting to the London side.
Torres arrived at Stamford Bridge on the deadline day of the January transfer window for a record breaking fee of £50 million. The 27-year-old’s main reason for leaving Liverpool was lack of ambition, something he has demonstrated rather well since he joined the Blues. Torres has not managed to find the back of the net once since he made his debut on February 6th.
However, Benayoun maintained his confidence in Torres despite having witnessed several of his misfiring antics in recent matches. Torres proved to be useless in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge and then once again at home against Wigan in the English Premier League.
Benayoun spent three years with Torres at Anfield and is well aware of what the striker is capable of. Upon his arrival at Anfield from Atletico Madrid in 2007, Torres went on to score 33 goals in 46 appearances. The next two seasons weren’t as impressive, with 17 and 22 goals respectively, but the Spaniard can be excused for struggling with injury during that time.
Benayoun said while speaking to reporters, “For any midfielder, it is great to play with a player like Fernando. For me, he is the best striker in the world. We have three very good strikers in (Didier) Drogba, (Nicolas) Anelka and him. For any midfielder, it is easy to play with him and I think he will score a lot of goals because he's just quality.”
The former Liverpool midfielder has not had a particularly good start at the London club either. After arriving in the summer and making only a few appearances, he had to undergo an Achilles operation and was ruled out for most of the season. He has just recently returned and has been deemed fit for training.
With his experience, he will be expected to play some part in the upcoming second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United. While most people have written the Blues off, who will go into the game with a goal deficit, Benayoun remained confident about his sides chances of turning the tie around in their favor.
He continued, “Everyone knows this is the most important game of the season. We have to save our season and try to qualify. It will not be easy because Manchester United are a very good team. But Chelsea during the last few years have proved they can win at United and they have done it a few times so we will give 100% and try to win the game.”
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