Didier Drogba confident Fernando Torres will improve at Chelsea
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba believes new arrival Fernando Torres would be an important player for the Blues despite a disappointing debut against his former side.
Torres was expected to work wonders, which included scoring against Liverpool on his debut for Chelsea, when he arrived at Stamford Bridge for a record breaking fee of £50 million during the deadline day of the January transfer window.
However, things did not go as planned for the Spaniard as he watched from the bench, moments after being taken off for Salomon Kalou, a Raul Meireles strike which gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over the Blues.
Carlo Ancelotti decided to go all out against Liverpool and played Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Fernando Torres in attack. On paper, it was an impressive line-up which was expected to destroy Liverpool and end their hopes of a revival. However, Liverpool’s
defense shocked everyone, probably themselves too, as they successfully denied the Chelsea forwards from finding the back of the net.
Three of the best strikers in Europe failed to link up together and Ancelotti watched from the sidelines, wondering where he had gone wrong. The Italian manager will need to work on a partnership which is impressive on the pitch and not just on paper.
The former French international Nicolas Anelka was deployed in support of Drogba and Torres, who were the two main strikers upfront. The formation accommodated all the important players but failed to produce results as Torres failed to establish a successful
partnership with the Ivorian international.
However, Drogba spoke in the defense of his new team-mate insisting Fernando Torres would improve in the upcoming games. He said while speaking to reporters, “Torres? He is a talented player, important for the team. Against his former team-mates it was difficult
on a psychological level for him.”
Drogba denied rumors that his position in the squad had been compromised with the arrival of Torres. He continued, “Competition? It has always been like this and that is why we have won trophies.”
The Blues hit-man was confident the Spaniard would improve soon but admitted he was disappointed with the result against Liverpool which seriously damaged Chelsea’s chances in the title race. Drogba continued, “We had just started to hold our heads above
the water, but that defeat against Liverpool has stunted us and put in jeopardy for the rest of our Premier League season. It will be difficult to catch Manchester United again.”
Chelsea are currently at fourth place on the English Premier League table, ten points behind league leaders Manchester United. The Blues have some tough fixtures ahead of them; they face Fulham on Monday for a Premier League fixture after which they are
set to play Everton in the FA Cup fifth round replay over the weekend and then a Champions League clash against FC Copenhagen during midweek. If they wish to win silverware this season, the upcoming fixtures are especially important and slip ups, like the
one against Liverpool, will not be acceptable.
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