Glen Johnson says that Fernando Torres cannot be written off
Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has insisted that starting striker Fernando Torres cannot be written off, even despite the 2010 FIFA World Cup winner’s present lack of form.
The Spaniard has struggled to return to his best form after returning from injury. He has netted just one goal in five English Premier League games so far.
In his defence, right-back Johnson declared on Friday that the poor form shown by the 26-year-old was only temporary, and warned this weekend’s league opponents Sunderland that he could rediscover his scoring touch against them.
Johnson told the club’s official website that, "We are very confident, and Fernando is too, that he will be back to his best very soon and hopefully we can give him a few chances on Saturday. Everyone knows what Fernando can do and we always have great confidence
in him to score goals for us.”
During last weekend’s match with Manchester United, Torres drew fouls for a penalty and free-kick — both of which skipper Steven Gerrard scored with to restore parity. But Liverpool could not hang on, and eventually lost the game 3-2.
Johnson drew attention to the contribution of the striker during the match, saying that, “Fernando is rarely quiet during a game, but if he is, he won't be for long. Look at last Sunday — he won us the penalty, and then the free-kick."
The defender added that he was confident his side would soon begin to climb up the league. They are currently languishing in 16th place, having picked up just five points from their opening five games.
Johnson insisted that their poor run was due to the fact that Liverpool has already taken on most of the big teams in the league, in contrast to leaders Chelsea, who have won every game so far, albeit against lesser opposition.
He said that, “We have played a lot of tough games against some of our rivals. We got a point against Arsenal with 10 men which, although it was a great result, I thought we were really unlucky not to win the game. We have also played City and United, so
we have had a lot of big clashes already. Everybody is beating everybody, so I think it looks actually worse than it is at the moment."
Tags: