Chelsea: Is Fernando Torres’ finally coming back to form?

Fernando Torres

After Joe Hart’s recent calamitous form, he must have been delighted to see Fernando Torres in Chelsea’s starting line-up at Stamford Bridge. The Spaniard hadn’t scored in the Premier League until yesterday’s clash but he put in a performance that reminded everybody of the younger Torres; the one that scored for fun and terrorised defences across Europe. We have seen this from Torres before, though. He commands a match, even scoring, raising the question of if he is ‘back’ but maybe, just maybe, Torres’ old form may be creeping back under the guidance of Jose Mourinho.

Torres’ game didn’t start off the in the best of ways, the 29-year-old was sluggish and this was symbolised by him finding himself in space inside Manchester City’s penalty area, Torres fired over from eight yards out as Hart was onrushing.

He soon made amends by blistering past Gael Clichy down the right-hand side, bursting into the box and sliding a pass across Joe Hart’s goalmouth to the feet of Andre Schurrle, who slotted the ball in to give Chelsea the lead.

Andre Schurrle’s Goal v Man City

The assist was his 12th for Chelsea in the league, one more than he managed at Liverpool before his £50 million transfer in 2011.

Shortly after the first goal, Torres broke away down Chelsea’s left, cut in slightly onto his right, and hurled a shot on goal. As the ball cracked off the crossbar and flew away, the whole ground were in complete shock. Torres was on fire.

In the first-half alone, Torres attempted six take-ons, successfully completing half of them. The Spaniard also won his only tackle deep into City’s half, applying more pressure on an already fragile defence.

Fernando Torres Take-Ons v Man City (First Half)

In the same 45 minutes, Torres completed seven of his 11 attempted passes, one being the assist which led to the opening goal.

Fernando Torres First Half Passes v Man City

In the second-half only four passes were completed by the Spaniard but that was from just five attempts.

Fernando Torres Second-Half Passes v Man City

Torres was fairly quiet in the second-half but could have scored twice had Hart not got in the way of his first attempt. In total, the Spaniard had five shots, three of which were target, one off target and the other smashing against the crossbar.

Fernando Torres Attempts v Man City

He did, however, feature fairly regularly in and around the penalty area.

Fernando Torres Heat Map v Man City

His winning goal was fortunate but his performance deserved it. Chasing a long ball forward from Willian, Torres’ pressure on Matija Nastasic prompted him to head the ball back to Hart who, confusingly, came out to greet the Serb on the edge of his area. The ball fell behind Hart and Torres latched on to the loose ball to win the game.

It was everything he deserved for his commanding performance, but is it enough to warrant calls of a revival?

‘Belief is the key and sometimes goals are going to be great goals but sometimes goals are coming from small mistakes like this. If I didn’t run for that ball I would not be able to score that goal, so the team has to show that belief from the first minute to the last every game,’ said Torres.

So far this season, the former Liverpool forward has created seven chances and has a 67% shot accuracy, hitting six on target and three off target. However, with only three Premier League starts under his belt, Torres could use yesterday’s match as a springboard for the rest of his season. His manager, Jose Mourinho, has a predicament having signed Samuel Eto’o in the summer while also still having Demba Ba in reserve but if Torres keeps up his belief then the performances should follow and, eventually, goals.

In Europe, Torres has found himself having far more joy than in domestic situations. His two goals against Schalke last week took him up to four goals in his last five European outings for the Blues. In fact, last season, only Cristiano Ronaldo (12) and Robert Lewandowksi (10) scored more goals in European competitions than Torres.

If he can transfer his European goalscoring form into his domestic performances, Torres can finally be recognised as ‘the old Torres’. But a revival may well be on.