Fernando Torres finally has a reason to smile after his smart finish, against Aston Villa in yesterday’s final of the Barclays Asia Trophy. Earlier Josh McEachran gave Chelsea the lead, and this victory ensured that Chelsea ended their Asia Tour on a high at the Hong Kong Stadium.
New manager Andre Villas Boas should be happy with his team as Chelsea won all four matches on their Asia tour with 11 goals scored and none conceded. Chelsea’s record signing, Fernando Torres scored from his first touch, after helping the ball past the keeper from a miscued shot by Malouda. The Spaniard rushed to celebrate with his teammates after scoring and he also gave a thumbs up to his manager. Another positive from this tour, is the emergence of Josh McEachran. The English teenager has impressed us with his silky passing and moment off the ball, if he continues playing impress, then his form is a reason to worry for veteran Frank Lampard.
Villas-Boas after the game, said “It was good, that we really found some good spaces today and it’s important against the level of opposition in Aston Villa to find these spaces and have a decent amount of opportunities. It’s a good sign.”
He added saying “To create opportunities is one of our main objectives this season, a lot more attacking football, a lot more possession and we were able to do it today, even coping with Aston Villa’s aggressiveness in their game, always testing us in behind. We were able to manage it quite well in the first half and better in the second half.”
When asked about his defenders, he replied saying “Our defensive work is an offensive weapon and that’s what I’ve been telling the players, we focus a lot on defensive objectives because we want the ball in our possession more and we want to attack more. For us to do it, we have to get it back as soon as possible.”
Chelsea face Scottish champions Rangers F.C in their next game (Aug 8th) before concluding their pre-season duties.