Fernando Torres: "I need more time"

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 05: Fernando Torres of Chelsea looks on during the UEFA Champions League group E match between Chelsea and FC Nordsjaelland at Stamford Bridge on December 5, 2012 in London, England.

Its’ now been twelve hours (and counting) since Fernando ‘El Nino’ Torres last scored a Premier League goal for Chelsea, the last one coming against Norwich at Stamford Bridge back at the beginning of October. Come January, and Torres will complete two years since his infamous transfer deadline day move from Liverpool to Chelsea, something for which he is still hated by some at Merseyside. Initially, Torres found the going tough, having to compete with Drogba and Anelka upfront, and it took him until April to open his goal account for the Blues after a tap in against West Ham.

Fernando has time and again stated that nobody understood him as good as Rafa Benitez, and now that Chelsea have roped in Benitez to replace fan favourite Roberto di Matteo, Torres might have had his wish granted.

“It’s just a matter of time and training and being sure that we understand each other,” he told the Daily Mirror. “With [Juan] Mata I have been playing for many years in the national team and last season at Chelsea, but Oscar and Eden [Hazard] have just arrived and we need to train more to improve.

“We have been very good defensively this season, but in the middle we have huge quality and those kinds of players have to be the key for us. We need to play for them and the strikers need to understand what they like to do to score more goals. We need more time.”

He added: “I have four more years on my contract, hopefully in these four years I can win many more things than the Champions League and FA Cup, starting with the Club World Cup.”

“One of the main reasons to come to Chelsea was that Chelsea are always aiming for trophies. I needed to win trophies because they are what you have after you have finished. In my first full season we won the FA Cup and Champions League, what more can you ask? We have a chance now to win the Club World Cup.”

This might be the last throw of dice which the Chelsea hierarchy can afford before deciding whether or not to keep the misfiring Spaniard at the club, for as of now he shares a place among a select group of big money strikers (Shevchenko, Crespo and Kezman to name a few) who have failed at the Bridge after arriving at the London club.