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A ‘complicated season’ which according to him had some of the ‘worst moments of my career’ ended with him winning the FA cup, UEFA champions league, European Championship and the Golden Boot.Sport can be a funny business. Just ask Fernando Torres.
What began with an appalling open goal miss against Manchester United, saw him embark on an astonishing 25 match goalless run and finished with a 15 min cameo against Italy in euro final with a goal and an assist which made him the first player to score in two Euro championship finals and earned him the Golden Boot.
It was ironical for Torres to win it, on the basis of lesser number of minutes played, in a season in which he was more or less reduced to cameo appearances, thanks to the imposing presence of Didier Drogba at Chelsea and then Vicente Del Bosque’s insistence on using a False 9 at the Euros, combined with his own poor form..
All the success notwithstanding, there can be no denying that ‘El Niño’ has been reduced to a shadow of his former devastating self. It has been a stunning fall from grace for the striker who, in his prime, was once regarded by many as the best striker on the planet.
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid making his first team debut in 2001. He went on to score 84 goals in 215 appearances for the Spanish club and quickly became the fans’ favorite. He moved to Liverpool in 2007 for the then club record fee and quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with by becoming the first player since club legend Robbie Fowler to score 20 goals in a season.. He became the nation’s hero when he scored the winning goal at the Euro Cup 2008 and put an end to the perennial underachievement of Spain in major tournaments. He was the toast of nation and darling of the Liverpool crowd and in spectacular form. What could have possibly gone wrong??
But then came the injuries. Though he became the fastest player to reach 50 goals for Liverpool, he was plagued with hamstring injuries in 2009 and had to undergo a knee surgery before the 2010 World Cup. Though he was part of the Spain’s winning squad and played in all the matches he looked unfit and did not score. The injuries took a toll and he lost his famous burst of speed. After an indifferent six months under Roy hodgson in the 2010-11 season, he finally moved to long term suitors Chelsea in January 2011, becoming, in the process, the most expensive player in the history of EPL. Having rubbed the kops the wrong way by switching to a major rival, Torres would have hoped for a swift upturn in fortunes at his new club. However, things didn’t turn out as he would have hoped.
Torres struggled to fit in with Chelsea’s direct and physical style of play built around Drogba and was buried under the weight of expectations of his price tag and scored just one goal in first 19 matches; a mediocre return for even an attacking midfielder let alone a striker with his calibre. For the first time in his career, the team was not centered around him and this inevitably led to a loss of confidence. It didn’t change much with the arrival of new manager, Andre villas Boas. After a promising start to the season, he began to fade away again, not scoring for 25 games in a stretch. He looked short of confidence especially inside the box where once he was a finisher par none and a frown became his most common expression. The player who was once the nemesis of the defenders, became the laughing stock of the town.
The appointment of Di Matteo did bring a change in his fortune and his form improved a bit and he scored the winning goal against Barcelona in the Champions league semi-final as well as a hat-trick against QPR. Despite scoring at Nou Camp ,Torres was benched for the Champions League final which later he dubbed as ‘the biggest disappointment of my life’. Although he won 3 trophies neither can he be satisfied on a personal level with just 11 goals in the season nor should he given his illustrious past…
Looking forward to the next season there is hope things might finally be getting better for the Spaniard. As his 17 assists show, his trials last season have helped him become a more complete player. His chemistry with Juan Mata is blossoming into a promising one.
With new recruits like Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and a few more to come, Chelsea’s creative core has just got a lot younger, talented and more suited to his style of play. This might be the make or break season for him. But with Drogba gone and Di Matteo’s recent public backing this could be Torres’s time to shine. All the winners medal are bound to have a positive impact too. A 20+ goals season will go a long way in repaying Chelsea fans and the owner, Roman Abrahamovic, who have remained patient and supportive even during the hard times.
So, hope he bounces back and not become another Shevchenko in the Chelsea bandwagon as the recent Euro’s showed Genuine strikers are an endangered species already and it would be a pity to lose ‘El nino’.
He may never be the player he once was but there is no reason why he can’t resurrect and become better. As they say
“Hope springs eternal”
