Will Torres ever recover his form?

Chelsea may have grown accustomed to fine dining at Europe’s top tables in recent years, but the return provided so far by Fernando Torres has been more, well, Nando’s than haute cuisine.

Roman Abramovich clearly decided he needed greater nourishment last January, splashing out £50million, but ended up with food poisoning.

After four goals in his final six appearances for Liverpool, Torres has failed to surpass that total in thirty league games for his new club. During his time at Anfield, he had grown into one of the most feared strikers in Europe, breaking all kinds of records, receiving rave reviews and netting the winner in the final of Spain’s Euro 2008 triumph.

His decline has been a remarkable one. Why has he gone so stale since his move to Stamford Bridge?

Much has been made of his struggle to overcome a dramatic loss of confidence. One of the most commonly used clichés in football, confidence is certainly a vital attribute and its impact on such an obviously talented player has been monumental.

Not that his bosses can be blamed for that. The Chelsea managers during his time in London, Carlo Ancelotti and Andre Villas-Boas, have both offered nothing but public backing for the misfiring striker. The latter even signed Juan Mata, aiming to create the sort of set-up in which Torres could thrive. Few can question the success of Mata’s transfer, yet his arrival has still failed to re-ignite Torres’ career.

After rumours emerged of a rift between Torres and Frank Lampard, which suggested that Lampard refused to pass to him, Villas-Boas dropped Chelsea stalwart and fans’ favourite Lampard.

Besides, there should not really have been any great hit to his confidence. What greater ego boost can there be than becoming the most expensive transfer in the history of British football?

Perhaps the explanation can be found in Chelsea’s setup. Torres’ best form in his Liverpool days – during the title charge in the 2008-09 Premier League season, when the Reds ultimately fell just four points short – came when he developed a formidable partnership with Steven Gerrard, with the likes of Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt as vital supporting acts.

Two four-star Liverpool performances spring to mind: the 4-1 triumph over Manchester United at Old Trafford, and the 4-4 draw with Arsenal at Anfield. In the former, the Spaniard tormented the United defence, particularly Nemanja Vidic, scoring once and earning set-pieces for two further goals. In the latter, Torres and Benayoun scored two goals apiece to ensure Liverpool avoided defeat.

All three of the aforementioned players were willing to play second fiddle to the central striker. Also, they all showed great work rates; Kuyt is in fact more famed for his running than for his ability. This, of course, meant Torres was free to focus solely on his own game, and leave the others to do his dirty work. He was thus able to take up the best attacking position at will, always giving the opposition defenders something to worry about.

When he has featured as the central striker at Stamford Bridge this season, Torres has usually been flanked by Mata and Daniel Sturridge. Neither are renowned for tracking back – particularly Sturridge, who is also naturally a central striker and has to go against all his instincts to help out in defence.

As a result, Torres feels obliged to show more willingness to win the ball back, which could explain his rash sending-off in the home game against Swansea. He has maybe done more for the team, but at the expense of his real responsibility: scoring goals.

Five goals have been scored in all competitions by Fernando Torres in a Chelsea shirt, only one of which has come with Sturridge on the pitch with him. Two have been assisted by Nicolas Anelka, who showed signs of linking up well with the Spaniard before being shipped off to China. Indeed, Torres is yet to score for the Blues without Anelka on the pitch as well.

Unlike Anelka, Sturridge also shows a tendency to be selfish. His ego far exceeds what he has achieved in the game and he is more likely to shoot than share possession, even when his strike partners are in a better position than he is.

Unquestionably, Torres’ most potent attribute is his pace. Under Rafael Benitez, Liverpool looked to exploit that whenever possible, with Gerrard and Benayoun in particular tasked with getting the right balls in behind the defence.

Chelsea, however, do not play the game quickly enough to suit their number nine. Torres himself complained about this to the Spanish press; he was quoted as saying: “the kind of player Chelsea has [is] an older player, who plays very slow”.

Villas-Boas is doing his best to address this situation, with more focus on the likes of Mata and Ramires, and the return from a long-term injury of Michael Essien should see some improvement on this front as well. However, at present, Chelsea do not possess the right ingredients to get the best out of their record signing.

They do still have Benayoun on their books, but, after failing to impress the Chelsea manager in pre-season, is now out on loan at Arsenal. The two are widely acknowledged to have been close both on and off the field: it is no coincidence that Torres’ long-awaited first goal for the Blues came on only the third occasion in which they were on the pitch together with the club.

Had Chelsea hung on to the Israeli this summer, the pair could have renewed the fine partnership they had at Anfield – but Villas-Boas must now look further for the right foil for his most valuable asset.

Moreover, at Anfield, there was no doubting who the main man was. However, Torres came into a Chelsea dressing room full of big characters in Lampard, John Terry and, most significantly, Didier Drogba. Owner of three Premier League winners’ medals, two Golden Boots, and 150 goals while at the club, Drogba is quite a rival to force out of the established side.

Ancelotti, who brought Torres to the club, told the press this week that selling the Ivorian would be the best thing for Torres, as both a show of faith in him and to give him more of a free rein. At present, he knows the pressure is on him to perform, because Chelsea’s joint-fourth highest scorer of all time will always be waiting in the wings to take his place.

In that sense, this month could be crucial in shaping Torres’ future at the club, with Drogba away at the African Cup of Nations. A string of good performances and a few goals are a must.

Torres has to some extent, however, been the architect of his own downfall – seeming to knock himself back down as soon as he shows signs of turning the corner. A good performance and a well-taken goal at Old Trafford in September was followed by one of the worst misses in Premier League history. A fine opening goal against Swansea the next week was followed by an over-zealous lunge, earning him a straight red card and a three-match suspension.

There was no surprise that, after a man of the match performance against Sunderland in his last outing, he missed chances excruciatingly at Carrow Road this past weekend.

Torres’ price tag and substandard performances have seen the pressure on him, and subsequently Chelsea, grow by the week. The mouths of the scavenging media are increasingly watering at the thought of expired goods being thrown out – it was even mooted that he would be sold at a cut-price £20million this month.

As Chelsea try to find the right recipe to win back the Premier League title – or better yet, the elusive Champions League trophy – Torres’ form is consistently making them stale.

There have been greater signs of improvement, mind. He is heavily involved in several of Chelsea’s goals, having provided seven assists this campaign, and has been unlucky not to score a few himself; most notably with his acrobatic effort in the victory over Sunderland, which cannoned off the crossbar perfectly for Lampard to turn in the rebound.

But this is still not a good enough return on a £50million investment: the highest fee ever paid in the history of British football. The Blues’ ambitions are almost exclusively pinned on this forlorn figure, and the fans can only continue to hope that he is cooking up a very serious treat.

25 Premier League goals next season may be to their taste. And he can get into the habit of scoring this month.