Torres: Struggling for goals
Huge expectations greeted Torres when he arrived at Chelsea from Liverpool for a British record �50million fee this January, but the Spaniard has been a big flop at Stamford Bridge so far, scoring five times in 32 matches.
Despite his hefty price tag, manager Andre Villas-Boas has favoured Didier Drogba over Torres recently and the Spaniard has not started the club’s last four games.
Comparisons have been drawn between Torres and Chris Sutton, the former England striker who arrived at Stamford Bridge for a then record �10million fee, but was sold to Celtic a year later at a loss of �4million after scoring just once in 29 games.
Di Matteo, who played alongside Sutton during his playing days at Chelsea, insists Torres’ career will not follow a similar path to that of the former Norwich hitman.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final against Liverpool, Di Matteo said: “There are a lot of positive signs (with Torres). I know we all expect our strikers to score, but if they don’t, you look at their performance in the team. We’ve been pleased.
“The goals will come, no doubt. He’s got great talent and has scored goals before.
“He knows what to do and how to do it, and we have a lot of faith in him as well.
“He knows that. There’s a lot of competition and he’ll play many games. There’ll be opportunities to be in the team and show the quality.”
Keeping a striker of Torres’ price on the bench during Chelsea’s poor recent run may be construed as a sign Villas-Boas does not believe in the 27-year-old, but Di Matteo disagrees.
“That has happened to other players. Everyone has had a good opportunity and chances to play and we have faith in him,” the Italian said.
“We can see the player has talent, the way he trains every day, the effort he puts in. That’s how you assess him.”
Di Matteo would not confirm whether the Spain striker would start the game, and Villas-Boas may even look to Romelu Lukaku to lead the line instead.
The cup clash gives the Blues a chance for Villas-Boas to further ease the pressure on his shoulders after his team arrested a worrying dip in form with a 3-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.
A run of four defeats in seven matches led to questions over Villas-Boas’ future and also prompted suggestions the former Porto boss could benefit from the help of Guus Hiddink, who is a free agent after leaving his post as Turkey manager.
Di Matteo rejected the idea of the Dutchman, or anyone else moving to west London to help Villas-Boas, saying: “I wouldn’t say he (Villas-Boas) needs help. There is a lot of focus on his age, but he’s very mature and has been in the game a long, long time. You’d be surprised.”
� Chelsea v Liverpool 1st Goalscorer: Fernando Torres 9/2
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