Misfiring Fernando Torres insists Chelsea switch has been a success

 

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres today insisted his move from Liverpool has been a success and is determined to see out his contract at Stamford Bridge which runs out in 2017.

Torres has scored just 19 goals in 90 appearances since moving from Liverpool for a British record £50m in January 2011, having hit 81 in 142 games for the Reds.

However, the Spain international helped Chelsea win the Champions League and FA Cup in his first full season last term and believes that proves he was right to leave Anfield.

Liverpool have only won the League Cup since he left and despite Chelsea’s struggles this season, he is confident more silverware will come, starting with the FIFA World Club Cup which takes place next week in Tokyo.

When asked if he felt vindicated over making the move from Liverpool, Torres said:  “One of the main reasons to come to Chelsea was that they 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 FIFA Club World Cup.

“I have four more years on my contract so hopefully I can win many more things — the Premier League would be amazing. The Capital One Cup and the Community Shield also.”

Despite Torres’s enthusiasm, Chelsea are in crisis having sacked coach Roberto di Matteo two weeks ago and replaced him with Rafael Benitez.

They have gone seven games without a win in the League — their worst run since 1995 — and look set to be knocked out of the Champions League tomorrow night. They must beat Nordsjaelland and hope Shakhtar Donetsk win at home against Juventus or they will exit at the group stage for the first time in their history.

Torres has not impressed since being named as the club’s first-choice striker following the departure of Didier Drogba in the summer. Chelsea did not sign anyone to compete with the 28-year-old for the position and bought talented creative players Oscar and Eden Hazard to combine with Juan Mata instead.

The club are now starting to lose patience with Torres but the forward feels he and the team just need more time to improve and is adamant that he will repay their faith in him.

He added: “I’m very happy about that [being Chelsea’s main striker] because it’s the role I like. Hopefully, it can be like this until the end of the season.

“We still have to improve other things as a team but I think we have the players. We just need more time. We have been very good defensively this season. But in the middle we have huge quality and those players have to be the key.

“It’s just a matter of time and training and being sure that we understand each other. With Mata I have been playing for many years in the Spain team and last season at Chelsea. But Oscar and Eden have just arrived and we need to train more to improve.”

Chelsea’s participation in the Club World Cup, which sees the champions from six continents face each other, has come at an awkward time and means they will end up playing nine games this month.

However, Torres says it is a competition they must do their utmost to win and told FIFA.com: “We will hopefully arrive there with enough time to adapt and be focused to win this tournament and take it seriously, as we should.

“I think it’s one of the main targets we should have this season.”

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Caption competition
Caption competition
News in pictures
World news in pictures
Sport blogs

iBet: Look To The Lady In The Prince Of Wales

The Prince of Wales Stakes today is regarded by many as the No1 race of the Royal Ascot meeting and ...

by Gareth Purnell

iBet: Favourites have a good record in the Coventry stakes

Today’s St James Palace looks a cracker and there has been sustained money for Dawn Approach since t...

by Gareth Purnell

Newcastle don’t need a football director – they need a new medical team after finishing bottom of the injury league

Newcastle United have shocked their fans by appointing Joe Kinnear as director of football but new f...

by Alex Miller

       
 

Day In a Page

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over
Hannah England: I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess

Hannah England: Keeping Track

I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess
Beards, brawn and body art

Beards, brawn and body art

Meet London’s new batch of male models
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

British love of shows such as The Bridge, Borgen and The Killing shows no sign of fading
Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?

The Great Green Wall of Africa,

Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?
Laughter Inc: the cheering growth of the chuckle industry

Laughter Inc

The cheering growth of the chuckle industry
The bad science scandal: how fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research

The bad science scandal

How fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research
To the manor born: The female aristocrats battling to inherit the title

Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title

A passionate protest is gathering pace among the women of Britain's aristocracy, who believe that men should no longer automatically inherit the family pile and title.
Love struck: Photographs of JFK's visit to Berlin 50 years ago reveal a nation instantly smitten

In pictures: JFK's visit to Berlin in 1963

Photographer Ulrich Mack accompanied Kennedy on the entire trip. The results are an astonishing record of a watershed moment.
Eat shoots and leaves: Mark Hix gets creative with fresh peas, mangetouts and sugar snaps

Mark Hix gets creative with English peas

English peas and their offsprings, such as mangetouts and sugar snaps, are great tossed into a salad, says our chef.
Ceviche with a smile: Chef Martin Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends

Chef Martin Morales: Ceviche with a smile

Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends