One moment for me summed up Fernando Torres time at Chelsea. It occurred at Stamford Bridge on 14 January 2012. We were playing Sunderland at home the ball was crossed in from the right by Juan Mata, FT completed an almost perfect scissor kick the ball cannoned off the bar hit Frank Lampard on the shin/knee and went in. Frank wheeled away to celebrate with team mates who then remembered FT, still on the turf and went over to him to join in the celebrations.
So how should we rate FT’s time at the club? I’m sure we could sum it up with one short word beginning with “c” but I thought I’d give it a little more thought. There is no disputing that during my time supporting the club this was one of the most exciting signings we had ever made. Watching Sky Sports News that night was like watching an episode of 24. Will he or won’t he. It was silly money but on the basis the man ripped us part every time he played against us (or indeed most other teams) it would be money well spent.
He was a striker we craved for years. He was a different sort of striker to Didier, another option a real live wire and one of the best finishers around. This was what we thought we were getting. What we got however was somewhat different.
He didn’t choose the transfer fee but he appeared keen to come. I read an interesting article some while ago that suggested Liverpool knew at the time that he was injured and their medical staff were even expecting the transfer to fall through. It’s an allegation and the article quotes an unnamed source, so not gospel but what we saw tends to back this up.
So where did it all go wrong? Well, from the first match really. I thought at the time that it was wrong for him to make his debut against Liverpool at home, yes we’d spent the GDP of a small country in obtaining him but unless he scored the winner and played out of his skin there would always be a b
ad outcome and so it turned out. He patently wasn’t match fit and I don’t care how much you earn the abuse he got that day (which was vile) would have affected him. For me this was the worst possible start.
So it proved. Our “goal machine” was malfunctioning. If ever a crowd wished for a goal it was from him. It went from 6 February until 23 April before the Eureka
moment. On a sodden pitch against West Ham a slightly fortunate shot goes in. Cue bedlam. Some goals which have been scored at the Bridge have been much more important but not greeted as loudly. The relief was obvious, his team mates appeared ecstatic, had the flood gates opened….well apart from the rain that day, no. That was it. Nothing more. Eleven starts, seven substitute appearances 1 goal. So excuses were made and we all looked forward to the next season when things were bound to improve.
New manager, new start. FT was to be the main man as AVB took his new broom and gravelly Mysteron voice (one for the kids) to the club.
Then two things happened in consecutive weeks that changed his season and possibly his career at the club. The first was at Old Trafford. We were 3-0 down but started the second half well and then FT scored a brilliant opportunist goal, a fact which is lost in what followed. We played some great football and then in the 83rd minute, a superb run off the ball breaks the offside trap, a dummy leaves De Gea on the floor and the goal gaping. He misses an empty net and slumps to the ground followed by huge derision. If he’d scored, I don’t know whether we’d have got anything from the game but what I do think is that if he had scored that day his time at the club may well have been very different. I am convinced of that. I urge you to watch the you tube clip, painful as it is, to see how sharp he was before he missed. That may sound a strange thing to say but watch and you’ll see what I mean
The following Saturday at home to Swansea he was electric he scored a goal in the first half and he looked like the player he was at Liverpool. He was unplayable and then just before half time he got sent off. A bad challenge but not malicious, was it through a massive adrenalin rush from his first half performance? We will never know but it massively affected him because that was on 24 September and he didn’t score another league goal until 24 March!
The 2012 season was however to be one of the clubs best ever and FT wrote his own piece of history on 24 April. A sprint from the half way line at the Nou Camp and a cool finish confirmed our place in the Champions league final. An iconic moment, priceless for those there, equally memorable for those watching elsewhere. Some say that moment was worth the ridiculous price tag. Maybe it was.
He didn’t start in Munich but he came on and was part of the success. He partied at the end like the rest of the players and staff. Spanish flag round his waist, sitting on the cross bar and kissing the cup with the big ears. Within 24 hours he’d bitched and moaned to the press about not being able to take a penalty and a fan base that had blindly supported him got angry. That season he’d scored 6 league goals, (3 in one game) and 5 more in other competitions, hardly the stuff of legends
The following season Didier had gone. No excuses and to be fair in terms of goals it was his best season.. He hooked up nicely with the lovely Juan Mata but he did most of his damage in Europe. Who can forget his “possessed” performance against Basel when he had his nose broken. He was superb but still managed to balloon a penalty over the bar. A great goal in the Europa cup final and he played really well. He also scored the goal that secured 3rd place in the last game of the season, important goals. Ultimately he had a decent season for a striker but in reality nothing special. He had more bad luck with the ridiculous sending off against Manchester United. At times that season however his body language stank and the home semi-final against Swansea in the league cup one of his worst performances.
Last season was fairly non-descript in terms of performances and goals, Jose wanted rid and he got his wish. In summary in three and a half seasons he started 117 games made 55 substitute appearances and scored 45 goals, only 20 of which were in the Premier League.
There has been much speculation that the man upstairs was desperate to buy FT and fell out with managers who didn’t play him. We’ll never know but in terms of what the club got from the player it just didn’t work. His career at the club seemed to be constantly interrupted with either sending offs or injuries When you cost £50million luck shouldn’t play a part but I’d have to say I’ve seen few unluckier footballers play for Chelsea than FT in terms of the timings of those sending offs or injuries. Also I appear to have seen more brilliant saves from opposing keepers against FT than any other player. Bad luck or bad finishing?
One thing which can not be argued is that during some games he hid. It has become even more apparent with the purchase of Costa. Whereas Diego will make runs to the near post, FT invariably loitered at the far post. To me it seemed that at times some players didn’t trust him and looked for alternative player to pass to. Managers didn’t want to play him. Maybe our system didn’t suit him but really great players adapt. Yet the fans still gave him more adulation than some other players who were much more deserving such was the desperation to let him know he was loved and wanted.
For me the main difficulty was that in between all the dross he showed glimpses of brilliance and that is what we craved. It was like he was teasing us. How can you play like he did against Man City at home last year and then just disappear in other games. There was never any consistency even in games. He scored some brilliant goals and missed some sitters. He’d turn and leave defenders in his wake and then mis-control the ball. Painful to watch but FT only rarely got the abuse some others had to suffer. We all wanted him to succeed and he just couldn’t. Will he do well at Atletico, who knows but he is not our problem anymore and with any former player who leaves (with the exception of those going to North London) I wish him well and thank him for the memories however slim those pickings were.
When I started the article I was unsure as to how I felt about his contribution. At the end as with many of his performances I am left wanting. At the beginning I recited what I believe was a perfect summary of his time at Chelsea and I’ll end with a comparison. When Costa scored on his debut his shot against Burnley hit with power and belief went through the legs of a Burnley defender and in. We all know had it been FT it would have rebounded out to safety.
Adiós y buena suerte Fernando.
Clayton Beerman @goalie59
