Following the apparent recent criticism by Fernando Torres of his Chelsea team mates, we could be seeing the beginning of the Spanish striker's attempts to end his nightmare spell at Chelsea.
Although the Spaniard has not set Chelsea alight, nowhere near in fact, it was surprising to see him as an unused substitute against Sunderland this past weekend. With Didier Drogba ruled out through injury the onus would have been on Torres to finally step up and make his mark at Chelsea.
The feeling around Stamford Bridge at the beginning of the season was that this season would see the striker find his scoring touch once again. After all he looked incredibly sharp and back to his old ways against Stoke on the opening day of the season, and how a goal against the Potters would have helped him now.
Andres Villa Boas's main concern when he came to Chelsea was always going to be the Torres and Drogba saga. However, his ageing squad and lack of pace in the Chelsea side is also a major issue. Villa Boas has gone some way in rectifying this; the introduction of Josh Mceachran and most recently Daniel Sturridge into the first team shows the manager is willing to give youth a try.
The decision by Villas Boas to choose Sturridge ahead of Torres against Sunderland payed off and the young English man scored a wonderful back heeled goal against Steve Bruce's men. Then came the allegations of Torres referring to his team mates as 'old and slow' in a Spanish interview. This is no surprise following Torres's nightmare spell at Chelsea.
Something has gone drastically wrong for the Spaniard at Chelsea; he has lost his confidence and self belief. He has also lost his touch and positioning abilities which are what made him the player he was at Liverpool. Whether or not this is down to the Chelsea personnel and type of play is debatable, one thing thats for sure is his time at Chelsea is entering a penultimate stage.
This is it for Torres; he has been dropped from the first team and he has criticized his team mates, the fans have been patient enough as have the managers and the owner. On the eve of Chelsea's Champions League opener at home to Dortmund, Villa Boas has a massive decision on this hands. Does he start Torres in the hope of a reaction or does he go with Sturridge who was in fine form at the weekend?
A European game may suit Torres better than Sturridge and it may allow Chelsea fans to finally see a reaction from the disinterested looking Spaniard. Villa Boas knew he would be thrown in at the deep end at some stage; it’s now time for him to show off his 'Special' qualities. Torres on the other hand is running out of time and this may be his last chance.
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