Going into the new season, Chelsea fans could be forgiven for carrying a renewed sense of optimism. They’ve hired one of Europe’s most sought after coaches and they’ve bought reasonably well in the transfermarket, with the emphasis on young, emerging talent. However, one issue still needs to be addressed, how do they plan to get the best out of their club record signing Fernando Torres? For if Villas Boas fails as miserably as Ancelotti did to come to a lasting and successful conclusion, the problem could just as easily claim another managerial casualty.
Fernando Torres was a Chairman’s signing in every sense of the word. The club had no need for him. Ancelotti had no need for him. Torres was in poor form, hampered by injuries and fatigue and he appeared to have lost a yard of pace. Big signings made in January are rarely successful and with regards to the timing of the transfer, it was ill-conceived at best.
It wasn’t the timing nor the overbearing pressure put upon Ancelotti from above to play their new star signing that ultimately proved the Italian’s undoing – it was his failure to successfully integrate him into a system that got the best out of both him and the club’s existing talent.
The indelible mark made by Jose Mourinho still looms large over this squad and for the most part, it’s style of play hasn’t changed a great deal despite four different managers taking over the helm since his departure and prior to his one-time protégée’s arrival.
The side have based their powerful approach for the most part around two key individuals approaching the twilights of their respective careers – Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard. That is not to say that both of them don’t have a large part to play in the coming season, but with both 33 years of age, the emphasis at the club now has to be on what life will be like after them.
Personally, on his day, I still think Drogba can be a truly terrifying force and now he’s malaria-free, he will be a force to be reckoned with. Lampard last season, while not at his best due to niggling injuries, is still a reliable stream of goals and replacing him remains one of the club’s biggest obstacles going into the future.
Which brings us to Torres. How do you successfully merge the old with the new? It’s worth pointing out that Torres has never been part of a successful strike partnership.
Alongside David Villa and Sergio Aguero in the past, Torres has shown sporadic flashes of brilliance but nothing that can be said to be either lasting or that would constitute something approaching a striking ‘partnership‘. He did achieve success at Liverpool alongside Steven Gerrard, where the duo appeared to tear teams apart in tandem, but while Gerrard was certainly further forward than normal in a supporting role he could not be said to be have been playing as a striker. It’s become abundantly clear that to get the best out of Torres you have to build a team around him and that is where the concern lies.
Chelsea have Daniel Sturridge, Nicolas Anelka, Drogba, Torres and the soon to be confirmed Romelu Lukaku swelling their striking ranks going into the new campaign, so how can Villas Boas get the best out of Torres?
It appears that he is staking his reputation on the Drogba/Torres combination finally firing. Anelka is capable of playing out wide, as is Daniel Sturridge although that isn’t how you get the best out of both of them.
They say that you need a four-man strike force to challenge for the title but Chelsea will start the season with five recognised strikers whose main position is as a central striker. The clamour to have him dropped from the starting line-up should he start the season in indifferent form will be hard to quell, especially when there are so many different alternatives within the squad. This begs the question – will Torres always be an automatic first-choice? If Villa Boas values his job, you’d be inclined to suspect so, but he’s certainly been placed in a difficult position.