As if they needed any crueller twists of fate, it had to be full-back Glen Johnson who scored the type of goal that £85m worth of substitute were bought to score.
That Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll both started Sunday’s clash between Chelsea and Liverpool on the bench was only a partial surprise owing more to the patchy form of the rest of Chelsea’s attacking cohort. Carroll’s omission raised few eyebrows.
The two January deadline day signings have scored just seven goals between them across a combined total of 39 league games – the equivalent of a full Premier League campaign plus one. To put the shortcomings of the record British transfers into perspective, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored seven for Wolves last season, as did Demba Ba for West Ham after signing for the Hammers – a side that were ultimately relegated – three days before Torres and Carroll moved. Ba has gone on to score another eight since signing for Newcastlemeaning the Senegalese striker has scored 15 times in 23 outings whilst Torres and Carroll continue to labour.
Whichever way you look at it there is no way to put a silver lining around the cloud of such a poor return for players who were procured for such lavish sums, however, there are a few mitigating circumstances. Since the end of January, Chelsea and Liverpool have played 52 league games between them yet the anti-strikers have started just 26 of those combined, meaning their abject statistics are – slightly – skewed.
Given the rarity of strikes it’s understandable that their participation has been so reduced, but the chicken and egg conundrum for strikers is how do they score if they’re not on the pitch? The not so dynamic duo got eight minutes between them at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and this chequered pattern has punctuated their respective careers at their new clubs.
Some of it has been of their own doing. Torres was finally beginning to find some form at the start of September with a lively second half performance at Old Trafford and a goal the week after against Swansea, however, a brainless tackle in the same game saw the Spaniard suspended for the next three domestic fixtures to curtail his rise.
Unfortunately for Torres though his absence resulted in arguably Chelsea’s most polished performances of the seasons with resounding wins over Bolton and Everton and although they were undone at QPR – the loss of their £50m man was a blessing in disguise. But after that came the chance not to once again utilise a player in circumstances where he could have gained match minutes. An extra-time win over Everton saw Torres watch all 120 minutes from the bench as the untried Romelu Lukaku was thrust into the fold at his expense.
Again on Wednesday night as Chelsea slipped to another reverse in Leverkusen, Torres did nothing more than watch on from the bench as Didier Drogba justified his inclusion with the opening goal thus piling more pressure on the under fire artist formerly known as el Nino.