Can Rafa Benitez help spark Torres back into life?

In the build up to the champions league match between Chelsea and Juventus in Turin, the news making the headlines was the lacklustre form of £50 million pound signing Fernando Torres and the obvious plan to leave him out of the starting line-up on the back of some mediocre displays in the league.

The Spaniard has had a torrid time at the bridge as tactics and the pressure that comes with such a hefty price tag have combined to make “El-Nino” the object of ridicule and disdain. He has certainly looked a shadow of the golden-haired, dangerous, crafty and lethal centre forward that terrified Premier League defenders some seasons ago.

Fast forward to the present time, Stamford Bridge looks a whole lot different. Roberto Di Matteo has been shown the door despite his heroics in winning the blues their first Champions League trophy last season. Roman Abrahamovic’s impatience with managers is well documented and he didn’t waste time in naming Di Matteo’s replacement.

Former Liverpool and Inter Milan manager, Rafael Benitez was named interim manager within a day of Di Matteo’s departure. The reasons for the Italian’s sack are not well documented, however, an obvious lack of tactical knowledge and issues with certain players including Frank Lampard have certainly done more harm than good. Rafael Benitez is a vastly experienced manager who would attempt to bring his repertoire of skills to bear on the blues.

However, there is one more incentive for the Spaniard. Fellow Spaniard and his one time weapon of mass destruction; Fernando Torres is in obvious physical and emotional distress. Back then, Torres flourished under Benitez’s 4-2-3-1 system with Steven Gerrard behind him in an advanced midfield position. In tandem each other, they tore teams asunder in frightening fashion and made Benitez’s Liverpool a formidable opponent for anyone.

A combination of factors saw them part ways but fate has brought them together again, perhaps for a reason. Both of them have fared badly in each other’s absence. El Nino has become the laughing stock of the premier league while his manager had to endure a torrid time in Milan before Morrati’s patience wore thin. Like every new manager, Benitez will ring changes. Earlier in the year, he was quoted as saying he could bring the best out of Torres.

The blues have played some fantastic football this season with their new players all looking promising. Belgian sensation Eden Hazard, Brazilian schemer, Oscar Dos Santos and German midfielder Marko Marin and Nigerian winger Victor Moses have all played their part in the new, dynamic brand of football coming from the bridge.

Benitez will certainly feel he has enough material on the ground to work with as he sets about the task of rejuvenating the blues and by extension his fellow Spaniard. Things look bleak at the moment with the blues on the brink of Champions League elimination and having to sustain a challenge for the league title. However, if Rafa can get El Nino firing on all cylinders, the Russian billionaire could be smiling again.

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