‘Torres was Shevchen-ko’d’: The low-down on Chelsea’s striker curse

Shevchenko’d: A super world-class striker bought by Chelsea, who immediately becomes engulfed in Kryptonite with no viable explanation for loss of form. The only remedy is leaving.

A proven striker goes to Chelsea, usually for a record fee and their careers die. Hero to zero. At Chelsea history seems to repeat itself.

Torres is a prime example; if faced with the decision to score in a Chelsea shirt, or have his family kidnapped, Torres would be a very lonely man today.

I coined the term ‘Shevchenko’d’ when asked to describe the demise of Torres, much to the dismay of Shevchenko who was a much-celebrated striker at his peak. Let’s explore the past and future of some of these players:

Chris Sutton (£10m)

First up is Sutton who joined the 1994-95 PL champions Blackburn Rovers and resumed service from Norwich City in front of goal. 50 goals in 131 appearances for Blackburn. Then he was bought by Chelsea… Scoring one goal in 28 appearances, he lasted one year, moving on to Celtic where he became one of the most prolific strikers in the SPL and enjoyed 6 successful years with them.

Could it have been pressure? Mentality? Who knows. All we know is that he left and found his form once again at another club.

Adrian Mutu (£15.8m)

18 goals in 31 appearances guaranteed Mutu became one of the first signings on billionaire Abramovich’s intense spending spree, but 4 of the 6 goals he managed in a Chelsea shirt were within the first three games. What a long season that was for him!

He contributed to his own downfall when he failed a drugs test. He was subject to heavy criticism and legal issues, including a 7 month ban and getting the sack from the club. This didn’t stop a club like Juventus from signing him, or the successful career at Fiorentina that followed. One way or another, his career halted at Chelsea. Next.

Mateja Kezman (£5.3m)

When you consider Kezman’s goal ratio, 105 goals in 122 games (0.86) for PSV Eindhoven, you probably still wonder 10 years later where it all went wrong for him. The fact that he was sold for the same price as he was bought for might have been due to the fact this flop’s lack of achievement was masked by Chelsea’s first league title in 50 years. That or because he only lasted a year and was sold to Atletico Madrid as a 25 year-old with lots of potential. What we do know is that his future partnership with Torres ironically became fruitful in Spain.

Claudio Pizzaro (Free)

Oh what! Because he was free he wasn’t a flop? Wrong.

29 goals for Werder Bremen in 2 seasons, 71 goals for Bayern Munich over six, two goals for Chelsea over two years (one of which was a loan back to Bremen where he scored 17 goals in one season), before making the move permanent. At 36 years old, Pizzaro still plays, and scores, for Bayern Munich. He’s even STILL features on the international stage… Shevchenko’d? Pretty much.

I think the stats have spoken here, next victim please.

Salomon Kalou (9m)

Yeah, as a striker, Kalou too. However this player is still likely to cause a split of opinion. But if you look at Chelsea’s structure at the time, Kalou’s goal ratio significantly decreased as Mourinho looked to change the outfield role of Kalou.

He scored 35 goals in 69 appearances for Feyenoord and 30 goals for Lille in 67 appearances when played as a striker. In between these prolific spells, Kalou only managed 36 goals in 156 appearances for Chelsea.

Shevchenko’d.

Shevchenko

And the man himself. Shevchenko became the English record-fee signing when he was bought off AC Milan by the club for £30.8 million back in 2005. The seven years leading up to the summer of 2005 saw Shevchenko as the most-feared striker to dabble in European football, seeing him guide Milan to Champions League glory where he became Ballon d’Or recipient and European Player of the Year despite injury hampering his appearances at times.

Milan’s second highest ever goalscorer with 175 goals in 296 games was bought by Chelsea, where he managed a mere 9 goals. Remember hero to zero?

And finally Fernando Torres…

After a blistering mark left in Europe with Atletico… Well, you know the story. Four years at Liverpool confirmed Torres as the new English club-record transfer for £50 million in 2011.

But it sure wasn’t the pressures of the Premier League for Torres, 65 amazing goals at Liverpool proved that. Compared to his 0.66 goalscoring ratio at Anfield, Torres could only muster 0.22 in four dismal years. It got a bit better towards the end but Chelsea showed no intent in keeping a player who seemed past his seemingly pre-mature prime.

Fast-forward to 2015 and Fernando has recently celebrated guiding his old club Atletico Madrid past their city rivals Madrid with two decent goals… His first at the Bernabeu!

Now would be a good time to give honourable mentions to the legendary strikers that won the hearts of the Stamford Bridge in recent years: The Drogbas, The Gudjohnsens, The Costas. They have undoubtedly proved star buys and set the Bridge on fire with world-class performances.

The careers of strikers can go either way at Chelsea, good or well, it can get Shevchen-ko’d!

#Shevchen-ko’d

Stay tuned for the next COMPREHENSIVE low-down…