Luckless: Fernando Torres at Old Trafford. Photo: AtilaTheHunBlaming Fernando Torres’s ineffectiveness on ‘poor form’ and ‘lack of confidence’ would undermine an equally-important tactical factor: Chelsea’s passing tempo.
Torres’s struggles at Chelsea have been well-documented. Most agree five goals in 34 appearances is poor value for a ￡50m striker; even André Villas-Boas has appeared to lose patience, opting for Didier Drogba in recent games.
Yet few have shed light on why the previously-unplayable Spaniard has struggled so desperately – beyond easy arguments of lacking sharpness, hunger, motivation and whatever other qualities a world-class predator is supposed to possess.
While those factors are influential, they only partly explain Torres’s spectacular fall from grace since flourishing under Rafa Benítez’s stewardship. When arriving at Chelsea, Villas-Boas was right stating collective adjustment was key to improve the Spaniard. Yet the Chelsea boss has failed to make those changes, primarily because his patient build-up style clashes with the type of striker Torres is.
Torres: a direct player
A point often overlooked is that Torres is a direct player. His edge lies in power; acceleration to skip past defenders, leap 
to nod home crosses, strength to maintain balance while finishing. In Football Manager terms (let’s keep it geeky), he is a classic ‘advanced forward’, unrivalled at breaking through defences.
At Liverpool, Benítez understood this. To flourish, Torres needed to receive the ball at a point where space existed between the opposition defence and the goal – essentially meaning direct passes quickly after the ball was won.
Tempo needed to be high, enabling Torres to run at disorganised defenders with speed, denying them time to ‘double up’ or restrict space. Static football was the enemy. Long balls, counter-attacks and quick transitions his bread and butter.
Chelsea: a slow-passing team
This flourishing combination is a far cry from reality at Chelsea. With Villas-Boas’s slow build-up play, opposition teams gradually fall back to defend deep, condensing space behind them. This forces Torres to drop deep, often facing four
defenders within 20 yards who have had time to organise and double up where necessary.
Eventually, this leaves Torres trying to open up defences rather than breaking through them. The results are common knowledge; failed attempts at basic link-up play (Torres, like most ‘strikers’, has never been a good passer), or frustrating runs crashing into the defensive wall.
While having this role mastered is of increasing importance to possession-based teams – Chelsea now have Juan Mata, Manchester City David Silva, Barcelona about five different ones – it requires a rapidness, vision and creativity not associated with physical strikers.
Torres’s situation is not dissimilar to Zlatan Ibrahimovi?’s at Barcelona. For all his talent, the Swede wasn’t rapid enough to work the tiny pockets of space conceded by Bar?a’s respectful opponents.
Below follows Torres’s first 50 goals at Liverpool. Besides revealing how insanely good he was (and, perhaps, still is), they show how Benítez’s eye for transitions aided most of his goals.
While most are breathtaking, it is inescapable how few come from established play. Roughly 30 originated from direct moves (long balls, counter-attacks or quick transitions) while 17 came from more established play (most from crosses, though even these were driven in with more vigour than at Chelsea). Three were set-pieces.
This season, it is also worth noting Torres most promising performance came at Old Trafford, where the attacking nature of Manchester United offered space to work in. The same happened for Liverpool; bigger teams rarely sat back against Benítez’s side – Torres excelled.
Spain
A similar story unfolds for Spain. While the tiki-taka style has benefited Spain collectively, Torres has, arguably, become a bit of a victim. From 2005 to 2007; before the philosophy had settled, Torres netted 12 goals in 20 competitive appearances. Since the Euros in 2008 – the breakthrough of tiki-taka on an international level – Torres stands with less impressive seven goals in 27 matches, excluding friendlies.
Observes will note Torres has missed chances for Spain that are not excuses by tactics, yet a player surrounded by a tactical framework robbing him of his greatest strengths is bound to have his performance affected, and consequently his confidence. In fact, the most important goal he scored for Spain – the Euro 2008 final winner – came after a classic run in behind German defenders. While the move involved slow passing, it also exploited a high defensive line unlikely to be risked against Spain today.
Few signs of changes
When José Mourinho left Stamford Bridge, the Blues inherited a well-drilled 4-3-3 formation and a unpredictable ability of varying between slow ball retention and direct breaks towards Drogba.? They quickly forgot the latter. What has followed is a continuous philosophical quest in honour of Roman Abramovich’s romantic aspirations, fuelled by envious looks across the sea where Barcelona were, and still are, mirroring ideological perfection.
With Villas-Boas the latest pursuer of these ambitions, Chelsea show no sign of adapting to Torres. Clearly, the Spaniard needs a coach who understands how to exploit his raw power, a feat only Benítez has managed to date. Judging from the qualities he has shown us, Torres can score goals anywhere. But perhaps not for anyone.
- – – -
Note: picture taken from the excellent Flickr account of AtilaTheHun.
View the original article here
Soccer Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys Cheap Sexy Lingerie Кожаный чехол для iPad