Is Torres-bashing some kind of national sport now or what? I may be in a minority of one now but I’m sick to death of the slating he gets every time he steps on the pitch.
The fact that hasn’t scored is hardly news, yet it’s all the press focus on. Forget the fact we were collectively shit against Fulham, let’s just use it as another opportunity to take a pop at Torres shall we? We can expect that sort of thing from the opposition but to be honest, the lack of objectivity from the media is worse than tedious now.
If you actually looked at his contribution against Fulham compared to those around him, he probably worked harder than most yet comes out of the game with less rather than more credit. Yes, he’s a striker. Yes, he cost an arm and a leg but relatively speaking so did Didier Drogba when he came to us from Marseille and whilst the Ivorian was undoubtedly an absolute workhorse for us, the fact that his goal tally wasn’t as significant as his £24 million transfer fee (quite a lot of money in 2004) brought heavy criticism. Of course the 33 goals in the 2006-07 season quietened that down but they took time to come.
The point is, whilst Torres has a hefty price tag (just like Drogba) and we might have to be a bit patient to see the goals, the workrate is still there – if anyone cares to look. Of all our players, he was the one who stood out from the off yesterday. He showed great composure at times, his first touch didn’t look like it was letting him down as repeatedly as some and but for an outstanding game from Stockdale, he could have come away with the reward for his efforts.
Sturridge didn’t excel himself, Drogba didn’t turn things around when he came on, so why the focus on Torres yet again? Of course his game went off the boil in the end but then being shoved out on the right to accommodate Drogba won’t have done anything for him either tactically or psychologically – and neither will the constant negativity.
Before his spell out suspended, Torres was showing more than shades of his former self. That break did him no favours – not least of all because Drogba finally started to find a bit of form himself – and he’s struggled to get a consistent amount of time on the pitch as a result. But Drogba is off on his travels soon so Torres will get the run he’s been waiting for – and my money is on us seeing the Fernando Torres we’ve been waiting to see.
Blue is the colour
