Torres may be benched despite first Chelsea goal
Fernando Torres has been warned he is not guaranteed a starting spot
despite finally scoring his first Chelsea goal in the 3-0 victory over
West Ham.
Torres netted in the 84th minute, 10 minutes after he appeared as a
second-half substitute to end a 733-minute goal-drought in his 14th
appearance for the club he joined in January.
Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted the goal came as a relief and
believes it will give the striker the confidence to finally kick-start
his Stamford Bridge career following his British record Ł50 million move
from Liverpool.
But with Didier Drogba - Ancelotti’s first-choice striker in the last
three games - also hitting an impressive vein of form, the manager has
yet to decide whether to pair the duo against Tottenham next weekend.
The two strikers have failed to gel when they have played together
and Torres’s goal came after he replaced the Ivorian.
Ancelotti believes the displays of the two players means he must
spend the week working on a system that will bring out the best of both
forwards.
“Considering the performance of Didier and considering Fernando
scored, we have to try and put them both together,” said the Italian.
“We have one week to train to try. They don’t have a problem to play
together. Didier is now moving very well, not just in the box but also
outside the box to help his team-mates. For this reason I think they can
play together.
“I don’t want to guarantee this (that Torres will start) but I want
to try. We have one week training and then I will decide if they can
play together.”
Ancelotti couldn’t disguise his relief at the goal that came after
Frank Lampard had given Chelsea a 44th-minute lead in conditions made
difficult by heavy downpours.
“It was the moment everyone wanted,” he added. “We need to move on
now and Fernando will be better now his difficult moment has gone.
“Obviously it was a big moment for him. He wanted to score and in the
next game he will be better. It was good movement, fantastic shot, a
good, good goal. He did well to adjust so quickly when the ball held up
in the puddle.
“I never lost faith in his ability. I said we needed patience while
he got used to his new teammates.” Florent Malouda completed the win in
added time as Chelsea stayed six points behind leaders Manchester United
with four games remaining.
The manager fears, however, his side will run out of games in their
bid to retain the title.
“We have less possibility because we have one game less, just four
games, and the gap is still the same,” he said. “We have to keep trying
and hope we can close the gap.”
The only downside for Chelsea was an injury to midfielder Michael
Essien but Ancelotti insisted the midfielder had not suffered another
knee injury.
“Michael Essien has hurt a muscle, not his knee, but we will have
wait to check him,” he said.
West Ham manager Avram Grant believes his side can still stay up
despite falling to the foot of the table, two points from safety.
“In our position we need to score from every half-chance but we
couldn’t do that. I think the players are less relaxed because of our
position,” said the former Chelsea boss.
“But I think I can be proud of the players for their performance. We
were without Scott Parker, the player of the year and Matthew Upson, but
we played well.
“I think we will stay in this division. The team you saw today is a
good team. We are two points from safety and we can still get out of
this.”
Midfielder Mark Noble could miss the rest of the campaign with a knee
injury after being stretchered off. “Mark Noble has a knee injury,” said
Grant. “It could be serious. He could be out for the rest of the
season.”
LONDON, AFP |