Date: 17th June 2011 at 10:59pm
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In the first part of this feature on Chelsea and Fernando Torres, I looked at potential strike partners for the No. 9. If you haven’t read part 1, you can check it out here. In this, the second half of my extended article on this topic, I am going to assess the other type of player The Blues will need to purchase in order to get the Spaniard firing on all cylinders once more; a creative midfielder.

A playmaker in the centre of the field is absolutely essential if Torres is to rediscover his form. The Spanish No. 9 is a classic striker; he likes to play on the shoulder of the last defender and thrives on well delivered passes from the centre of the park which split the defence and allow him to use his pace to exploit the space behind them. It was this sort of service at Liverpool which allowed him to terrorise central defenders like Nemanja Vidic for several seasons.

The lack of a midfielder with that kind of vision at Chelsea has been a factor which has hindered Torres over the past few months, something which Chelsea’s assistant manager Michael Emenalo has stated himself. Emenalo said; “he’s still adapting to the pattern of Chelsea at the moment. This is due to the fact he’s still missing the juicy passes being served to him by the likes of [Xabi] Alonso and [Steven] Gerrard, but with time he will adapt.”

Indeed, although Chelsea have great midfielders such as Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, neither is the type of player who will pick out long-field balls or well timed passes between central defenders allowing Torres to beat the offside trap. It is clear then that The Blues will need to invest in a player of this type in order to get Torres scoring regularly once again. Although I’m sure the fans would love to see Steven Gerrard or Xabi Alonso brought to Stamford Bridge, it just isn’t going to happen. Therefore, Chelsea will need to look elsewhere. As of press time, there are several players whom The Blues are said to be very interested in purchasing to fulfill this essential role.

The first is a player who I included in part 1 of this blog; Alexis Sanchez. In that piece I spoke of him as a strike partner for the Spaniard, a role which he would undoubtedly play to perfection. However, Sanchez has also fulfilled the role of a winger and central midfielder at current club Udinese and it is a position that Chelsea may well choose to place him in if they can beat Manchester United, Manchester City and Barcelona in signing the young Chilean. I felt I should make mention of Sanchez again here as he is the type of player who would be able to play the same sort of passes as the other creative attacking midfielders Chelsea are courting, plus he would provide crosses for Torres to pounce on and score some headed goals.

Reports are suggesting that Manchester United are closest to securing Sanchez’s services with a £27 million bid, but Chelsea may up their bid over the next few days and see off the advances of their Manchester rivals.

5 responses to “How can Chelsea get the best from Torres? [Part 2]”

  1. Alan Frank says:

    Although I’d love to see Alexis Sanchez at Stamford Bridge next term I cannot see it happening. From the Premiership we wouldn’t/couldn’t outbid City but from the players point of view I believe he is more likely to choose Barcelona as his next club.
    Personally I think both our owner and new Manager will be concentrating on getting Torres to play with Drogba to form what should be a deadly partnership domestically and in Europe. I believe the club intends on bringing Luka Moderic in behind the duo and Arda Turan from Galatasary to privide the real speed and width which has been so lacking from day one for this pairing. Malouda, Kalou and Essien are the likely losers ‘if’ these two players are bought into the club alonside the returning Danny Sturridge. With his first break away from football in 5 years and a summer tour with a Manager that has a real understanding of the requirement to get Drogs and Torres singing from the same hymn sheet I feel very confident of our partnership for next season. A devastatingly fast winger with a true end product as you get with Arda Turan and someone with the guile of Moderic I believe would transform our attacking options and see El Nino back to his very best form.

  2. Bluekid says:

    I agree with u alan

  3. bob says:

    i dont think drogba and torres can play togeather there is too much of a consrast in style of play,if torres isent gonna be up there on his own he needs some1 to feed off him,sturrige,neymar,partsone e.t.c some 1 that can run in and around him and play off him lukaka seems very good but we dont need him realy,young josh seems the type of player modric is so modric isent crucial,we despratly need a good winger i think the 3 most crucial players for us to get in would be sanchez,neymar and parstone that would give us a totaly new dimension up front

  4. Nolo says:

    I think its too soon to give up on the Torres-Drogba partnership. I didn’t see any tactical genius from Ancelloti-so maybe a better manager, and an improved midfield can get it to work. I mean Chelsea’s midfield was outplayed by Carrick, Park and Giggs. So why blame the strikers for a midfield problem?

  5. Hammed Abdullahi says:

    Other teams know Drogba is premier best striker & dey would luv him to depart chelsea.