The weak link in Chelsea’s attack?
Clearly a high point for the blues was the debut and promise shown by Mata, something that far outstrips anything his fellow Spaniard has done since his £50 million move to the Bridge.
Mata looks full of confidence and happy to be at the club, everything that Torres does not. Chelsea fans will hope that by having a fellow international teammate and friend at Stamford Bridge, Torres may feel more at home, with the striker instrumental in convincing Mata that a move to Chelsea was the right one to make. More vitally than that, the way Mata plays and passes the ball suits Torres and his style of play – something that Chelsea have so far struggled to accommodate, having played with Drogba as the central striker for so long, and also being heavily reliant on Lampard for goals, the passing and movement that Torres requires has been somewhat lacking.
Roll on a week, and Torres was warming the bench for the majority of the game against Sunderland, with Chelsea finally looking something like what we have come to expect. The issue however, was that the two strikers up front were neither Torres or Drogba – still recovering from the horrific head injury he sustained the week earlier, but Anelka and young Daniel Sturridge, who after an impressive pre-season is finally getting a chance at Chelsea. Torres did come on for the final 15 minutes, but looked pretty much the same as he has done since his ill-fated move to the bridge.
Mata on the other hand looked dazzling, and is already justifying his transfer fee. During his time in Spain at the Mestalla the little winger had a 1 in 3 goal to game ratio, fairly impressive coming from someone who is not a striker by trade and was playing for a club who in recent years have sold all their best players, including Mata’s compatriots David’s Villa and Silva. With a goal to his name already, and a stellar performance in his second game for the club, Mata is already enhancing his reputation and enduring himself to the fans.
Torres’ miserable time is continuing, with Del Bosque dropping him from the Spanish team, stating that you get picked by playing well for your clubs, not the other way around, and Torres’ Chelsea form will have to improve if he wishes to break back into the Spanish national side, something that is easier said than done with Villa and Negredo in particular in scintillating form for their club sides, not to mention a wealth of talent in the way of attacking midfielders.
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Things for Torres can only improve – or so he would hope – and it is clear that AVB is willing to give him a chance. Even if the manager’s patience was to run out, with the African Cup of Nations and the sheer amount of games Chelsea will be playing this season, the minutes on the field will come for Torres, he just has to make use of them and keep his head up. In such situations, attitude goes a long way to helping the situation, and Torres must make sure he keeps working in training and has the belief that the goals will come.
The issue is not the Premier League, during his time on Merseyside he only received positive reviews, and the talent is clearly there. He as looked brighter since the season begun, and will have received a confidence boost from being picked in the season opener, yet by now dropping him the damage AVB may have done to the players confidence cannot be under estimated. If AVB felt Torres was his number one striker at the start of the season, he should see this through and keep faith in the player.
Mata on the other hand is a breath of fresh air at Chelsea and gives them the pace and creativity that they have not seen on the flanks since the days of Arjen Robben. He certainly looks like being in the first eleven at the Bridge for a long time to come, and Chelsea fans will be excited to see how he performs in his champions league debut for them midweek, and then in a huge game for the club the following Sunday at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
If Chelsea want to challenge for the title this season they are going to need both of their Spaniards to be at the peak of their powers, sadly for them it seems only one is anywhere near that at this time.