Time to make your mark, Torres

Fernando Torres has not had the best of times since arriving from Liverpool to Chelsea for £50 million during the January transfer window of the 2010-2011 Premier League season, so this season is arguably a make or break one for him.

He’s had a poor 18 months at the club and although there are those that will continue to make their excuses for him, his form is ultimately his own responsibility and it is up to him to turn his fortunes around. Torres earned the tag of a flop during his first half-season with Chelsea when he only managed to net once in his first 18 games for the club, so there was plenty of pressure as well as the looming figure of club legend Didier Drogba when he was attempting to make a fresh start last season.

The Spanish forward scored 11 goals in 49 games during the last campaign, which is an awful return for a forward of his quality but he made much more of a contribution by the way of assists. He also managed to pick up major honours for club and country last season, including the FA Cup, Champions League, European Championship and earned the golden boot in the Euros. Could this be the start of something good for Torres for the Blues?

There’s still a lot of pressure on Torres and so there should be as he’s now our main man since Drogba left, he’s a professional and should be able to handle it, even rise to it. He simply has to improve his scoring tally or his time at the club will come to an end and we need a regular scorer at the club as not having one seriously hampered our league campaign last season, you only have to look at Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie and Sergio Aguero’s scoring stats to see how many points they are worth a season and it makes a huge difference.

Is it time for him to make his mark at Stamford Bridge?

One of the reasons that Chelsea fans have been as patient as they are with Torres is because he works hard for the team and has shown us glimpses of what he can do, most recently during the Community Shield yesterday. He looked an isolated figure in the early stages of the game (no change there then) but once Ramires set him up for an instinctive finish, the 28-year-old took it upon himself to run at the City defence and put them on the back foot. He didn’t create many more opportunities but drew a few fouls and had Stefan Savic in a panic which is positive even if the Montenegrin isn’t the best defender in the world.

Torres is still in need of competition that’s a little more adept to playing centre forward than Daniel Sturridge is and it will also be worth trying Eden Hazard behind him, especially as it’s his best position and Juan Mata is in need of a rest after playing in two international tournaments without a break this summer. Sure, Mata didn’t play much of a part during thee Euros but hasn’t had a break from training and the trials of international tournaments are mentally exhausting as they are physical.

Is it Torres’ time to shine at Stamford Bridge? How many goals do you think he’ll score this season? Hopefully we’ll see more of this in the coming season…