Fernando Torres gives Jose Mourinho further reason to move him on from Chelsea after this season.
With his World Cup place under serious threat, as well as his Chelsea future – Fernando Torres desperately needed a positive display at the weekend.
Selected as a starter away to Aston Villa, the fact he was substituted just past an hour with the score goalless should tell it’s own story, but there was even more to it than that.
Torres’ display was woeful – he was presented with chances, yet each and every time he failed to test the goalkeeper.
The Spaniard fired in five shots on goal, but not a single one hit the target.
The table below illustrates this as Torres’ most wasteful display of the season, on no occasion has he attempted more shots, recording none on target.
| Player | Match | Matchday | Total Scoring Att | Ontarget Scoring Att | Mins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernando Torres | Chelsea vs Man City | 09 | 5 | 3 | 90 |
| Fernando Torres | Aston Villa vs Chelsea | 30 | 5 | 0 | 67 |
| Fernando Torres | Southampton vs Chelsea | 20 | 4 | 1 | 90 |
| Fernando Torres | Fulham vs Chelsea | 28 | 4 | 3 | 82 |
| Fernando Torres | Arsenal vs Chelsea | 17 | 3 | 1 | 87 |
| Fernando Torres | Chelsea vs Southampton | 13 | 3 | 1 | 84 |
| Fernando Torres | Hull vs Chelsea | 21 | 3 | 1 | 90 |
| Fernando Torres | Chelsea vs Everton | 27 | 2 | 0 | 28 |
| Fernando Torres | Sunderland vs Chelsea | 14 | 2 | 0 | 65 |
| Fernando Torres | Chelsea vs Fulham | 05 | 2 | 1 | 26 |
That perhaps was not the only damning context regarding Torres’ weak display. Not only was the performance his worst, but it was the most wasteful of any Premier League player the entire weekend, attempting and missing more shots than Robin van Persie.
While the Dutchman’s problems at United have been much-discussed, Torres’ limp display has almost gone unnoted, such is the regularity with which he fails to impress nowadays, yet this one really stood out.
| Player | Team | Pos | Total Scoring Att | Ontarget Scoring Att | Mins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernando Torres | Chelsea | FW | 5 | 0 | 67 |
| Nabil Bentaleb | Spurs | MF | 4 | 0 | 90 |
| Fabio Borini | Sunderland | FW | 4 | 0 | 90 |
| Steven Fletcher | Sunderland | FW | 4 | 0 | 45 |
| Robin van Persie | Man Utd | FW | 4 | 0 | 90 |
If Chelsea lose out on the league title, you can only wonder whether with a fully firing striker it would have turned out differently.
Fernando Torres was linked to former club Atletico Madrid over the weekend as a possible replacement for Diego Costa – but judging on the weekend’s display, why would they want him?
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