Torres admits he needs to score more goals this season

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres cost the Blues £50million when he moved to Stamford Bridge from Liverpool in the winter transfer window of 2011. Since then he has struggled to hit the back of the net on a regular basis for Chelsea.

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has failed to meet expectations at Stamford Bridge since his big-money arrival from Liverpool in 2011

Obvious

Torres has recently stated that he needs to score more goals this season. That is stating the obvious really.

It did not take Sherlock Holmes to work that out. Larry Holmes could have worked that out Fernando.

Here is what the Spaniard told Chelsea TV: “The people are looking at me thinking I should do much better and it’s true,”

“The reason you pay that money for someone is that he has shown in the past he is worth that. Now what you have to show is you can have the same value or even more value for things you have done at Chelsea.

“I know I have many things to do at this club to give the confidence back to the owner. The amount of goals I scored last season should be the minimum,”

“I want to ask that of myself but I have enough time. I signed a five-and-a-half year contract and I’m sure the future can only be better.”

Record

The British-record signing has scored just 37 goals for Chelsea in 139 appearances, compared to 81 in just 142 games for Liverpool. Chelsea bought him on the strength of his goal scoring record at Liverpool.

Yet, his strike rate for the Blues has not been one of a striker worth such a hefty transfer fee. In fact I think most top-flight strikers would be disappointed with that record.

Flop

It is hard not to call Torres a flop. I have championed the Spain international in the past, but it is now hard to defend the striker’s form or scoring record. He has made seven appearances this season and scored just one goal.

The lone striker came in the Capital One Cup and he has failed to register in the Premier League this season.

Struggling

Torres is not the only Chelsea striker that is struggling to hit the back of the net this season. All three Chelsea strikers Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o have all been poor in front of goal this season. All three have also failed to score a Premier League goal between them.

It is just ironic that Belgium youngster Romelu Lukaku has found the net four times in just three games on-loan at Everton. Many Chelsea fans believe it was a mistake to let Lukaku leave on-loan and it is hard to argue.

It would also be hard to argue that Fernando Torres is a better option than Lukaku. The two player’s seasons could not have been gone so differently so far. The young Belgium striker has impressed at Everton so far, while Torres has yet again struggled to make an impact for Chelsea.

Consistency

Torres started to produce more consistent performances towards the end of last season. However, this season Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has rotated his three main strikers in a bid to get his forwards scoring goals.

The ploy has not worked and the Blues are now stuck with three expensive strikers that are not scoring goals. Unfortunately for Torres he was the most costly of all, fee-wise that is anyway.

Torres played the lone striker role for much of last season, and was at times mildly successful. It is hard to see him ever regaining the form that made him such a dangerous striker in his days at Liverpool though.

Unlikely

I really cannot see Torres improving on his goal tally from last year. The problem that Torres has is Mourinho’s aforementioned rotation of his lone striker. The Spaniard is not likely to start as many games as he did last season in this campaign.

Torres could also face the possibility of more competition for his place in January, if the Blues strikers continue to struggle to find the net, as Mourinho is likely to be given more funds to strengthen his attacking options in the transfer window.

A good illustration as to how badly Fernando Torres has fared in the last few years is his odds to win Premier League top goal scorer this season. The Spaniard is currently 125/1 to finish as the Premier League’s top marksman.

It is certainly not a tempting bet and I doubt many football fans will be rushing to back the former-Liverpool striker top the Premier League scorers charts this season. Torres may be confident that he will better last season goals tally, I am not so sure.

Can Fernando Torres better his goal scoring tally from last season in this campaign?