Not for the first time in the Roman Abramovich era, Chelsea are wondering if a big signing is going to prove value for money.
Of the £66million spent on four players in the close season so far, only Eden Hazard was on show during their 3-2 defeat to Manchester City at Villa Park yesterday.
There was laughter rather than gasps of admiration when the Belgium international fell flat on his face as he attempted a back-heel and those sitting in the City end took great joy in suggesting that Abramovich’s investment may have been ill-advised.
As ‘what a waste of money’ was sung mercilessly in Hazard’s direction, Fernando Torres must have looked on with mixed feelings of sympathy and relief. Since joining Chelsea from Liverpool for a British record £50m in January last year, Torres has been on the receiving end from opposition supporters.
He has flattered to deceive on a number of occasions, but now more than ever he must show his worth. The inspirational Didier Drogba has left for China and the Spain international is the focal point of Chelsea’s attack.
There are no real rivals to his place in the first XI and the club have invested in players like Hazard and Oscar — who didn’t feature due to the Olympics — to play specifically for him. Considering his minimal impact so far, it is understandable why many fans have a degree of concern over whether Torres can fill the huge void left by Drogba.
After all, following the Champions League victory in May, Torres moaned about broken promises and admitted he had lost confidence in his ability.
Still, with one neat flick with his right boot he gave Chelsea the lead in the first half yesterday and sparked optimism that he is ready for the challenge.
It is certainly a view held by team-mate John Obi Mikel, who said: “You can see Fernando is fitting in the way we play and hopefully he can do the job as well. He’s a goal-scorer, you can see that by the way he took his chance. You can see his movement as well. When we don’t have the ball, you can see him trying to win it back. This is what we demand from him, and Didier was doing that as well.
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“We hope he has regained it (his confidence) and during the season he will become the Torres we all know. No doubt he has been putting effort in training and in every game. It’s just a matter of things working out for him. When he has a chance and puts it away everyone in the team will love him.”
However, judging by City’s assured display, it will take more than Torres to come good for Chelsea if they are to challenge for the title this season.
Chelsea may have had to play over half the match with 10 men due to Branislav Ivanovic’s red card for a foul on Aleksandar Kolarov but they had struggled to match City’s speed and physicality from the outset. Roberto Mancini’s mind games already sound unconvincing as he insists Manchester United are the title favourites despite seeing Yaya Toure boss the midfield and Vincent Kompany impress in defence, while Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez constantly threatened in attack.
While City look the finished article, Chelsea boss Roberto di Matteo has a lot to do to get his new signings to gel with the old guard, as four consecutive pre-season defeats suggests. But Petr Cech is in no doubt Chelsea will be in the running. He said: “It’s sad to see experienced players like Didier leaving, but we have brought young players in with hunger and they are about to show they want to win things as well.
“We are changing the team, but the targets are still the same. If we don’t win the title, we want to be in the top three. A lot of teams want to do the same, but we’re ready for the challenge and it is up to the players and how we’re going to cope with it.”
