Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 4:EVERYONE LOVES to be loved and footballers are no different. Put an arm around them, smother them in praise and, hey presto, they shall deliver. And who knows? It may just be the making of Fernando Torres, the €60 million misfit who could barely buy a goal but who, at last, is emerging as the potent threat of old.
Under Andre Villas-Boas, Torres was subjected to little more than a tough-love regime. Sit on the bench, Villas-Boas would instruct, speak when you are spoken to and perhaps, just perhaps, you’ll get a game near the end. It didn’t work.
But under the more sympathetic and hands-on approach of Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea’s interim first-team coach, Torres is starting to flourish. Not quite in the rampant style of his Liverpool days, not yet, but the indications – as again witnessed against Aston Villa on Saturday – are positive.
Torres had a hand in all four goals as Chelsea overcame the second-half hiccup of letting slip a 2-0 lead. First, he had a shot blocked by Shay Given, allowing Daniel Sturridge to poach his 12th goal of the season; then he distracted Nathan Baker at a corner, affording Branislav Ivanovic the space to bundle the ball home.
The Spaniard then flicked on another corner, giving Ivanovic a second successful bite at the cherry; then, best of all, Torres thundered in a cross-shot after Sturridge’s lightning burst in stoppage time. Cue celebrations and the broadest of grins, not seen that often since he left Anfield in January last year. Amazing what a bit of TLC can do.
“It was an important goal for him,” Ivanovic said. “Fernando has been going well and playing well all over the pitch. He’s been doing everything for the team and I think he deserved that goal. Of course, he has felt the pressure and so it was important for us to support him. He knows he has had the support of all of us and that we will do everything we can for him.
“He doesn’t just play for himself but he plays for the team. After the game, he didn’t really say anything. But I went up to him and said ‘Thank you for the two assists’.”
The jury is still out. Four goals in the Premier League for Chelsea, and eight in total, is a poor return for such a massive investment. Yet five starts in Di Matteo’s eight matches in charge appear to have re-energised a lost soul. “He’s enjoying himself,” Di Matteo observed. “He’s got a smile on his face, he’s confident.”
It is a confidence that appears to have spread throughout the team since Villas-Boas departed four weeks ago, with Di Matteo having overseen six victories. A seventh on Wednesday night, in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Benfica at Stamford Bridge, can only enhance the Italian’s chances of taking over permanently.
“No, honestly, I don’t think about the future,” Di Matteo said. “That’s not important. What is important is that we qualify for the next round of the Champions League.”
Onwards and upwards for Chelsea but Villa seem to be caught in a downward spiral, much of it not of their own making. Still, though, Villa drew level at 2-2 as Chelsea’s defensive frailties reappeared. James Collins powered in a header from a long throw from Eric Lichaj and then Lichaj stretched at the far post to meet a Marc Albrighton cross.
However, Villa should be able to avoid the drop. McLeish appears more weary but remains upbeat. “We can’t rely on other results going for us,” he said. “We’ve got to take care of our own work and we’ve got enough games left.”
