Soccer:Fernando Torres admits it is up to him to adapt to Chelsea's style of play as he looks finally to break his scoring duck for his new club against Manchester United tomorrow.
Torres has flopped in front of goal since completing his €58 million move from Liverpool last month, although his overall performance improved in last week’s Champions League win at FC Copenhagen.
The Spain striker got used to being the focal point of his side’s attack during his three-and-a-half years at Anfield. But he has yet to be indulged on that front by new manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has fielded the 26-year-old in either a three-man attack or alongside a strike partner.
Torres accepts he must learn to play with the likes of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka at Stamford Bridge. He told his club’s official website, www.chelseafc.com: “It is my job to understand the game of Nico or the game of Didier Drogba, and to be involved in the routine of the team and know the quality of the players so that’s what I am trying to do now.”
Torres, who partnered Anelka against Copenhagen last week, added: “The strikers we have depend on the play of the rest of the team. With two lines of four the other day, the team played really well and the balance was really good, compact, and they did well, sometimes playing balls behind the centre-backs or sometimes between the lines, and Nico likes to play like this.”
Tomorrow would be the perfect time for Torres to net his first Chelsea goal and he has reason to feel confident against a United defence he has a habit of tormenting. United captain Nemanja Vidic has twice been sent off playing against the Spaniard and will be without injured regular partner Rio Ferdinand at Stamford Bridge.
Torres said: “You want to play well against these players to show you can do it, and Vidic and Ferdinand were always a big challenge for me, so I hoped they could both play. Some people prefer big players not to be playing but I prefer to play against these kinds of players.”
With United 15 points clear of Chelsea, retaining their title appears all but out of the question for Torres’ side. But he added of tomorrow’s match: “This will be an interesting game because it can make us come back to fight for the title.
“It is one of the most important games of the season right now, and if we win this one, we are closer to them and we will still have one more game against them.”
