Jonathan Brady/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Torres had flourished in his two previous clubs in no small part thanks to the absolute adoration of the supporters. The definition of a confidence player, he never looked more comfortable than in front of a packed Anfield crowd cheering his name. The contentious nature of his move to Chelsea meant he had to face a new kind of playing atmosphere, where his new fans already had a number of icons in the team – John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba – and despite the Stamford Bridge crowd consistently getting behind him, the gulf between what his teammates had done for the club and his own status as the £50 million striker who couldn’t find the net became even more pronounced with every game.
By Torres’ own admission, he lost faith in his abilities and began deliberately positioning himself to avoid having to take shots on goal. Having once been a player whose game was singularly devoted to making runs into clear goalscoring positions, his movement was now being scrutinised for doing precisely the opposite. Having been beloved for his entire career, he found himself mentally unprepared for the challenge of having to prove his worth and fight for his place, exemplified by complaints about his treatment by Villas-Boas and Di Matteo, both of whom dropped him to the bench following poor form. Unfortunately, despite the club doing everything they could to accomodate him, including the unfortunate signings of former teammates Raul Meireles and Yossi Benayoun and even more ill-advised appointment of the widely hated Rafael Benitez in the Chelsea hotseat following the sacking of club hero Di Matteo, he’s never looked like recovering his confidence since.
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