After serving a three game suspension for an over the top lunge back on the 24th of September, Fernando Torres returns to domestic action for Chelsea this weekend as Arsenal make their way to Stamford Bridge. Having struggled under Carlo Ancelotti in his debut season with just a single goal for the Blues in 14 appearances, it appeared the weight of expectation on the £50m striker was becoming too much of a cross to bear.
A poor start to the new campaign only fuelled the doubters’ fire - Torres had lost it, Torres was a waste of money, a liability, they claimed. The media’s fixation was met with mere bemusement by Villas-Boas, though, and, as the games started to pass and Chelsea’s style of play changed to one more suitable to his game, Torres started to improve. A goal at Old Trafford opened his account for the season and briefly offered hope but an open goal miss was what most remembered, as Chelsea tasted defeat for the first time under the new manager.
The following game saw Torres again undo all the good work gone before - opening the scoring against Swansea within half an hour; he then launched himself into an over-exuberant challenge that subsequently saw him dismissed.
While sitting out of domestic matters, he’s been turning out in Europe, and a look at Torres’ stats compared to Didier Drogba’s from each of their last five games in all competitions suggests he’s anything but an out-of-sorts striker. As WhoScored discovered, Arsene Wenger has every reason to be wary of the return of El Nino this Saturday lunchtime:
Last Five Games - Fernando Torres
Torres assisted both goals in the 2-0 Champions League game at home to Bayer Leverkusen, firing in 6 shots, with 2 on target as Chelsea kicked off their European campaign in strong style. The following game, the 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford, he scored his first of the season, again producing 6 shots at goal - a demonstration of his consistent goal threat.
The aforementioned red card against Swansea came after he had again scored, and Torres left the field with the score at 2-0 to Chelsea, with Ramires adding a second just before his dismissal. A tricky away trip to Valencia saw him fail to get involved in the goals for the first time in three games and Villas-Boas subbed the Spaniard off after 72 minutes, but Torres’ following match saw him play the entire game, grabbing a double as the Blues swept into a 4-0 lead by half-time against Genk.
All in all then, a summary of his last five appearances for Chelsea has seen Torres manage 6 shots per game whenever Villas-Boas has played him for the full ninety minutes. He’s managed 10 shots on target from a total of 21, which is a 47.6% accuracy, and grabbed 4 goals.
In terms of creativity, he produced 8 key passes, resulting in 2 assists and made 13 successful dribbles over 381 minutes. Further analysis of the five games shows that when Torres was on the field, Chelsea scored a total of 11 goals - he played a part in 6 of these, a contribution of 54.5%.
Last Five Games - Didier Drogba
Drogba played 71 minutes against Norwich, but a punch to the face of the Ivorian by the Canaries keeper John Ruddy forced him off with severe concussion. Ruddy was sent off later in the game and although the scoreline was 1-1 at the time, Chelsea grabbed another couple to seal victory.
His next appearance was towards the end of the 4-1 win over Swansea. A brief 11-minute cameo allowed him the chance to find the net, though Chelsea were already 3-0 up and coasting. The next game, a 5-1 win at Bolton, was something of a disappointment. Drogba played the full 90 minutes and while the likes of Frank Lampard bagged a hat-trick and Daniel Sturridge scored twice, Drogba could only managed 2 shots at goal, though, from 3 key passes, he picked up an assist in the Reebok rout.
Despite playing the entire game in the 3-1 home win over Everton, Drogba’s outlay was again minimal - just a single shot and key pass all match. He lasted 41 minutes at Loftus Road last weekend before a lunge on Adel Taarabt saw the Ivorian dismissed and banned for three games, having fired off a single shot and making 2 key passes prior to his dismissal.
While Drogba has played 78 minutes less than Torres over his last five games, the difference between the pair is substantial and it’s clear just how much Villas-Boas’ type of play suits the Spaniard in comparison. Drogba managed just 7 shots - this works out as 1 shot every 43 minutes- Torres, in comparison, had 1 shot every 18 minutes. Drogba managed 3 of his 7 attempts on target, an accuracy of 42.8%, though he scored just 1 goal to Torres’ 4.
His creativity is similar, with 6 key passes returning 1 assist - in addition, Drogba made just 2 successful dribbles. Again, further analysis shows that Chelsea scored 10 goals over those five games when Drogba was on the field - he played a part in 2 of them, a contribution of 20%.
As the season has unfolded, it’s obvious that Chelsea have, indeed, one centre forward who is very much bang out of form. Unfortunately for Arsenal this weekend, it’s the one who is just about to start his suspension, not the one on the verge of a return. WhoScored's average match ratings of the duo's past 5 games only strengthen the notion that Torres' return will be an untimely one for Arsenal with the Spaniard having average 7.63 in his recent appearances in comparison to Drogba's 6.61.
