Having broken double figures for goals for the season with his second two-goal haul in the space of four days, Fernando Torres outlined how the Chelsea attack is going about its business of threatening the opposition goal.
The Spaniard hit a sweet volley past Sunderland to open the scoring on Saturday afternoon and then netted a penalty on the stroke of half-time, the first he has taken playing in England. It took his season’s tally to 11, and they were his first domestic goals in two months. He also played a major part in the third goal in the 3-1 win, his shot coming back off the bar for Juan Mata to continue his good run of scoring. It was the midfielder’s 10th of the season.
‘We are playing a bit differently,’ acknowledged Torres.
‘We don’t pass the ball as much as we did before in the final third of the pitch and we try to play more direct, and explode the players forward with Victor Moses or me or Eden Hazard on the left. We are using the quality of Oscar or Mata in the middle and we are attacking more and making more chances.
‘We are working as a team, as we did in the beginning of the season with Robbie [Di Matteo], but normally takes some time when a new manager arrives and changes things like this, but the results last Wednesday and on Saturday are going to give us more confidence, the only thing we need now.’
Torres refutes suggestions his own confidence especially suffered during his goalless run, a spell that corresponded with a dip in results, but instead says every player is not happy when the team isn’t performing well.
‘We had a very bad run of results in November and we knew we needed to improve, and we have to support now the manager. It is a difficult situation for him but with the results everything is going to be easier.
‘It was a long time for me not scoring in the Premier League but coming after two goals three days before in the Champions League, I am very happy to get back to scoring, especially as the team starts winning.’