Don’t be shocked if Torres scores winner

FERNANDO Torres will have been haunted by his failure to score for Chelsea.

So he will have slept well after an impressive performance against Leicester in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday, which included two goals and a couple of assists.

And it wouldn’t surprise me if Torres now scores a couple of goals against Manchester City in the Premier League today before coming to Chelsea’s rescue in both the FA Cup and Champions League.

Torres remains one of the world’s best strikers and if he is bang on form then Chelsea are a totally different proposition.

As a former striker myself, I know exactly how Torres has been feeling over these last five months.

A bad run affects you every minute of every day – not just on a match day.

Other players in the team score but you’d rather be the one contributing with goals. You watch other strikers at different clubs score on TV and it hurts.

Poor form makes you nervous during games and you end up playing with fear.

A goal drought affects your home life. Even when you go out to the shops you know there’ll be some football fans thinking “Look who it is ... he’s not scored for a while now”. It can take over everything.

There was one particularly difficult spell at Arsenal when I did not score any goals.

I kept watching clips of Romario and the Brazilian Ronaldo scoring – along with clips of myself finding the net for Arsenal. Eventually, I came through this difficult period.

I ended that tough period at Newcastle and remember showing some message on my T-shirt. I think it read “At Last!”

It is surely not a coincidence that after Torres scored his first goal in 25 hours 40 minutes, he grabbed another 18 minutes later.

Admittedly, I found it worrying a player of his class could go so long without a goal.

I think Chelsea’s fans have to take great credit for showing real patience and backing their man.

This was great to see and I’m sure this helped him on Sunday, particularly when he missed one decent chance.

Torres has been praised in some quarters for his work rate throughout the nightmare spell, yet Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich signed him to score goals – and preferably in the Champions League.

The Spaniard arrived with an excellent scoring record so there’s no doubt the problem had been between his ears.

A player cannot lose ability – only his confidence.

People say his two goals were “only” against Leicester but this is unimportant. Both efforts were superbly taken.

Will Roberto Di Matteo now leave Torres up front and give him a run? For Chelsea, it will be like having a new signing.

That’s why it would not surprise me if he delivers some major damage at the Etihad and an away win could have a major impact on the title race as it would leave Manchester United four points clear.

Chelsea should beat Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals regardless of Torres, yet no one has been giving them a chance of beating either AC Milan or Barcelona in the semi-finals.

But if Torres returns to his best, I don’t see why Chelsea could not go all the way in Europe.

Arsenal have proved they look a different side when Robin van Persie is scoring – and the same will apply to Chelsea with Torres causing mayhem.

How amazing it would be after such a nightmare 2011 for Torres, if he ended up scoring the winning goals in both the FA Cup and Champions League finals.

You may dismiss it. But it is a possibility.

And an in-form Torres could also be big news for Spain ahead of Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

Right now, though, his focus will be on Chelsea. Even after today, Torres’ team have some massive games. They face Spurs on Saturday and could end up playing them again in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Chelsea travel to Portugal next Tuesday for their Champions League clash in Lisbon, while they also have another intriguing London derby with Arsenal in a month’s time.

If Torres keeps his shooting boots on, there will not be a defender on the planet who will relish facing him.