Torres on road to recovery, Villas-boas says
Feels Chelsea striker is gaining in confidence
London (AFP) Andre VillasBoas is convinced Fernando Torres is nearing a return to his best despite the Chelsea striker’s continuing problems in front of goal.
Torres once again drew a blank in the 1-0 victory over Sunderland and last s cored i n t he Premier League on September 24 against Swansea.
The forward did set up Frank Lampard’s winning goal with a spectacular volley that struck the bar, however.
And Villas-boas believes the Spain international will now flourish from being guaranteed a run of starts in the absence of Didier Drogba who is on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast.
“The performance was good. He is getting his good run of games. He is finding inspiration, finding motivation, finding form. He has the team and the fans behind him. There was a good demonstration of solidarity behind Fernando from the fans,” Villas-boas said.
“It’s good to see he is picking up confidence, assisting people. He hasn’t been scoring but he is getting nearer every time and I think it is for the benefit of the team.”
Villas- Boas
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Fernando Torres
didn’t matter that Torres has been without a goal for so long and denied the player needs to return to the scoresheet to boost his confidence. “I don’t think so,” he added. “As long as he helps the team to win games, we are happy.”
The manager, meanwhile, believes Lampard will continue to rewrite the Chelsea record books.
The midfielder’s matchwinner was his 124th league goal for the club, moving the England man to joint fourth on the club’s alltime list of league scorers alongside Jimmy Greaves.
“I think Frank will continue to threaten all remaining records for the future. He has broken recent records for appearances and goals will continue to do so,” he said.