Sharethematch.com ambassador Andy Gray was talking exclusively to SouthWest Londoner…
MANY have put Fernando Torres’ recent return to goalscoring form down to Chelsea’s mediocre opposition but when you’ve been on the kind of drought he has you don’t care who you score them against.
Scoring goals is scoring goals and that’s exactly the way that Fernando will feel about it.
He got two against FC Nordsjaelland when he could have got four or five. He also got a couple against Sunderland, which would have given him much more confidence because scoring away in a Premier League game is much tougher, and he got a deflected goal against Monterrey in the Club World Cup semi-final.
I certainly hope Fernando has found his form and his confidence. I hate to see a frontman struggling because I’ve been there.
I know the torment you go through when you don’t feel you can buy a goal. But he has to keep that run going when he gets back here after the final.
When he starts to play Premier League games again, we’ll see just how much his confidence has returned.
It probably won’t help his confidence hearing reports that Chelsea have been linked with Radamel Falcao but Chelsea are a club who are always looking to move on.
Falcao is having a wonderful season again and is scoring goals for Atletico Madrid on a regular basis – he got five last weekend in La Liga against Deportivo La Coruna.
He’s a commodity that other sides covet and Chelsea may feel that if they don’t get him now then they may miss out on him.
It will be interesting to see where Falcao ends up – I have a funny feeling it will be in the Premier League, it’s just a matter of which club.
But certainly Chelsea are right up there at the top of the list of his potential suitors.
Right now Chelsea have more pressing business to attend to in Japan, and if Corinthians are not much better than Monterrey than Chelsea will win the Club World Cup quite comfortably.
They’re the best side there by the far and it will be the showpiece final Fifa wanted – the South American champions against the European champions.
I don’t know how much you can read into winning this tournament though. It’s a trophy but only in name, and I don’t think it’s one that fans of any European team can place much stock in.
It’s much more prestigious if you’re a South American side – this will mean much more to Corinthians than it will to Chelsea.
Rafael Benitez has received a lot of plaudits for playing David Luiz in defensive midfield against Monterrey, but it was an easy game for him to play in and he has played there before.
This is not Rafa finding a magic formula for Luiz. There’s been a lot of talk at Chelsea of taking the defensive responsibilities away from him and playing him in midfield.
It’s not something no one else has thought about. It worked well against Monterrey and we’ll see how well he does in the final if Rafa plays him there again.
It would be a much tougher for Luiz there in the Premier League. But he did the job very well, he looked accomplished, and that’s all you can do.
Likewise there are tougher tests ahead for Rafa as interim manager. But you can only beat what’s put in front of you.
Rafa’s just been very lucky that the group of fixtures that have come up have allowed him to play some pretty poor sides so far.
Andy Gray is an official ambassador for Sharethematch.com – Football’s Social Network. Available now for FREE online or at the App Store; http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/share-the-match/id450784289?mt=8
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