• Premier League

Malouda calls for Torres patience

ESPN staff
September 14, 2011
Juan Mata celebrates with Fernando Torres after scoring for Chelsea © Getty Images
Enlarge

Florent Malouda has insisted Chelsea need to be patient with regard to the form of Fernando Torres.

The Spain striker joined Chelsea in a £50 million deal from Liverpool in January, but he has so far failed to impress - bagging just one goal.

He courted controversy last week when an interview he gave in Spain appeared to criticise his team-mates, but that matter has been resolved according to Blues manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Torres did not find the scoresheet in Chelsea's win over Bayer Leverkusen, but looked more sprightly and created goals for David Luiz and Juan Mata.

Malouda feels Chelsea will see the best of Torres but has insisted it is likely to take some time.

"It is difficult when you can see people focusing on one player in the squad and I think the whole squad work hard every day in training and I think Fernando is working very well," Malouda told Chelsea's official website. "I would say that we need to be patient, he works very hard for the team and gave two assists so it's good for his confidence and the more confident he is the better it will be for the team."

Luiz is also backing Torres to reproduce the form that made him such a star at Liverpool.

He said: "Fernando had a very good game, two assists, and it is difficult for him because the people all the time speak about Fernando. It is difficult for one guy, big pressure in the head, but Fernando is a good guy and I know this season he will score many, many goals."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices