Despite the going more than 12 hours without a goal, the Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez defended the form of the striker Fernando Torres after the 3-1 defeat against West Ham. This was the third match as the new Chelsea manager and he has so far failed to register a one single victory. Things looked extremely promising for Benitez in the first half, as they opened the scoring through Juan Mata. It was a goal that was created by Fernando Torres, but the Spaniard himself failed to score. This has left his barren run in front of goal – stretching more than 12 hours after this match – intact.
One of the main tasks believed to be handed to the manager Benitez is bringing the best out of the striker Fernando Torres, who was signed for a British club record £ 50 million almost 2 years ago. The striker has managed just four league goals this season despite playing in every match apart from one. Benitez saw his Chelsea team create a number of opportunities in the first half, but they were unable to finish them off. In the second half, it was completely different, as Chelsea were overrun by a very enthusiastic West Ham. They then conceded three goals to lose the match 3-1, which has all but brought an end to the title challenge.
“To win, it’s simple. In the first half we just had to score more goals. We have to improve. We know that football has two halves, the game has two halves. In the first half we had two or three chances – we just need to score more goals. I thought the team had chances, not just Fernando. When you are attacking and you are controlling the game like we did in the first half, you have to score goals,” said Benitez.