Stepping up the pace: Fernando Torres believes
Chelsea need to increase the speed of their playing style
Fernando Torres has risked the wrath of his Chelsea
team-mates after blaming his barren goalscoring run on the club's
'very slow' and 'older' players.
The Spain striker has scored just one goal in 21
games since his £50million move from Liverpool in January. Manager
Andre Villas-Boas insists he is willing to axe Torres from his
starting line-up should the striker continue to misfire.
Chelsea, who are at Sunderland on Saturday, have
been labelled an ageing side in recent seasons, with key quintet
Didier Drogba, John Terry, Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole and Frank
Lampard all over 30.
Torres has indicated the squad's lack of pace and
the fact a number of players are approaching the twilight of their
careers as a key reason behind his lack of goals, but has indicated
Villas-Boas is trying to freshen things up.
'When I changed club, I knew it was going to be a
slow process, although I didn't expect it to be so long,' said the
World Cup winner.
Old boys: Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard
are all over 30
'Chelsea is, between the English teams,
maybe the least English. That's because of the kind of player
Chelsea has, an older player, who plays very slow, who has a lot of
possession and that's what the club is trying to
change.'
Torres is confident the arrival of Juan Mata from
Valencia and the return of the suspended Daniel Sturridge can help
inject more urgency.
He added: 'When the team start to get the ideas
of the new coach, about paced and vertical football, it's going to
be good.'
