New Chelsea boss to push Fernando Torres

The new Chelsea interim manager has finally met with Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, to discuss their current plans and targets.

When asked if Fernando Torres was the main talking point, Benitez responded: “I cannot say we were not ­talking about Torres. We were talking about a lot of things in two or three hours.

“But they can see Fernando has to improve. Everybody can see he can improve ­because he has the potential.”

Torres was in wonderful form under Rafa at Liverpool and the manager expects to see an improvement in him over the next few weeks.

Benitez said he was pleased to see Torres on his first day, but will not be going easy on the striker who he previously sold for £50m.

“If you just put an arm on the shoulder of a player, normally you are in the middle of the table,” said Benitez. “When you have to push the player, that is when you ­compete for titles.

“With Fernando, you have to put your arm around the shoulder and push him. You have to do both things.

“We will try to improve Fernando, maybe with the help of the other players. Maybe Eden Hazard can help Fernando, maybe Juan Mata. We will try to improve the team, so we create more clear chances and he will score goals.

“I tried to sign Hazard when I was at Liverpool and he was very young. If he and Torres are together, I think it will be easier for them because they are very good.

“My job now is to find out why Fernando is not scoring as many goals as he was at ­Liverpool. I have my ideas and I was talking to him about it.

“Torres is a very important player, we are not stupid. But if we continue talking about Fernando and not the others, it is not fair.

“So we will try to improve Fernando and try to improve the other players. You have to be in the right position at the right time, understand if the cross will go here or there. These little things, maybe we can work on.”

The manager was then asked he felt his chances were to win this weekends encounter with Manchester City, and their chance of winning the league.

“If you start against a very good team and win, it can be good for confidence,” Benitez replied. “Ok, it’s a challenge but the motivation will be there.

“Chelsea are as strong as City. The teams at the top are very close. The difference is how you settle down the team, if they have the belief, and maybe you will need some time for them to understand ideas. When they are more confident, they will be better.”

I don’t have a great deal of hope in us beating City at the moment but I hope our players can play for their shirt. Love Chelsea, hate Rafa.