Rafa Benitez clutches at straws to find praise for Chelsea's Torres

Rafael Benítez has offered a spirited defence of Fernando Torres, praising the £50 million-man’s work in defending corners. Clearly his role in the Chelsea team…

Speaking ahead of Wednesday night’s final Champions League group game against FC Nordsjaelland upon which the defending champions’ European fate will hinge, Benítez was again asked about Torres’s value to the team.

As you might expect from a man trying to instil confidence in the player and earn respect from the rest of the squad, Benítez did his best to praise the striker. Sadly his best case left Torres, a man signed to score goals not prevent them, damned with the faintest of praise.

“I didn’t watch the analysis, but Fernando is a great player and his team-mates know he’s a great player,” he said.

“Yesterday, we had a training session with finishing and Fernando scored a lot of goals. But it’s not just scoring goals. I will say something. We changed his position in corners, for example.

“I don’t know if Gary Neville had this opportunity, but if you analyse the corners against West Ham he was amazing. Two or three times he’s cleared the ball and afterwards was just doing man to man because it’s what he had to do.

“He’s a big lad, good in the air, so OK, man to man. He’s a striker so we’ve put him in front and he was really good. So, he’s helping the team, in this case to defend. As a striker, you like him to score goals. But I would like to see maybe Fernando not scoring goals and the team winning.”

No praise about Torres’ defending is going to take the pressure off Nando, only a miraculous goal will. Torres doesn’t seem overly bothered in his interviews, but the striker needs to get his act together quickly if he wants to stay at Chelsea past January. Fernando Jose Torres out, Fernando Llorente Torres in?