Chelsea boss defends striker

By Brian Lofrumento | 13th September 2011

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has defended striker Fernando Torres after the Spaniard was benched against Sunderland at the weekend. Torres has been making all of the headline lately, slamming Chelsea by branding his teammates “old” and “slow.”

Villas-Boas, though, is glad that Torres is unhappy on the bench, and has challenged the Spaniard to find his feet at Stamford Bridge after a tough few months following his Liverpool departure.

“Any player that is not part of the squad, or not part of the selected players is not happy,” Villas-Boas said. “I am glad that they are not happy because it means that maybe you can stimulate them to go one step further.

“Or maybe you can motivate them a little bit more and when they come back to being selected or to starting in the first eleven they can still perform.”

Despite his public show of support, Villas-Boas has also indicated that he’ll be looking for Torres to clarify his recent remarks. The Portuguese manager admitted that a fine may be forthcoming for his misfiring striker if Torres is found guilty of bad-mouthing his teammates and the club’s transfer policies.

Will Torres turn it around at Stamford Bridge? Should Villas-Boas give him a run in the starting eleven? Have your say below!