Torres ‘didn’t care about winning’

Fernando Torres has reflected this week on a low point to his career at Chelsea and on why it has turned around since.

The Spaniard transferred to the Londoners from Liverpool midway through the 2010-11 season, but 12 months later was still struggling for form and regular first-team action.

However, he has begun the 2012-13 season in improved form in front of goal and has now looked back on the misery that was before.

“Midway through last season, I turned away from the values I had grown up with,” reflected the forward in El Pais.

“I had colleagues who did not care if the team won or lost because they were not playing. I never wanted to be the same. One day I found that I was, that I did not care if they won or lost because I was not playing, I was not one of the gang.

“And I discovered that I was not happy because I had moved away from being what I wanted to be. In the dressing room, that group mentality cannot be missed.”

Torres was prompted that under Andre Villas-Boas he was still not the player previously recognised at Atletico Madrid and early on at Liverpool.

“That is what the team needed. I was a different player to serve the team. It harmed me, but it was the only way to play. I sometimes thought, ‘I’m going to run behind, to give me some space’, and in 70 minutes I would not have touched the ball.

“If I played to my strength then I was not involved in the game… What could I do? It was so different from what I was used to with [Rafa] Benitez [at Liverpool], I was not happy and it showed.”

However, Torres believes that Roberto Di Matteo’s arrival midway through last term has been a catalyst for his development and improvement since.

“When the Coach changed it returned to being something closer [to under Benitez]. That was a good part, I learned and it made me a better player.

“Now there are aspects to my game I didn’t notice before. And I can be the player that the Coach wants, not the one I am expected to be.”

The striker then reflected on the friendships many of the members of the Spanish national team have with each other.

“When I retire the only thing that worries me is that nobody can say I have been a bad teammate, or disrespectful  or arrogant. I’m sure that in 20 years, if I go to Asturias I can find Juan [Mata], Santi [Cazorla] and if I go to Andalusia then I could see Sergio [Ramos] and Pepe [Reina. That’s the beauty. Other friends, when football is over, you lose.

“Is this the secret for Spain? Definitely. We experienced very bad times before the good. In Spain, before Vienna, we were booed. At that time it was a motivation and we realised that we were better than everyone said on the outside, that Xavi [Hernandez] was great… We discovered that we could achieve, that we were as good as the other teams.”

Tags Chelsea Liverpool Torres
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