Ancelotti has faith in ‘born to score’ Torres

CHELSEA boss Carlo Ancelotti insists Fernando Torres was “born to score” and is on the brink of starting to repay his £50 million (€58m) transfer fee.

Torres has flopped in front of goal since making his record-breaking move from Liverpool, the Spain star missing a hatful of chances to open his account across his four games for the Blues.

The 26-year-old’s overall contribution has steadily improved and manager Ancelotti last week tried to ease the pressure on him by claiming “I do not ask my strikers to score.”

But Torres has since admitted he must start finding the net and, deep down, Ancelotti knows that too.

Asked how he would feel if Torres’ goal drought continued until the end of the season, the Italian said: “It is impossible, because he will score.

“He will score, sure, because Torres was born to score.”

Ancelotti, has previously all but written off his side’s chances, but ahead of tonight’s trip to Blackpool, he said: “If some players think that we can win the title, I think that it’s a good idea because this can give them good motivation.

“Man United can lose the title.

“Compared to us, Arsenal is closer to them, and maybe they can have more possibility to reach first place.

“For us, it’s very difficult to think this but obviously we want to win all the games that remain until the end of the season.’’

Champions Chelsea looked like running away with the title back in October, but their worst run in the league for almost 15 years took them to the brink of surrendering their crown.

Ancelotti admits “mistakes” were made and that, despite his vast experience, he learnt a lot from those miserable months and still has much more to learn in the game.

He added: “A lot of time, I got down on myself because I think that this is a good motivation to improve.

“In football, I’m working as a player, as a manager, for 30 years but I don’t think I know everything.

“A lot of things, I don’t know and I want to learn and I want to improve in my job.”

That means staying at Stamford Bridge, according to Ancelotti, who admits his “dream” is to one day manage Roma.

The Italian has been strongly linked with a return to the club where he began his playing career but he said: “I would like to stay here.

“I think it’s impossible to stay here 24 years as (Manchester United manager Alex) Ferguson has.

“More than three years? Yes. My aim is this.”

Meanwhile Blackpool boss Ian Holloway insists he is still loving his first season of top-flight management — even if it has left him looking “haggard and jaded”.

The Seasiders, who were widely tipped to finish bottom of the Barclays Premier League following their promotion from the Championship last summer, made an impressive start to the 2010-11 campaign and at the turn of the year sat comfortably in mid-table.

Their form has stuttered somewhat since January 1, with only two wins — albeit against Liverpool and Tottenham — recorded from 11 fixtures.

Currently they are hovering just above the relegation zone, but with 10 games to go, remain very much in contention to beat the drop.

“We’ve had almost a full season in the Premier League,” Holloway said.

“I look haggard and jaded but I’m loving every minute of it. It has been absolutely fantastic and I’m proud of how we’ve tried to acquit ourselves.

“Some days it has gone horribly wrong, but I’ve kept my dignity, kept smiling.

“We are nowhere near as low as we should be – we should be off the chart, halfway up in the Championship.

“That’s the truth, but we are riding this bubble of enthusiasm and on Monday we have one of the best teams in the land, in the country, in the world.”