Blues missing cutting edge

IT was always going to happen sometime but Carlo Ancelotti must have hoped he would be able to rest Fernando Torres from a position of strength and not apparent weakness.

A £50 million price-tag guarantees that every step Torres takes in a blue shirt with be closely examined, and when such an expensive acquisition fails to score in his opening five games, the level of scrutiny increases exponentially.

Consequently it didn’t matter that Torres was apparently being held in reserve ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester City. His absence from the field meant that the opportunity was there for Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, the two players whose status has been undermined by Torres’ arrival, to state their case for inclusion.