Torres offers no assistance as Blues struggle

ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS claims to have no problem with the fact that, at 33, he is the same age as some of his players, and one of them, Frank Lampard says he does not feel threatened by the youngsters arriving almost daily at Stamford Bridge.

But one player who should be in his prime yet is clearly out of sorts must be wondering what the future will bring.

At 27, Fernando Torres should be reaching his peak as a striker, but his career has been on a downward trajectory for a worryingly long time.

Once the golden boy of Spanish football and a Kop idol at Anfield, Torres looks a shadow of the player that easily justified his reputation as one of the world’s top players.

Although Torres helped Spain win the World Cup last summer, he was nothing like the player who had taken first La Liga and then the Premier League by storm, scoring 50 goals for Liverpool in double-quick time after signing for the Reds in 2007.

It was reputation rather than form that persuaded Roman Abramovich to splash a British record £50m to take him from Liverpool in January, and Torres has done little in the intervening months to suggest it was money well spent.

One goal in 22 games is not what Chelsea were hoping for, and on Saturday Torres was shown the way to goal by Norwich’s Grant Holt, a journeyman striker who spent most of his career in non-league and the lower divisions, including a spell in Malaysia, before being signed for £400,000 from Shrewsbury two years ago.

Holt is not a finely-honed athlete, but he knows where the goal is and hooked in an expert volley to equalise Jose Bosingwa’s early opener for Chelsea. It took a late Lampard penalty, after keeper John Ruddy was sent off for fouling Ramires, and a last-minute goal from new signing Juan Mata to save the Blues from embarrassment, a fact Lampard acknowledged.

“Yes it was a tough game,” he said. “Fair play to Norwich — they made it difficult for us. We’re not in our full flow yet so it is important to get results and find that flow.

“We can certainly play better as a group. We have made a decent start, but last year we flew out the blocks before we blew up. There is certainly room to improve.”

Villas-Boas claims Chelsea have not found their rhythm yet, but it must be hard to get moving fluently when you are carrying an expensive passenger like Torres. He hardly threatened all afternoon, got booked and was then replaced by Romelu Lukaku, one of the young guns, along with Daniel Sturridge, who is fighting to start.

Lukaku, signed from Anderlecht for £18m last week, has been called the new Didier Drogba, and the original model had a miserable time, also failing to score before being taken to hospital on a stretcher after being knocked out cold in a mid-air clash with Ruddy.

Drogba was recovering at home yesterday, while Chelsea were completing the signing of yet another striker, Ulises Davilla, a Mexico U21 international.

It all adds up to increased competition for Torres, yet Lampard does not feel his own place is threatened by Mata, a £25m buy from Valencia. “It is great to see top players coming and bringing freshness and a different angle to the team,” he added.

“I watched Mata in the Spanish League and he is a fantastic player, great first touch and awareness. We saw that in his little cameo. It’s a great option if the game is a bit stale that he might create a bit of magic.

“Lukaku is a powerhouse who can score goals. His attitude in training is fantastic. He has been a real breath of fresh air. It is great for the fans to see new players coming in. We have had a lot of investment over the years and we’re building again. The club has put a real emphasis on youth, bringing in young hungry players which is great.”

Paul Lambert, the Norwich manager, needs to bring in reinforcements for his early season injuries. Zak Whitbread aggravated a hamstring injury and Daniel Ayala injured his knee soon after moving from Liverpool.

Norwich have nothing like Chelsea’s spending power, but have not been overawed in the top flight so far, with two draws before this unlucky defeat.

“The Premier League is the best league going and you’ve got to try to get a foothold in each and every game,” said Lambert.

“The levels of players and clubs you’re up against are extremely high. The way we’ve competed in the first three games indicated to me that we’ve certainly not let ourselves down. The performance was excellent against a team who are potential champions.”

CHELSEA (4-4-2): Hilario 7, Bosingwa 6, Ivanovic 6, Terry 6, Cole 6; Ramires 7, Lampard 7, Mikel 6, Malouda 7; Torres 5, Drogba 5.

NORWICH (5-3-2): Ruddy 6, Naughton 7, Whitbread 6, Barnett 6, De Laet 6, Tierney 6, Hoolahan 7, Johnson 7, Crofts 6, C Martin 6, Holt 8.

Referee: Mike Jones (Chester).