Rafa defiant at fans’ Blue thunder, but pressure now on Torres

Fernando Torres and Roman Abramovich seem to have developed a magic potion that makes it impossible for Chelsea fans to boo them, no matter how many mistakes or bad decisions they make; but as Rafa Benitez runs the Stamford Bridge gauntlet again tonight, at least one of them will be finally feeling the heat.

Benitez knows he will be jeered for the second match in a row when his team face West London neighbours Fulham in the Premier League — and he wasted a chance to ease the situation yesterday when he pointedly refused to apologise for abusive comments he made about Chelsea fans while Liverpool boss.

But the Rafa sideshow is really just the symptom of a much deeper problem that has haunted the club for the best part of two years; their owner’s bizarre combination of a lack of patience with his manager and far too much patience with his centre-forward. Ever since he arrived from Anfield for £50m (€61m), there has barely been a press conference at Chelsea’s training ground in which Torres’ name wasn’t mentioned — normally asking why he doesn’t score goals and why he continues to be selected.