Chelsea FC: 8 Reasons to Believe Fernando Torres Is Getting Back to His Best

It has been a been a very long time coming, but at last, Fernando Torres seems to be getting his form back.

In recent weeks, he has looked sharp, not afraid to shoot and has even bagged a few goals, something that he seemed incapable of doing only a few months ago.

He is not quite back to the Torres that lit up the Premier League when he joined Liverpool, but the signs are promising that he is becoming a player that can have a positive impact on Chelsea's season.

Torres may never pay back his £50 million price tag, but here are the signs that may indicate a Fernando Torres the Chelsea fans can get excited about.

Positioning

One thing that separates great strikers from good strikers is their ability to get into dangerous positions and trouble defences.

Earlier in the season, Torres didn't even look threatening, and took a background role in a lot of attacks, making him scoring a goal even more unlikely.

As the season has progressed, Torres has begun making more menacing runs in and around the box. He has been able to hold up the ball to get in a shooting position much more frequently than he was.

His shooting accuracy still isn't 100 percent, but if he can get into these dangerous positions more often, then the goals will come, as he proved against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Attitude

At last, Torres finally looks as if he wants to be on the pitch.

He looks hungry for goals, hungry for the ball and, most importantly, hungry to perform for his club.

I'm sure that in his head he was desperate for success, but when he was playing, his demeanour was one of a man that had given up trying and had come to terms with the fact he is a big-money flop.

Whether it was Roberto Di Matteo that had a firm word with him, or just Torres telling himself to buck his ideas up, something has happened in his head. He looks a much happier player.

Pace

At times, Torres can run past pacey full-backs like it's nothing, but for the majority of his time in a Chelsea shirt, he looked lethargic.

He made the odd run here and there, but we didn't see enough of him beating players and sprinting past them.

Recently, as well as playing in his central striker role, he has been beating players on the wings and whipping in crosses, creating several goals in his last few appearances.

He has found a few yards of extra pace from somewhere, and that is vital to success in the Premier League.

Team Player

There must have been times during Torres' dry spell when he thought his teammates were losing patience with him.

This has proven not to be the case, as you can see all the players behind him every time he plays. This confidence has been shown in Torres' team play.

We saw a frustrated figure earlier this season, when he thought he wasn't getting the service he needed to score or someone opted to pass to someone other than him.

But since his performances have improved, so his has link-up play with his teammates, with him praising his fellow Chelsea players when they attempt a long ball to him or when a cross is fired towards him in the box.

Stamina

During his last few months at Liverpool, it seemed as if he was only playing at 80 percent fitness and he was carrying some sort of injury—something that he unfortunately brought to the start of his Chelsea career.

But even when this "injury" had stopped bothering him, he still looked slow and tired after not actually doing all that much.

Since his revival, however, he has looked full of energy for the whole duration of games, and looks to be back to full fitness, something that could help his bid in getting as much game time as possible.

Confidence

It was very apparent earlier this season that Torres had a fear of missing the target—a fear that was ruining his game. It got to the point he would never shoot in fear of missing the target.

He did have his calamitous moments, namely the open-goal miss against Manchester United, but this shouldn't effect a professional to this extent.

Recently, though, we have began to see Torres unleash some shots and trouble the goalkeeper more frequently.

His shots aren't always accurate or on target, but it's a step in the right direction. When he finds his scoring boots again, he could become a major goal-scoring force.

Goals

At last, the goal drought is over.

Now Torres needs to push on and score on a regular basis. He now has three goals in his last few games in league and cup play, but he and everyone else involved with Chelsea will want more.

His recent goal at Aston Villa should fire him up—it certainly cheered him up, as he had a huge smile on his face after his stoppage-time goal at Villa Park.

With regular game time, a new-found confidence and a few goals under his belt, I would expect him to push on and have a big impact on the Chelsea side.

Class

When someone possesses the natural footballing of Fernando Torres, they don't just lose it when moving to a new club, so as we all expected, the issue was a psychological one.

With this being the case, it was always a possibility that he would turn a corner and start performing again. It appears that whatever was troubling him has subsided and he can begin to play his best football.

Even in his worst spells, there were flashes of brilliance, but now these flashes are turning into impressive 90-minute performances.