Fernando Torres Claims He Is Targeted by the Media at Chelsea

Fernando Torres claims he has been unfairly treated since joining Chelsea.

As reported by Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard, the Spanish striker believes every mistake he makes on the pitch is met with an unbalanced reaction:

"

There has been an overreaction about everything. Overreact when I did that miss or if I have a red card or I hit the crossbar instead of scoring a goal. They never talk about the good things. More or less from the beginning to this day, it’s been the way I feel.

"

The former Liverpool forward, who has netted just 15 goals in 87 Premier League games for the Blues, continues to struggle with consistency at Stamford Bridge.

Torres’ prolific scoring form at Anfield, which saw him score 65 goals in 102 games for the Merseyside club, convinced Chelsea to drop £50 million on him during the January 2011 transfer window.

The World Cup-winning striker’s only goals of the current season have come in cup games against Swindon and Bayern Munich. Torres has made a combined total of three starts and three substitute appearances in the Premier League and Champions League this campaign, per Who Scored, but remains goalless in Chelsea’s most important competitions.

Despite his inability to consistently rack up goals, Torres doesn’t feel the weight of his price tag holding him back, per Johnson’s report:

"

For me, it’s never been a problem. When I joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid, they paid 36m and it was the same situation and never affected me. It’s not something that’s affecting me [now]. Everyone is talking about that but it’s not true.

"

Although he won the Golden Boot at this summer’s Confederations Cup, Torres has been dropped from the Spanish national team in recent times. Vicente Del Bosque axed the Chelsea man from the squad for September's World Cup qualifiers, preferring the use of players such as Alvaro Negredo, Roberto Soldado and David Villa.

Torres missed the chance to link with his countrymen during October's World Cup qualifiers through injury, per BBC Sport. In the absence of Villa, who is also injured, Del Bosque has opted to provide Swansea's Michu with his first call-up, confirmed by BBC Sport.

This decision has the potential to spell trouble for Torres, whose place at the 2014 World Cup is under major threat.

Del Bosque is clearly picking on current form. After sticking with the misfiring Chelsea player for many of Spain’s recent encounters, he has shown he isn't afraid to overlook the man who never enters the pitch pressure-free.

As simple as it sounds, Torres must focus on his club form before considering his chances of jetting to next summer's competition. With Del Bosque currently open to calling Brazilian-born Diego Costa into his team, per Dermot Corrigan of ESPNFC, Torres' chances will get even slimmer.

The player's recent display in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham highlighted an individual whose momentum continues to stutter. Although he performed extremely well at White Hart Lane and looked particularly sharp when making forward runs, his hard work was undone via a red card.

It's these kinds of occurrences that have halted Torres' progress in London—and, in accordance to his claims, it's these same occurrences that provide the press with an endless supply of ammo to shoot him down with.

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