Chelsea Striker Fernando Torres Should Not Be Criticizing Anyone but Himself

According to The Independent, Chelsea forward Fernando Torres criticized his teammates in a recent interview with the Spanish league, calling fellow Blues players "very slow" and saying that new acquisition Juan Mata was a "necessary signing."

Torres issued a response saying that his comments were mistranslated. Chelsea is looking for a copy of the interview, and manager André Villas-Boas said he will speak to Torres if those words hold true.

But if Torres is criticizing teammates, it's just the latest disappointment for Blues fans who want to see The Kid live up to the brilliance he demonstrated at Liverpool and on the Spanish national team.

On January 31, 2011, Chelsea fans thought they were setting the last piece in their championship puzzle. Since 2007, Torres appeared in 102 matches for Liverpool, scoring 65 goals. Since 2003, he's made 53 appearances in competitive matches for the Spanish national team, scoring 19 goals. Torres knew the back of the net before his £50 million transfer to Chelsea. Now he, and the rest of the Blues, are waiting for him to rediscover his penchant for scoring goals.

In 18 matches for Chelsea, Torres has only scored once, and that was last April against a West Ham United club which has since been relegated to the Championship League.

In the face of poor play over the last six months, Torres himself has been relegated to the bench for Chelsea and been dropped from Spain's 18-man squad.

I think Torres has gotten more than his fair share of the blame for Chelsea's woes. What about Chelsea’s other strikers? Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba have lacked quality just as much as, if not more than, Torres. And both Anelka and Drogba have both only scored one goal since February. Something is broken at Chelsea, and Blues fans want someone to blame. With a £50 million price tag, it's easy to make Torres a scapegoat. After all, Anelka only took £15 million of the pie, while Drogba signed for £24 million back in 2004.

But here's the difference: Drogba and Anelka aren't criticizing fellow Chelsea teammates. And while Anelka has retired from France's national team, Drogba would have to drop dead before Côte d'Ivoire stopped calling him up.

If Torres is found to have said anything critical of Chelsea, it's completely unacceptable. I'm not saying Torres needs to go around blaming himself to every news media outlet, but he needs to learn some restraint before blaming those around him.