Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina believes Chelsea are to blame for Fernando Torres’ struggles at Stamford Bridge.
Torres left Liverpool for Chelsea in January 2011 in a £50m deal, but the Spaniard has failed to live up to the price tag.
He went through a real trough in form earlier this season, going almost six months without a goal. He has shown flashes of quality in recent weeks and scored in the Champions League semi-final with Barcelona and bagged a hat-trick against QPR.
Reina claims Torres, who will come up against his former club in Saturday’s FA Cup final, is a player who needs to feel confidence from his club and he believes that has been lacking at Stamford Bridge.
“I don’t think Chelsea, as a club, delivered for him – the pressure was there, but I don’t think it was only down to Fernando,” Reina was quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror. “The difference between Fernando and myself is I have had the confidence of the people at my club all the time.
“I don’t think that has been the case for him at Chelsea. It is much easier to get over mistakes when you know you have the confidence of your manager and your team-mates.
“With [former Chelsea manager] Andre Villas-Boas especially, I don’t think Fernando felt that.”
