The downward spiral was evident when West Ham owners showed interest in signing the Spanish star, on loan, during the January 2012 Transfer window. At present, in 34 Premier League appearances, he has managed a meager 3 goals. His dry spell continued in the FA cup match against Birmingham. Torres was substituted by Drogba at half-time.

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres spoke to ESPN:

“To be honest, after one year I was expecting things would be better than they are now. It is a difficult situation because I am happy in my personal life. We really like the club and we’re very happy here to be involved with the staff and the players. On the pitch it is a difficult time for Chelsea because we are not finding the results but we’re changing things like playing a different style and still we have a young team to do it.

“Personally I have to improve. In my time at Liverpool there were games where I would not be playing well or I would be doing nothing but every time I touched the ball I scored. It’s such a strange feeling now because I am feeling better than ever physically. I am not finding the chances and, when I do find the chances, I cannot score.”

However, the striker still wants to stay at Chelsea. He said:

“My present and my future are here. I have many things to do here and I want to do it because I always did what I wanted in every club I’ve been at, so this is not going to be different.”

What do you think Fernando should do to overcome this slump? Leave your comments!

David Villa

The 30-year-old is doing his best to get back into shape and hopefully be able to defend Spain’s title for Euro 2012. Before the Euro Championship, however, the Spaniard is looking to return in time for Barca vs Real Madrid match in April at the Nou Camp. The star is undergoing training that will help him recover quickly without stressing himself too much.

David was quoted by EFE saying:

“I went to the clinic last Friday to have two screws withdrawn from my leg. Everything went perfectly and I went home without any noteworthy problems. This is another important step in my recovery.”

“When I got injured, I said that it was my goal to make Euro 2012 and help Barcelona at the end of the season. And I am getting more optimistic about it every day as it’s going very well.”

Source: Goal.com

Chelsea’s manager, Andre Villas-Boas has described it to be the worst performance of the season and when asked about the support of his players, the manager retorted -

“They don’t have to back my project, only the owner needs to back my project.”

André Villas-Boas

After another disappointing performance in the FA Cup Fifth Round match against second-tier Birmingham City, it remains to be seen if the manager continues on.

Earlier Andre Villas-Boas said:

“Everybody understands we need more [than we are giving] and responsibility for this must be shared between the players and management. The right results haven’t been happening for us for quite some time.”

Chelsea won the FA Cup and Premier League double in 2010 under former coach Carlo Ancelotti but are now fifth in the top-flight having won only two of their last 10 league games. Villas-Boas was appointed at the close of the season to replace the sacked Ancelotti.

AVB said that captain John Terry trained fully on Thursday despite his persistent knee problem and he may play in Tuesday’s Champions League first knockout round first leg at Napoli.

Strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, might be back for the Napoli match.

Spain- World Cup 2010 winners as well as Euro champions are in the top group of seeds which also include Netherlands and Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland and Ukraine. Spain and Poland will be in group A whereas Netherlands and Ukraine are paired in group D.

The Blues were comfortably beaten by Arsenal, 1-3. Arsenal’s Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott scored the goals for the Gunners. Carlo Ancelotti’s team have managed just six points from the last 24!

Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas celebrate a goal.

Branislav Ivanovic pulled one back for the visitors but to no avail.

“We have matured, I have said that many times. Let’s hope it strengthens our belief for the championship and our belief that we are on the right track,”

said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

“Today we were disciplined, mature and we played for each other. There’s still some room for improvement and I’m confident the team will continue to train hard and focus well together.” Arsenal have moved to 35 points from 18 games with unbeaten leaders Manchester United on 37 having played a game less. Chelsea, who started the season in scintillating form but have forgotten how to win, remain in fourth place on 31.”

“The table is not good but this is the reality,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti told Sky Sports. “We have to play better and wake up. I am not worried. I have to work and you will have to ask the owner (Roman Abramovich about my future).”

The defeat leaves Chelsea 10 points worse off than at this stage last season and their title chances looking slim.

“I prefer to see some of the younger lads winning the award,”

the 29-year-old said after coming top in the poll of sports journalists.

“Please, don’t vote for me anymore.”

Bulgaria’s all-time leading scorer, with 48 goals, quit the Balkan country’s national team in May citing fatigue and family commitments but enjoyed a successful year at United. Last month, he became only the fourth player to score five times in one Premier League match when he helped destroy Blackburn Rovers in a 7-1 win. Berbatov expects to spend the rest of his career at United.

He told reporters:

“I fought to have a chance to play for United and now I can only go down if I leave,” “Why I should do this? It would be better to retire.”

Gaziantepspor striker Ivelin Popov and Twente Enschede goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov came second and third in the poll.

The Russian side have been charged over the improper conduct of their supporters, whose actions brought about a 20-minute delay early in proceedings.

MSK Zilina

The Dutch referee Kevin Blom led the players off the field after flares were thrown on to the pitch. The visiting team re-emerged to plead with their own fans for calm, only to be met by a fresh barrage, before the game eventually resumed.

Eventually, Spartak won the match 2-1.

MSK Zilina face a charge of insufficient organisation and another count of improper conduct by the team after their players received five yellow cards during the game.

Both cases will be heard at Thursday’s meeting of the UEFA control and disciplinary body.

The Indian owners believe the club should be fourth or fifth in the Premier League.

Allardyce said he was “shocked and disappointed” after being axed on Monday despite the club winning four of its last seven league games and being five points off the top six.

Other Premier League managers also voiced out their opinions. Sir Alex Ferguson called the decision “absolutely ridiculous”.

The Rovers’ club owners stated:

“We do not mean anything bad for Sam Allardyce but we feel that we need to take the club up in the league and grow.”

“We want Blackburn Rovers to be fourth or fifth in the league or even better. It is nothing against Sam but we have a different vision looking forward and we want the club to grow.

“We had been talking to Sam in the past few weeks but he did not fit in with our vision for the club’s future. We wanted good football, wanted the games to be interesting and of course wanted to win and to have good players.”

She also added:

“The fans should trust us and have belief in us because this is in the best interests of the club. Our thinking now is that it will be a British manager, but we are open if there is an outstanding candidate: someone who would be really, really good for the club.”

Assistant coach Steve Kean will take over first-team duties until Rovers find a new manager.

Ji Sung Park must be feeling on cloud 9 right now as he helped The Red Devils secure a win over rivals, the Gunners.

United scored with four minutes to go before halftime. The South Korean midfielder, Park headed in a Nani cross which caught a deflection off Arsenal defender Gael Clichy.
They missed a chance to go 2-0 up when Wayne Rooney fired a penalty over the bar.
The hosts remained unbeaten in the league this season with the best home record. Arsenal’s performance lacked any luster, they are now two points behind United in the league table.
The Gunners struggled to keep possession when they got near the box and the usually devastating combination of Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri looked disjointed.
United were keen to test young Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, making his first Premier League appearance. Szczesny made some excellent saves, first from Anderson and an attempted lob by Rooney.

Arsenal fans started chanting; “We want Cesc Fabregas” at the start of the second half and with less than half an hour to go manager Arsene Wenger consented. The skipper was out with a hamstring injury came on with Robin van Persie. But it was United who created the better chances.

Real's Cristiano Ronaldo fends off Zaragoza defenders

Mesut Ozil opened the scoring in the 15th minute followed by Ronaldo, just before halftime, while Angel Di Maria made it three two minutes after the break.
Gabi Fernandez pulled a goal back for the home side from the penalty spot.
Burly Spain striker Llorente struck in the 73rd minute at the San Mames, his 10th of the campaign, after Pablo Osvaldo had put the visitors ahead in the first half.

In other La Liga games:

Espanyol lost another away match, but have won all seven of their home games. They missed the chance to climb above Villarreal into third.
Real Mallorca conceded a late goal to lose 1-0 at home to Racing Santander, Malaga slumped to a 4-1 defeat at Hercules despite taking an early lead and Sporting Gijon drew 1-1 with visiting Levante.
In Saturday’s games, a Sergio Aguero double gave Atletico Madrid a 2-0 home win over Deportivo Coruna and Sevilla’s poor run continued when they lost 3-1 at home to Almeria.