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!

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.

Liverpool took the lead through Maxi in the 33rd minute after the visitors started off brightly. Chelsea tried their best but luck did not seem to favour them as Drogba came close to netting a free-kick. However, after Daniel Sturridge came on as a subsitute post half-time, he helped Chelsea equalise.

Old Team-mates battle it out

Both sides attacked and counter-attacked as well as had some defensive goof ups which led to the goals being scored. A draw seemed to the best result but Johnson had other ideas. He brilliantly controlled Adam’s cross and slotted the ball into the corner of Chelsea’s net.

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.

However, Arsene Wenger did not react to the insults. This war of words comes right before the clubs match up on Monday at Old Trafford.

Evra called Arsenal a ‘training centre’ and a club in ‘crisis’ in an interview with television channel Canal+. Wenger had an opportunity to counter the spew of words but decided not to give it too much attention, during a press conference on Friday.

Arsene Wenger - Arsenal Manager

The Gunners manager said:

“He gave you some good stuff to make it all hot before the game.”

“We are guided by the way we want to play football and not by the statements of anybody who plays against us.”

“Personally, I believe if you are a big player you always respect your opponent and that is what we try to do.”

When asked if Evra was being disrespectful, Wenger was again reserved:

“I leave that judgment to you. We do not want to go into any unneeded talking before a game like that. We want to focus on the way we want to play and ignore any provocation before a game. We are motivated by the desire to win the game and by the quality of the football we want to play.”

Lee Bowyer’s opening-half goal – his first for nearly 12 months – earned Alex McLeish’s side a shock victory.

But their hero was Foster who bounced back from his error on England duty in midweek with a series of stunning saves.

Chelsea dominated proceedings for the entire 90 minutes but they could not find a way past the former Manchester United player.

It was a vastly improved performance by Chelsea compared to their 3-0 home defeat by Sunderland last weekend.

But they tasted defeat in back to back league matches for the first time since the end of the 2005-2006 campaign and they now only lead Manchester United on goal difference.

In addition to Foster, City centre-backs Scott Dann and Roger Johnson were outstanding.

Chelsea were quickly into their stride and Salomon Kalou missed an early chance to put them ahead.

Didier Drogba’s flick found Kalou with only Foster to beat but his shot went through the legs of the keeper and just past the post.

Foster made a fine save to keep Birmingham on level terms after Drogba was sent clear by Kalou.

It was the kind of chance Drogba would normally convert but Foster raced off his line to reduce the angle and saved low to his left.

Arsenal missed the chance to go top of the Barclays Premier League as Tottenham Hotspur fought back from 2-0 down to record a remarkable first victory at Emirates Stadium.

Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh had put the Gunners in complete control as they looked set to leapfrog Chelsea, who play Birmingham City later in the day.

However, Spurs – who had just one Premier League away victory over their old rivals, in May 1993 – regrouped for the second half following the introduction of fit-again England striker Jermain Defoe.

Gareth Bale pulled a goal back on 50 minutes, before a handball from captain Cesc Fabregas from a free-kick gave away a penalty, which Rafael van der Vaart converted.

Arsenal were then condemned to successive home league defeats for the first time in 13 years when Younes Kaboul headed in a dramatic late winner.

Samir Nasri and former team-mate William Gallas clashed within the opening few moments when Nasri raced clear, only to be halted by a fine saving tackle from the former Gunners defender.

It was a positive start for Arsenal, with Fabregas getting into the right side of the Spurs penalty area, but opted to shoot across goal rather than pull the ball back for Nasri.

Fabregas’ chip split the Tottenham defence, but Nasri’s touch into the penalty area was just too heavy, which should have allowed Gomes to come off his line to collect.

However, the Spurs keeper hesitated and failed to gather the ball on the penalty spot, which then bobbled wide.

The return of Wayne Rooney made it a perfect day for Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side took full advantage of their title rivals’ misfortunes.

United brushed aside Wigan Athletic, who self-destructed in the second half with two unnecessary red cards, but perhaps more importantly Rooney made his first appearance since the contract saga that saw the England striker threaten to leave before signing a new five-year deal.

The setbacks suffered by Arsenal and Chelsea made it imperative that United did not slip up too and they made no mistake as headers by Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez ensured Ferguson’s men second spot in the Barclays Premier League table, behind Chelsea only on goal difference.

Rooney should have put the icing on the cake by scoring too but passed up a glorious opportunity.

For Wigan, red cards for Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega virtually ensured they would get nothing from the match.

Source: Premier League

The Red Devils trail four points to current leaders, Chelsea.

Red Devils Vs The Reds

United have five wins from the last six at home to Liverpool, and in 18 Premier League fixtures between the sides at Old Trafford, United have won 10 and lost four.

They had a frustrating midweek draw against Glasgow Rangers in the Champions League. Liverpool will be buzzing after a 4-1 success over Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League.

The Reds have won once in their last 11 away matches and scored just eight goals in their last 14.

The season opener for Liverpool ended with disappointment. Earlier in the match Joe Cole was sent off on his debut for the Reds for a clumsy challenge on Arsenal debutant Laurent Koscielny who was himself dismissed just before the end for a second yellow card.

Liverpool were given the lead by David Ngog just after half time. Arsenal had a lot of possession but created few chances. They would have surely been thankful to Reina, his mistake helped them equalise when Chamakh headed against the post which Reina spilled into his own net with just 15 seconds of normal time remaining.

Pepe Reina reacts after fumbling the ball into his own net.

Hodgson was disappointed with the draw and commented on the match:

“It was a bit disappointing to lose two points so close to the end, but it was a remarkable performance having to play the whole of the second half with 10 men. There was no intention from Joe Cole to foul the player, he threw himself in to try and block the ball.. but when players try to block the ball, the referee often sees it as a worse foul than it was.”

On the other hand Arsene Wenger was naturally pleased to grab a point and said:

“We had a lot of possession but Liverpool defended very well and we did not create many chances,” he said. “We kept going and did not give up and in the end came back to 1-1 which is a very good result at Liverpool.”