What Jose Mourinho actually said when Fernando Torres was accused of being a ‘flop’ at Chelsea

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It’s safe to say that Fernando Torres wasn’t able to replicate his Liverpool form for Chelsea once he made the switch to Stamford Bridge back in 2011.

Before joining Chelsea, Torres had scored 81 times in 142 games for Liverpool – goals that weren’t rewarded with trophies whilst the Spaniard was wearing red.

Surprisingly, Torres actually ended up playing for Chelsea more times than Liverpool, even if he did score at a slower rate.

Games Goals Assists
Atletico de Madrid 403 129 21
Liverpool 142 81 19
Chelsea 172 45 29
AC Milan 10 1 0
Sagan Tosu 40 7 2
Fernando Torres’ goal and assist record for each club in his career by chronological order of his first appearance.

In terms of Torres’ time in the Premier League, it’s often remembered that the striker was at the top of his game at Anfield before he then began to decline at Chelsea, asking questions of their big money move.

Jose Mourinho refused to call Fernando Torres a ‘flop’ at Chelsea

That being said, Jose Mourinho shared an interesting reaction to accusations of Torres being a ‘flop’ at Chelsea when speaking on the ‘Fernando Torres: The Last Symbol’ documentary which was first aired in 2020.

Mourinho admitted that Torres ‘didn’t fit’ at Chelsea, but he refused to criticise the striker’s ability as a whole.

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images

READ MORE: Chelsea legend Didier Drogba once named the two toughest centre-backs he ever faced in the Premier League

And in a segment of the documentary, Torres first started by speaking about Mourinho’s arrival at the club.

Torres said: “Mourinho came and the situation changed. Again, my first months, everything that was written and the perception of my place in the team, meant he didn’t see me as a first-choice striker.”

Sharing his own view, Mourinho recalled: “Whether he wasn’t such a happy guy at Chelsea, or whether it was just his personality, he didn’t fit in the Chelsea dynamic.

“He did his job. He wasn’t a flop. People often like to say ‘this guy or the other is a flop’ – he’s not a flop.

“A flop doesn’t win titles, a flop doesn’t score goals, I see him as a big game player.”

Interestingly, Torres then admitted himself that he lacked something at Chelsea, which he described as ‘unforgivable’

He continued: “On a personal level, I think there are many moments and periods, it’s true they are not regular, but periods at Chelsea when I maybe played the best football I’ve ever played.

“But they are short periods, what I never achieved at Chelsea was consistency, and that’s unforgivable at a big club.”

Fernando Torres never won the Premier League in England

Despite playing for two excellent teams in the Premier League, Torres never actually lifted the league title in England.

In fact, Torres never won any league title in his whole career despite also starring for Atletico de Madrid before arriving in England.

READ MORE: Manager says he found it really weird when he got the Chelsea job

It should be noted that the Spaniard did win some serious honours in his career though, including a World Cup and Champions League medal.

A brilliant striker, but one of many number nines who struggled to replicate Didier Drogba’s success at Stamford Bridge around that time.

The likes of Andriy Shevchenko also tried and failed, and Chelsea are arguably still trying to find Drogba’s successor to this day.

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