Fri, 09/23/2011
Swansea City boss Brendan Rodgers feels Chelsea should persevere with Fernando Torres.
Rodgers, who worked as youth team and reserve team manager under Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, has no doubts the Spaniard is close to returning to his best, and revealed that he had been sent to watch the player in February 2006 as the Blues eyed a potential move for the then 21-year-old Atletico Madrid striker.
Rodgers said: "He is a class player, I remember going to watch him for Atletico Madrid, they were playing Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
"He was captain of Atletico Madrid and they won 3-1, he was fantastic and scored two goals. He was such a talent and at that point in time he was a real catalyst for Atletico.
"He has had a tough time with injuries, he is adapting to a new team, but there is no hiding the fact that he is a world class striker and he will return to that form."
When asked what his recommendation to Mourinho was after seeing Torres in action, almost five years before the Blues finally got their man, Rodgers joked: "It was probably to take him."
And Rodgers says there were signs at Old Trafford that Torres is recapturing his form, despite his failure to find an empty net late on.
Rodgers said: "The miss is a funny one, he did well and it was a great bit of skill to beat the man and beat the goalkeeper. He will feel he should have scored and he should have scored but you move on.
"You have to work things through, confidence is about goals and games, simple as that.
"What I enjoyed about Torres last week was that he was aggressive again. That's the mark of him, he was wonderful ability but he was aggressive in his game.
"There is no doubt he is one of the world's leading strikers and I'm sure Andre (Villas-Boas) and his staff will want to make sure his confidence is high."
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