Did Torres really call Chelsea ‘slow and old’?

HAVING LOST his place in the Chelsea side to Daniel Sturridge at the weekend, Fernando Torres's Stamford Bridge career took another turn for the worse yesterday when he was ordered to explain himself after appearing to criticise his "slow and old" teammates.

Interviewed by the official La Liga website, Torres described his international team mate Juan Mata as a "great signing" for the Blues, and called the winger "the kind of player who gives another pace to the game which is something Chelsea lacks nowadays".

Torres then went even further and announced that the club had "a slow way of playing because of the kind of player Chelsea has: an older player, who plays very slow, who has a lot of possession and that is what the club is trying to change now."

At least that was what he said according to an English translation of the interview that appeared on his own website. That version of his words disappeared from his site yesterday after eyebrows were raised in west London, and Torres then claimed that his answers had mistranslated.

The crux of the matter appears to rest on the striker's use of the phrase "juega muy lento," literally translated by the Guardian as "play very slowly".

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has vowed to get to the bottom of the issue. "We are going in-depth to regain the tape of that interview," he said. "We'll see if things play exactly as they are in that interview."

Torres was authorised by the Chelsea to do the interview, which means he is unlikely to face serious punishment. When asked what would happen if the translation was proved correct, Villas-Boas said: "We'd just talk. Just talk. To share opinion. If it was unauthorised, I'd fine him. Of course. Anyhow, it's one player's perspective. I don't think it's a perspective that the manager shares."

The fuss will no doubt soon blow over, but Torres's woeful form at Chelsea remains a bigger issue. The forward has repaid Chelsea's £50m investment in January with just one goal so far and had to watch from the bench as fellow striker Daniel Sturridge scored the winner against Sunderland with a wonderfully inventive back heel.

Chelsea face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League tonight, in a game that will see Michael Ballack return to Stamford Bridge. Sturridge is again likely to be favoured by Villas-Boas to fill the gap left by the injured Didier Drogba. The Blues manager described the young Englishman yesterday as an "outstanding player" who was never going to leave Chelsea in the summer, despite keen interest from a number of clubs.

Many Chelsea fans will now be wondering whether the future of Chelsea's strike force lies with Sturridge, a free-scoring 21-year-old, rather than Torres, who at the age of 27 already looks like his best years are behind him. ·