Fernando Torres..........
After reading his name and then registering a pause, you may well have considered the malaise that the once revered striker finds himself in now.
On Tuesday, Chelsea embarked upon their umpteenth new era under Roman Abramovich and recorded an FA Cup win against Birmingham City. It may have been Roberto Di Matteo's first game as caretaker manager, but on the pitch there was a more interesting statistic playing out .
The tie represented Torres' 50th Chelsea appearance in all competitions. Sadly for the Spaniard, he was unable to mark the occasion with his sixth goal for the club (yes, sixth!).
Today summer signing and team-mate, Juan Mata, rather unhelpfully revealed that he had offered the penalty in that game to Torres. The striker, having won the spot-kick, declined and then watched as Mata failed to score himself. The miss did not affect the result, but the revelation does serve to demonstrate Torres' fragile confidence.
The Spaniard is now entering the realms of the most disastrous and unexpected losses of goal-scoring form ever seen in the game. To his credit he has provided at least half a dozen assists, although upon reflection that may do his case about as much good as Mata's contribution. Still, his build up play has at times been telling, but try as he might he cannot recapture the form that prompted Chelsea paying around £50m to Liverpool for him.
In fact the Torres conundrum is just as likely to attract sympathy and (near) gallows humour, than it is vicious ridicule these days. It is possible that football fans will reach a point where laughing at the length of Torres' goal drought, becomes akin to laughing at an accident before realising that the victim is actually in some difficulty.
Nevertheless, time must be running short for Torres. The investment, profile and expectation of his signing will guarantee that he is given a longer bedding in period, although the honeymoon has long gone. One suspects that if he doesn't start hitting the net with some of his old regularity by the end of next season, Chelsea will surely be cashing in what they still can.
I'm sure that whatever needs to click for him will, but why it hasn't already is perplexing. Some commentators say that he hasn't been the same since his knee surgery near the end of the 2009/10 season. He was rushed back for the World Cup and understandably looked out of sorts, but during the following season, until his transfer, he did manage a goal every 3 games for Liverpool.
The question then is what has changed, and obviously that is his club. Beyond that is only speculation, I don't believe that he would be adversely affected by his market value, not for this length of time, so that leaves facilities, staff, or management?
One man who strongly believes, perhaps too strongly, that he has the answer is Rafa Benítez. In the last few days, the man who brought Torres to Liverpool has been advocating himself for the manager role at Chelsea. He has not only hinted that he could tantalise Abramovich with a magic cure for his former signing, but he has spoken presumptuously for Liverpool fans.
Amongst what he said was that Valencia and Liverpool fans would both be glad to have him back as manager, both clubs that he had several successes with. More controversial was his opinion- "Can anybody argue against the fact that the Liverpool fans love me? No. I cannot be waiting at home for five years. Everybody understands that I will need a job."
"If they love me, they will understand."
Hmmmm, it seems strange that Rafa is unaware of how badly that would go down with Liverpool fans, especially as he spent his tenure there developing a fierce rivalry with José Mourinho and Chelsea. As for The Blues fans, they made sure that the cup win over Birmingham was sprinkled with chants for their erstwhile boss, and plenty of less encouraging ones for Benítez.
Bizarrely a couple of blasts from the past have also thrown their hat in for the Chelsea job, as if they still have a chance of making the short-list. Sven-Goran Erikkson may have once been an option, although those days appear to be gone now. But it is the interest of Glen Hoddle that raises more puzzled eyebrows.
Regardless of who ends up in charge, it is most likely that finding the best of Torres will be almost as high on the agenda as winning trophies are. After all, if the striker can make a stirring comeback, his goals alone could paper over the rest of the cracks in the ageing squad.