Let's be honest with ourselves, he'll never be the player he was at Liverpool, it's quite clear now.
At first, it was £50m price tag, that put him under huge pressure and wouldn't let him do what he was brought here for. Then it was lack of service, the team wasn't playing to his strengths. Then it was Drogba's big shadow that wouldn't allow him to come out of his shell, they'd say he needs to be "the man".
It's a few months short of two years since Fernando has arrived and he still looks lost. Only the most blind optimist can still maintain it's not his fault. Like Burt Reynolds said in Boogie Nights ":If it looks like sh*t and sounds like sh*t, then it must be sh*t." It's not the team, it's not the fee, it's not Drogba or lack of service. It's him.
The causes for that sad turn of fate could be various but the most obvious is the combination of injuries that robbed him of his mobility before he even got to CFC and a tough case of confidence shot to hell. I remember that Torres from years ago that used to tear our defense apart and it's evident that that Torres isn't there anymore.
It's irritating to watch him fall over at every contact and moan at the referees for help, or running into blind alleys and lose the ball time and time again. Walking down the tunnel at QPR after being subbed instead of joining others on the bench was absolutely infuriating. After all the support from the club, three different managers and fans with seemingly endless patience he has the cheek to throw his toys out of the pram after being substituted at the end of what looked like another failure of a performance.
Now, mind you, I'm not saying he isn't trying, in fact at times he looks like he's trying too hard. The point is, it's not working and we've waited long enough to erase any doubt. I don't know whether Sturridge has it him to be come our new target man upfront, but I'm fully convinced now Torres will never be that.