Ian Wright: We’ve all missed like Fernando Torres did. The trick is to bounce back

Posted Tuesday, September 20, 2011 by thesun.co.uk

Ian Wright: We’ve all missed like Fernando Torres did. The trick is to bounce back
Down on his Luck ... hitman Torres reflects on his open-goal miss

MISSING easy chances is something all strikers must deal with.

Back in 1997, I once wasted a glorious chance from two yards out — against Tottenham — at Highbury.

I blazed it over the bar and wanted the ground to swallow me up.

Equally, though, I knew how important it was to move on from that embarrassing moment.

If a striker beats himself up over a bad miss, this can only prove to be counter-productive. The same applies to Fernando Torres after his shocking miss against Manchester United.

He will never, EVER be able to forget Sunday's howler, let's be perfectly honest about it. That left-footed shot will live in his memory for ever and there will always be someone to remind him.

Ronny Rosenthal is still asked about his miss for Liverpool at Aston Villa in 1992.

Of course, Torres would not have slept easily on Sunday night and he probably didn't get a wink.

Yet I have a lot of sympathy for him, not only for that miss but because he has suffered a difficult time since joining Chelsea from Liverpool and I don't think it's all been his fault.

As a former striker, it's only natural that I pay particular attention to forwards and their movement. Torres has made runs in the hope of seeing the ball, yet his team-mates have not helped him.

Instead, they have played the ball out wide or inside — without playing to the strengths of arguably their biggest weapon.

Obviously, these tactics do not make any sense whatsoever.

I know there has been the talk about Torres being a Roman Abramovich signing. But I think Andre Villas-Boas is learning to deal with the situation and knows that if Torres is going to be effective, he must be the main man and Chelsea must play through him.

Yet I am 100 per cent sure that we are just a few weeks away from seeing Torres back to his old self — the guy who caused terror on Merseyside and became a Kop idol before his surprise move to London.

If I had to choose the top five Premier League strikers, Torres would be in there.

On another day, he could have scored a hat-trick at Old Trafford and I thought he took his goal really well.

Whether Torres' rediscovering his form of old will be enough for Chelsea to win the title, I'm not so sure as Manchester United once again proved their might.

They are still the best team in the division and it's obvious that they remain very much the firm favourites. This is a big challenge for Villas-Boas who is a character I like.

It's one hell of a challenge for a 33-year-old but he has already proved he has the guts to make big decisions.

Subbing Frank Lampard at half-time took some courage and when you consider he has already dropped John Terry for a game this season, Villas-Boas clearly is not afraid to put his neck on the line.

Chelsea are certainly a team in transition. Maybe the new manager knows he has to be brave because, at the moment, there is no matching Alex Ferguson's brilliant team. United have a better squad and are playing unbelievable football — and it's good to see Nani bringing something to the table.

Manchester City have also started superbly so their 2-2 draw at Fulham on Sunday will have been a blow.

Yet this season, predicting who will win the race for the Golden Boot is a tougher call than guessing who will clinch the title.

I am sure Wayne Rooney, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero will be right at the top and you would expect that, considering the terrific service they will all receive over the coming months.

But I am confident that, sooner or later, Torres will be back at top end of the scoring charts.