Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo does not want to put extra pressure on Fernando Torres following Didier Drogba's summer exit.
Chelsea manager insists it is not about one player scoring goals
Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo does not want to put extra pressure on Fernando Torres following Didier Drogba's summer exit.
Torres has scored just 12 goals for the Blues in 67 games since joining from Liverpool in a £50million deal in January 2011.
That was not a problem for Chelsea last season as they lifted the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, largely thanks to key goals by the talismanic Drogba.
But with the Ivory Coast striker having left for China in the close season, many feel Torres must take the mantle in order to justify his astronomic fee.
And yet, Di Matteo is determined to relieve the pressure on the 28-year-old Spaniard ahead of the new campaign.
"I don't want to put pressure on one player," said Di Matteo.
Team
"We operate as a team and everybody needs to serve the team. Before, with Didier, I don't think it was just an individual effort.
"Hopefully now, our strikers will score lots of goals. But he's not the only one. We've got other strikers and attacking midfielders that can score goals.
"The price comes from the fact that he's been superb over the years for the teams that he's played, for Liverpool and Spain, and so on.
"I was very happy with him at the end of last season. I have great expectations on the club and the team and he's part of it.
"He was brought in to be a fantastic striker and, hopefully, he will be able to fit into our team and show the qualities that he has, like everybody else."
Torres finished the season strongly and will surely be boosted by Spain's success at Euro 2012, where he finished as joint-top scorer.
Di Matteo added: "He's won a lot of trophies last season, so he's full of confidence and he's only been back not long but he's been looking good in training.
"But, for me, if my right-back scores, or the left-back, or the central midfield player scores, it doesn't really matter."
