Spending huge amounts of money on a striker doesn’t guarantee you goals.  Fernando Torres has proved that in recent seasons.  But this year he has quietly been sneaking up the charts.  He now has 19 goals this season — he is in the top five.  The days of Clive Allen scoring 49 goals in one campaign are gone in England.  Defences are much better organised and strikers really have to put in a shift off the ball as much as on it.  If you analysed Clive’s game, and I’m sure he won’t be offended, he was no good in the air, had no pace and couldn’t dribble one on one.  Yet he was a superb finisher.  These days that’s not enough. Jimmy Greaves was a world-class marksman and could get 35-40 goals a year.  But in the modern game it is even harder to score against defenders who are quicker and more comfortable on the ball.  So, 19 goals from Torres is a good return. If you have a striker on your books who gets you 20 goals per season then you have to be satisfied.  Torres is starting to score regularly again. I don’t think he is at the same level he was at with Liverpool, when he was an amazing player, but slowly it is coming good for him.  And he should stay there at Stamford Bridge.  Lots of people call him a ‘flop’ or a waste of money. But in this kind of form and with Chelsea in the position they are he can help get them trophies.  Chelsea are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, the quarter-finals of the Europa League and in position to get back into the Champions League.  He should stay at Chelsea and help rebuild the club next season because you get the feeling they will be on a big bounce back.  I think he will score again this season too, which will take him to 20 and a benchmark of success in the modern Premier League.  He is certainly scoring more than any of our England strikers. Theo Walcott is the closest we have on 18. Wayne Rooney has scored 16 goals for his club this season. Beyond that there’s not much competition for Torres from England — some flop.  Why Torres is scoring again is beyond me. Strikers depend so much on confidence and the slightest thing can make the mood swing.  How long does he practise after training? How much finishing work does he do? Is it enough? I am unable to answer those questions.  But Frank Lampard Snr, my old team-mate and assistant at West Ham, used to have a phrase which I have found rings true in football: The harder you work, the luckier you get.  A striker should be looking to get a return of a goal every two games to have really earned his money.  If he does that he can head off to the summer knowing he has fulfilled his job description.
HARRY REDKNAPP throws his support behind the much-maligned Chelsea striker who has at last hit the goals trail