The Chronicles of El Niño: The Dark Knight Rises

A comic themed photo seems appropriate: Torres in his latest accessory

There are few items on this Earth submerged in as much mystery and enigma as a mask. The likes of pop culture and captivating cinema have illustrated telling examples. The latest and largely popular Batman trilogy (spoiler alert) sees billionaire Bruce Wayne welcome many roles as Gotham City’s masked vigilante, ultimately sacrificing the hero to avow the metropolis its freedom. Zorro, a caped 1820s avenger who defends Mexican common folk in a time of war and brands his enemies with the distinguished ‘Z’ mark, sports his disguise to protect his anonymity as a slick do-gooder. The shy Peter Parker is forced to don the Spiderman mask with responsibility to not only hide his own face but shield danger from his loved ones.  Whether it’s concealing the secret identity of the most daring burglar or cloaking the persona of chivalric knight at a 16^th century Venetian Carnival, a mask grants the opportunity take on the part of someone you aren’t or even yet someone you wish to be – even a goal scorer.

Like many superheroes, Fernando Torres’s new concealing accessory all started with a simple accident. The Chelsea striker may not have been bitten by a radioactive spider, genetically mutated by toxic waste (Ninja Turtles, duh) or even bombarded by cosmic rays like the Fantastic Four, but an untimely kick to the face broke the Spaniard’s nose on March 14^th. It was an unordinary European night in UEFA’s Europa League because Champions League holders, Chelsea, were playing host to Steaua Bucharest, a stubborn Romanian outfit that outshined the west London outfit 1-0 seven days earlier. The Blues heroically overturned the tie thanks to goals from captain John Terry, Juan Mata, and El Niño himself, but when the number 9 returned to the pitch against Southampton 16 days later, there was something different about his him…

Rafa Benitez recruited Fernando to the English game… swoooop!

The two-time European and World Cup winning striker has been the brunt of too many unfortunate jokes in recent seasons considering his impressive résumé of honors. Form problems have haunted the Atleti boy since his Merseyside gut-sloshing move to London two seasons ago. Having become a Liverpool icon following his arrival at Anfield in 2007, many of the Kop’s soldiers haven’t forgiven ‘Nando for the 50 million pound transfer to Chelsea. While draped in Liverpool red, Torres flourished at the peak of his career. He scored 24 league goals in his first season to finish the campaign as joint second leading scorer with Emmanuel Adebayor (yeah, this actually happened). The featherheaded forward became a formidable force in England, enjoying 81 goals in all competitions with Liverpool in three and half seasons in England’s northwest. Oppositions’ fans loathed him, brave enough to come Anfield and sing from the away terrace:

He’s half a girl, He’s half a boy, Torres, Torres.
He looks just like a transvestite, Torres, Torres.
He wears a frock, he loves the cock, he sells his arse on Albert Dock
Fernando Torres, Carragher’s bit on the side.

But Liverpool supporters didn’t mind the jabber. The insults seemed to provoke more and more goals and eventually Reds fans would drown out the jeers with a tune of their own:

His armband proved he was a red, Torres, Torres
You’ll never walk alone it said, Torres, Torres
We bought the lad from sunny Spain
He gets the ball he scores again
Fernando Torres, Liverpool’s number nine.

Liverpool’s (former) Number 9

But all that cheerful delight changed in January of 2011. Abramovich’s billions came asking for Liverpool’s number 9’s signature. The original 40 million pound bid for the front-man wasn’t enough to secure his services but after the striker himself turned in his transfer request and an additional 10 million sweetened the deal, the lad from sunny Spain was on the move again, failing to win a single trophy at Liverpool. But having battled the injury virus leading up to the move and suffering from fluttering form syndrome, Torres hasn’t ever lived up to the price tag in Chelsea fans’ eyes.

Some boil it down to confidence. Eleven months short of the big three-O, others claim he’s lost his burst of pace. Suddenly, El Niño (the kid) isn’t such a niño anymore. His first 18 appearances in a blue shirt only merited a single goal and included some criminal misses. Unfortunately, the former Atletico de Madrid youngster has never been able to shake the stereotype of the flop feeding off the scraps of Drogba’s legendary shadow. Experts were carving “Torres” onto a headstone when one of the Premier League’s hottest commodities in Demba Ba was bought from Newcastle this winter but despite razor sharp barbs from the media and fans, the Fernando Torres of old is trying to break through.

No player peaks twice in their career (at best they plateau), but the 2012 European Championship Golden Boot winner has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season, only two shy of his second best tally back on Merseyside with no less than nine matches on the Chelsea calendar to go. The manager that brought him to Liverpool, Rafa Benitez, may be even more unpopular on Fulham Road than his compatriot center forward but has inevitably instilled a bit of belief in his favorite number 9.

If anyone can help Torres regain his powers, it’s Rafa.

For the doubters and skeptics, let me crunch a of couple numbers. In all competitions ‘Nando has more goals this season than the man thought to replace him, Ba, and Chelsea’s impressive loanee, Romelu Lukaku. But the list doesn’t stop there. The now masked vigilante that is Torres has four more goals than Wayne Rooney, Chicarito, Oliver Giroud, and Carlos Tevez, five more than Sergio Agüero and Theo Walcott, six more than Lukas Podolski, and seven more than Edin Dzeko. In fact, this season Torres became the first player ever to score in seven different competitions (not to mention under split time with countless Chelsea attacking options). The London Blues have only one last hope for hardware this season after doing the UCL and FA Cup double last season: the UEFA Europa League. El Niño has scored four goals in the last three Europa League match ups and can be vital for Rafa Benitez and his troops when they encounter FC Basel at the semifinal hurdle.

Chelsea fans have noticed an unfamiliar swagger in recent games as the Zorro of their own has taken the pitch in recent matches. Behind the rims of a slick new mask resides a Fernando Torres re-growing his confidence and even goals. He may never reach his unique top form again but perhaps an under-appreciated weapon with a sly new look can rescue the Blues from an empty-handed campaign. After being slighted in the FA Cup semi with Manchester City and being only English team still in Europe, perhaps Torres will be the hero that Chelsea (not Gotham) needs when their dark knight rises at St. Jakob-Park in Switzerland on April 25^th.

The hero Chelsea needs or deserves?