London: Chelsea striker Fernando Torres is fit to lead the line for their new manager Andre Villas-Boas when the Portuguese makes his Premier League debut in the dugout at Stoke City in Sunday`s early kickoff.
The 33-year-old coach, who joined the club in June after Chelsea paid 15 million euros to trigger an escape clause in his Porto contract, has yet to decide on his starting lineup.
However, he clearly plans to provide the attacking football craved by the club`s Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich with Torres and Didier Drogba both likely to play.
"Maybe also (Nicolas) Anelka,` Villas-Boas told reporters at the club`s training ground where he said Torres, who came off with mild concussion after just 14 minutes of Spain`s midweek friendly defeat by Italy, is expected to be available.”"(Daniel) Sturridge is the one suspended from last season but a couple of forwards are threatening for that position.”
"We are favouring a 4-3-3 formation in our beginning, that`s what we have been playing in pre-season, and we have a couple of players threatening for that central striker`s position.
Torres Recovers
"Torres should be okay to be selected for the team travelling up to Stoke," Villas-Boas said.
"Yesterday (Thursday) he still couldn`t remember a couple of things from the game and from before the game (against Italy) but he was back in training today and is up for selection for the squad," he added.
Villas-Boas, a scout for Chelsea under former manager and compatriot Jose Mourinho from 2004 to 2007, steered Porto to a treble of Portuguese league, cup and Europa League trophies last season but played down his status in England."I doubt I am the high-profile manager of the Premier League,` said the youngest coach in the top flight.
"There are extremely successful managers in this league. I respect them a lot and hopefully I can bring myself up to these standards.”
"We (Chelsea) guide ourselves with the highest standards possible, looking for excellence and looking to win back a title that escaped us last season."
Chelsea were runners-up to Manchester United in the title race finishing nine points adrift of Alex Ferguson`s team and Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti paid the price with his job. Villas-Boas is determined not to face the same fate.
"We will do everything in our power to win it (the title) back," he said. "We have had a good pre-season and everybody is feeling already excited to come back to competitive games. Hopefully this first challenge (against Stoke) is important."
Bureau Report
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.