Fernando Torres blasts press for their constant criticism

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has hit out at criticism over his inconsistent form and says that the media hype surrounding him is an “overreaction”.

The Spaniard has struggled to hit top form for the Blues since his British-record £50 million move from Premier League rivals Liverpool but insists that there is too much focus on his poor play.

“There has been an overreaction about everything. Overreact when I did a miss or if I have a red card or I hit the crossbar instead of scoring a goal,” Torres told Sky Sports.

“It was a good season [last year], a good number of goals [23] that gave us a chance to fight for trophies but if you ask the people, they will say he can do better, should do better.

“It’s like I said, with me good things are looking so-so and bad things are looking really bad.”

The former Atletico Madrid star has been consistently mocked by opposing fans over his decision to leave Merseyside in 2011 for one of their fiercest rivals, but does he deserve to be the subject of so much ridicule?

Last season’s form suggests so; he maintained a relatively poor shot accuracy rate of 58% and a woeful conversion rate of 15.4%.

Definitely not the blistering form that had defenders shaking in their boots during his time at Liverpool, the incarnation of the man that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich thought he was purchasing.

Fernando Torres has only mustered four shots at goal in his five league appearances this season. Only two of those found the target and he is yet to find the back of the net.