The Blues’ Israeli midfielder criticised the Stamford Bridge club over the £50 million man’s faltering form but believes that he is still one of the best strikers in the world

Yossi Benayoun has criticised Chelsea over the handling of Fernando Torres, believing that the club are to blame for the Spaniard’s loss of confidence in front of goal.

The £50 million British-record signing has struggled for form since joining the Blues from Liverpool in January 2011, scoring just 27 times in 80 appearances since the switch.

Benayoun feels that the Spaniard has never been handled well ever since his move, with a period of being left on the bench leading to a loss of confidence and subsequent form.

“It is a hard time for Fernando, of course. But in my opinion the situation with him was managed badly from the beginning,” the Israeli told the Daily Mirror.

“When he was at Liverpool he was unbelievable – you gave him the ball and you knew he would score.

“But he had a bad time in the beginning at Chelsea. When he came in, he was on the bench, then on the pitch, so he did not get the confidence when he came in.”

The playmaker still that believes that Torres can regain his confidence and claims that the striker’s best season yet at Stamford Bridge coincides with the club showing that they also believe in him.

“Personally I believe in him 100 per cent,” he continued. “For me, he is still one of the best strikers in the world.

“This is the first year the club gave him 100% confidence he needs to be No.1. He was scoring a few in a row. Now he is in another bad spell but he just needs to believe in himself, to keep doing the right movements.”

The 26-year old DR Congo international was thrilled with the win at Anfield on Monday night, stating that he is also pleased to have recovered from a knee injury

Youssouf Mulumbu has revealed he was delighted with the “great style” of West Brom’s victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Monday night.

The 2-0 win completed a league double for the Baggies over Brendan Rodgers’ men, and ended a barren run of no wins in six games for Steve Clarke’s team.

And Mulumbu feels the win was the result of a great team performance, and has helped arrest a worrying slide after West Brom’s stunning pre-Christmas form saw them into fourth position after the first 12 games.

“Before the game we were in a bad position so it was really important for us to finish this game to end a bad run,” he told the club’s official website.

“We did it in great style.

“It was a good performance from all the team and the result was great for us because now we can focus and prepare for Sunderland at home, which is a great opportunity for us to keep climbing up this league.”

The 26-year-old also insists he has completely recovered from a knee injury he sustained prior to linking up with his DR Congo team mates for Afcon duty, and is delighted to be back playing again.

“It was great to be back on the pitch and my knee is totally fine now,” he added.

“I am glad to be back and winning again because that shows me I am important for the team, and I hope it will keep going for this team.

“I hope I am the lucky mascot and we will keep playing like this every week.”

The Liverpool manager is frustrated with the way in which the movement of his side’s tie with Capital One Cup finalists Swansea City has been handled

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has blasted the Premier League for their “bemusing” handling of their fixture with Swansea City on Sunday.

The Swans’ participation in the Capital One Cup final on February 24 against Bradford City clashed with the initial date for the fixture and the game has been brought forward as a result.

However, Rodgers, who has seen his side take on both West Brom and Zenit St Petersburg in the space of four days, feels that a third fixture within a week is too much for his players.

“I was very disappointed with the Premier League to be honest,” the Reds boss told reporters.

“To put it in on a week when we have played on a Monday and played on a Thursday in an away trip to Russia, and put it in between that and another important European game on Thursday … I think it is another example of the Premier League in this country not helping teams whatsoever.

“I think every other country in Europe will always try to help their teams – some of them will play on a Friday before a European game – so for us to have it thrown in there when there were other free weeks was bemusing to say the least.”

Liverpool are 12 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham in the race for Champions League qualification and Rodgers admitted that his side “may not be good enough” to close the gap and return to the top four for the first time since 2008-09.

“We may not be just good enough at the end of the day,” the Northern Irishman conceded. “We have some top players here and some world-class players but it might not be this year for us that we can make that jump.

“But certainly, what we will do in every game is give everything and like we have seen in the last two games, in terms of the work rate, intensity and effort the players are putting in, I can’t ask for any more.”