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.”