Torres: Mata and Silva key for Manchester City-Chelsea game

Posted Thursday, March 22, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

Fernando Torres has hailed the quality of Spanish midfielders Juan Mata and David Silva, claiming that each will be key for Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively, when the two sides face each other on Wednesday.

All three players often work together in the Spanish national side and the Blues striker has declared himself lucky to be able to play with the midfield duo.

Torres admitted that the two have similarities and, on their day, they can win a game by themselves and other players should fear their quality.

"Both are key players for their teams and when they have a good day they can win the game themselves, not just scoring but by also assisting and being the main man," the striker told the club's official website.

"When a team is having a bad period in a game the other players are always looking for these kind of players who have the ability with the ball, so I am very lucky to have the chance to play with both of them in the national team but hopefully tonight it can be Juan Mata's day and not David Silva's day."

Torres went on to explain some of the subtle differences between the two Spaniards.

"Silva likes to have more of the ball and go deeper and be in touch with the ball. Mata started playing as a striker when he was in Spain at Real Madrid, so he was maybe more of an attacking player but now he is adapting his position more to a midfielder and he is doing very well.

"They are still both young and they have time to find which position is the best for them, but with the quality they have they can play wherever."

Torres believes the two are still finding their perfect positions, revealing that it is hard for any Spanish player to cement a certain position because of the wealth of talent the World and European champion has in its ranks.

"In Spain we have so many good players between the lines and in the middle so some of the players have to go wide like Mata and Silva, and at times [Andres] Iniesta. He has to play as a winger but with freedom to come inside," he explained.

"So with Silva in the national team he plays always as a winger so I never play with him behind, whereas now Mata at Chelsea is playing behind the striker and for a striker it is very good to have a player like this between the lines. You know they have the ability to be clear to pass the final ball to you in front of the keeper."

Torres added that despite the Premier League being the hardest to adapt to, he was confident that both playmakers would be a success in England.

"You always need in your team players like this. You cannot play with 11 players who are just strong," Torres said. "For players like Mata and Silva it is very easy to adapt to the English football but at the end of the season they are going to find that they will be tired and fatigued, because it is very hard to play here.

"But I knew both of them would do really well here. These kind of players are different to the players you see here and they can make the difference."