Frank Lampard says he can understand Fernando Torres' relief at scoring his first goal for Chelsea. Lampard experienced something similar to Torres when he arrived from West Ham 10 years ago.
It took the £11m England midfielder four months to score his first Premier League goal for Chelsea.
"I was a young kid and a midfielder and I came here for a lesser fee," said Lampard. "When you're a world-class striker and you come here for £50m, the spotlight is really on. I had a bit of leeway and a bit of time to settle but Fernando has not been given that. And that's fair enough.
"As a striker, he will be judged on his goals. I've gone through patches where I can't score. Nobody's made of stone and it affects you. It certainly affects me when I go a few games without a goal.
"You start to think about chances and going for goal, rather than doing what's instinctive. I don't know if that's been the case with him. I've seen him have a lot of misfortune in games. He's been given offside and keepers have made brilliant saves. Even here he was almost tackled by a puddle.
"But it's great for him and for us as a team that he has managed to put it to bed. He's got his goal and we can finally stop talking about it.
"He's got off the mark. That goal was a trademark one for him, pace and power. I'm sure he'll look back at it fondly in a couple of years because he is going to be very prolific for us."
