Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone says he has expected more from Fernando Torres since his return to the club and hopes the striker can improve his goalscoring rate towards the end of the season.
The Spaniard, on loan from AC Milan, scored his first league goal in 10 games in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Getafe, adding to his two strikes against Real Madrid and one against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.
While Simeone feels Torres is improving, he insists the former Liverpool and Chelsea man has not proven his worth as of yet.
“We needed a lot more from Torres than what he has been giving,” said the coach.
“I am pleased that he scored – Raul Jimenez flicked it on well for him. He is a lot better now, he is more involved with his team-mates and his coordination is better.
“But we need a lot more from him; he is used to the demands placed on him. He lives to score goals and he really needed to get off the mark in the league.
“There is a healthy competition developing between him and Mario Mandzukic, who is a decisive player for us.”
After Torres’ third-minute opener, Tiago added a second towards the end of the first half and that turned out to be enough for the reigning Liga champions.
Simeone was delighted to see Atletico regain some effectiveness from set pieces as they ended a three-game winless run in the Primera Division.
“The team played well during the first 25 minutes – we combined well and played with intensity,” he said.
“We created a lot of chances on goal. In the end, we punished Getafe from set-pieces.”