Fernando Torres has admitted he didn't care if Chelsea won or lost last season as he struggled to settle in at the Premier League club after a £50m January 201 transfer from Liverpool.
The 28-year-old did not score for the Blues until his 14th appearance against West Ham United and endured a barren run of almost five months without a goal the following season.
Didier Drogba's importance also subordinated Torres, who found himself marginalised when the Ivory Coast international was at the club. The Spaniard missed out on a starting berth in the FA Cup and Champions League finals earlier this year and following the latter match aired his unhappiness at his role in the squad.
The departure of Drogba and Romelu Lukaku's loan to West Brom has left Torres as Roberto di Matteo's only recognised striker, however, and he has capitalised on his good form to admit how unconcerned he was by Chelsea's results in 2011-12.
‘Halfway through last season, I distanced myself from the values I had grown up with,’ Torres told Spanish daily newspaper El Pais.
"I had team-mates who didn’t care if the team won or lost because they were not playing. I never wanted to be like that. But one day I discovered that I was like them; that it didn’t matter if we won or lost if I was not playing.
"I wasn’t part of the group. I discovered that I was not happy because I had stopped being what I had always wanted to be. In the dressing room, you can never lose that group concept."
Torres, who was top scorer at Euro 2012 despite playing a peripheral role for Spain, struck 11 times for the Blues in their double-winning campaign but has already hit six goals in the current season.
His quotes will not have surprised those who recognised the toiling body language he expressed in his first 18 months at Stamford Bridge.
Torres added his attitude has changed, but his candour has shed light on how individualistic footballers can be irrespective of their club's form.