Fernando Torres is the official benchmark for underperforming Premier League strikers

Since joining Chelsea, Fernando Torres has gone from a British record-setting transfer to a goal-barren punchline and now he is the benchmark for judging when one should truly panic about a Premier League striker's dip in form.

Speaking about how Papiss Cisse has gone from scoring 13 goals in 14 matches after joining Newcastle midway through last season to scoring just one goal in 11 matches so far this season, manager Alan Pardew put the drastic swing in perspective with a bit of help from "poor old Torres."

From the Independent:

Pardew said: "I am taking to him and trying to calm him, tell him that he's still he same player and we are still very confident in him.

"It's only been a small period if you compare it to, say Torres' period, but you would have to say it's something we are going to have to keep an eye on because we don't want it to end up like poor old Torres has ended up at times.

"He's a great player, Papiss, and we want to get the best out of him."

Though Torres (along with Juan Mata) is leading Chelsea with four Premier League goals this season, he's still managed just 19 in 88 games since 2010. And it's probably just a matter of time before the league prints up an official panic chart like the U.S.'s old color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System with Torres as the face of the red alert "severe risk of overwhelming disappointment" category.