Torres insists defenders' reliance on brawn over brain has made his life in England easier than expected.

The 24-year-old found the net 24 times in the top flight in 2007-08 - the most successful debut season ever by foreigner in goalscoring terms.

And he insists he met his toughest opponent in Chelsea's Portuguese centre-half, who he rates above Carvalho's Blues team-mate and England captaincy candidate John Terry.

"Terry is captain so gets a much higher profile. But he's only secondary to Carvalho," Torres told The Sun.

"Ricky is superb. He has every quality that is needed."

Torres added: "The central defenders (in the Premier League) are usually big, strong, aggressive lads.

"I guess it is probably because of these characteristics that the majority think they can solve problems by getting tough with me.

"But the truth is most of them lack defensive positioning as a result of their reliance on strength and aggression and leave so much space for you to take advantage of."