Fernando Torres

[robbo]

http://hastorresscoredforchelsea.com/

[ScottishJohn]

Fernandon't Scorres

[dezzy_dan]

Liverpool were over reliant on both him and Gerrard for the past 2-3 seasons. They've both faded out of the limelight now; Torres with form, Gerrard with injuries. Maybe having to carry a team has taken its toll on the pair of them.

[Foster14]

Torres needed to go somewhere he wasn't going to be a catalyst to resurrect a team. He ended up at Chelsea who are a team so lacking in ideas it is verging on the ridiculous. The midfield they put out in both games against Manchester United is going to achieve f**k all. The only width in the team last night came from Cole (well looked after by Park) and Ivanovic (not a right wing back).

 

Lampard played a similar role to Rooney and the difference in what they brought to their respective teams was massive.

 

Roman better have another

[Kilkito]

Its a total mystery whats happened to him. I read the other day how theres a theory that when he did his cruciate in, and then came back but injured it again, against Reading I think it was, that its never properly recovered, and the piece was speculating that due to it he may never get back to the pace he once had.

What I don't get with him, is that I appreciate all players can lose form, but to me he doesn't show any desire whatsoever on the pitch, if you look at how combatative last night was, and the how hard every player competed for every ball, he was the one player on the park that to me didn't do that, if it was a 60/40 in his favour he backed off.

[Stoney]

Its no mystery at all, He was never the same player without alonso setting up goals on a plate for him.

[Foster14]

When Torres was at his best, he had a three players right up behind him, usually Riera, Gerrard and Kuyt, with Alonso sitting just in behind him. That was a terrific midfield which provided great service to him.

 

Then last night people question his contribution when he is getting 60 yard balls launched to him from Ivanovic completely isolated from anyone unless Anelka was for once beside him.

 

Torres is undoubtedly not the player he was two years ago at the current time and that ain't going to change playing in the current Chelsea team. The whole circus surrounding him just now is ridiculous (though the fee I guess justifies it) but Chelsea were not playing well before he got there and they still aren't, from back to front.

[CrazyBullSheep]

Good post although Chelsea were playing superbly until the precise moment they got rid of Butch. They were flying at the top of the EPL and it was hard to see Man U getting close to them this season. I don't like the simpering Wilkins either but I wouldn't have got rid of him to change a winning formula on a whim. This was another massive Roman error.

 

Exactly, I think it hit the dressing room the same way as when Steve Clarke was booted.

 

Torres will score goals again but he needs support and right now there is no one in the chelsea team to give that. Drogba may leave in summer and Anelka may follow, this may help torres I really dont know, but he does need someone to play off.

[Bluto10]

torres for me for a short while whilst at liverpool, along with drogba and eto, are the outstanding strikers fo the past few seasons.

 

god knows whats going on. he's suffered a similar dip in form to rooney around this time last year.

rooneys got/getting out of it 1 year down the line, but i'm not sure whats wrong with torres. perhaps fitness?

[Foster14]

Good post although Chelsea were playing superbly until the precise moment they got rid of Butch. They were flying at the top of the EPL and it was hard to see Man U getting close to them this season. I don't like the simpering Wilkins either but I wouldn't have got rid of him to change a winning formula on a whim. This was another massive Roman error.

 

Yeah, I suppose there does seem to be a strong correlation between Wilkins going and Chelsea's dip in form. In part, I think the early form of a couple of players (Malouda being the prime example) carried the team and this wasn't going to be sustainable. Not to the point of 1 win in 9, or whatever it was after Wilkins left.

[K-9]

Good post although Chelsea were playing superbly until the precise moment they got rid of Butch. They were flying at the top of the EPL and it was hard to see Man U getting close to them this season. I don't like the simpering Wilkins either but I wouldn't have got rid of him to change a winning formula on a whim. This was another massive Roman error.

That and up to the point Ancelotti decided to play Ramirez every week. Yet to see this lad have a good game. Absolute plum.

[Bluto10]

ramires look a decent player last night.

 

nae sure about zirkhov though.

[Betty Swallicks]

Interesting point. There is no doubt that he was a great striker when Alonso was there but he lost form big time and being always injured didn't help.

 

Any man paying

[Bluto10]

 

 

nah the 2nd biggest was nae forcing hiddink to stay.

 

so far, its even stevens between schevckenko and torres.

i think torres will come good, probably next season.

[GK55]

Torres will come good again, make no mistake about that.

 

Was it earlier this season, or tail end of last season, when people were writing off Wayne Rooney?....I forget. He's back to approaching his best, and Torres will soon be banging in the goals again.

[tup]

One player cannot change a poor team, and Chelsea are a poor team.

 

Torres is still a good player, regardless of his present predicament.

[Bluto10]

One player cannot change a poor team, and Chelsea are a poor team.

 

 

ok tup, poor by whos standards?

 

poor yes by the standards they set when managed by jose m and hiddink.

 

poor by valencia/villareal/atletico/sevilla - i dont think so.

 

poor by inter/a.c./juve - definitely not

[tup]

A poor team = one that plays poor football.

 

Not measured against anyone, just judged on their own merits.

[tup]

You hear that on the radio?

 

Stoney beat you to this lame gag.

 

I'm listening to Jeremy Vine, perhaps you should do likewise, and maybe you might learn something.

 

Jeremy Kyle is probably more your style.

 

I'm a poet, and I don't know it.

 

I rhyme, all the time.

[Bluto10]

A poor team = one that plays poor football.

 

Not measured against anyone, just judged on their own merits.

 

 

i dont get that.

 

they are stil one of the best teams in the world.

yet you call them poor.

 

the only poor thing about them is that they are not as good as they used to.

you know when they were probably in the top 3 teams in the world.

but then tahts teh overrated enligsh teams for you isnt it.

[tup]

i dont get that.

 

they are stil one of the best teams in the world.

yet you call them poor.

 

the only poor thing about them is that they are not as good as they used to.

you know when they were probably in the top 3 teams in the world.

but then tahts teh overrated enligsh teams for you isnt it.

 

Best teams in the world?

 

Deary me, did they even manage a shot on target at Stamford Bridge in the first leg the other week?

 

They play just like Rangers, dirty, functional, and reliant on brute strength rather than footballing ability.

 

You're confusing cash with ability, a common mistake of the Sky-era nouveau fitba fan, the type who wouldna look twice at a local game at park level, who was never interested in fitba pre-1993, disna even know it existed in fact, but yet will happily pontificate cliched drivel about the so-called merits of previously long ball, hooligan infested clubs such as Chelsea.

 

Take away the foreigners from these clubs, the obscene wealth, and they are nothing.

 

One of the best teams in the world my arse, nowhere near it, London thugs who've won next to nothing despite throwing the GDP of a Third World country at it.

[Bluto10]

Best teams in the world?

 

Deary me, did they even manage a shot on target at Stamford Bridge in the first leg the other week?

 

They play just like Rangers, dirty, functional, and reliant on brute strength rather than footballing ability.

 

You're confusing cash with ability, a common mistake of the Sky-era nouveau fitba fan, the type who wouldna look twice at a local game at park level, who was never interested in fitba pre-1993, disna even know it existed in fact, but yet will happily pontificate cliched drivel about the so-called merits of previously long ball, hooligan infested clubs such as Chelsea.

 

Take away the foreigners from these clubs, the obscene wealth, and they are nothing.

 

One of the best teams in the world my arse, nowhere near it, London thugs who've won next to nothing despite throwing the GDP of a Third World country at it.

 

pretty sure untill being knocked out by the 4th favourites they were 3rd favourites for the champions league.

so, yes they are one of the best sides in the world.

 

disclaimer - they are an ageing side however. next season is a BIG one for them, interesting to see exactly how they progress.

[tup]

Ahhhh so Jeremy Vine is where you get your information on football, it's fitting into place now. No wonder no one respects your fitba posts.

 

I refuse to watch Eggheads when Vine is on, hate the moron.

 

There's no let up in your glib, childish responses. I tried my best to warn you.

 

This is counter productive.

 

Far from demeaning me, or countering any points I've made, you're making yourself look like a complete imbecile.

 

Be my guest, it's cringeworthy, but you appear oblivious to that.

 

I've never heard of Eggheads, as I don't watch TV, and I don't get my info on football from Jeremy Vine, seeing as he's a posh type who knows nothing about the game.

 

You keep banging on about nobody respecting my fitba posts but the evidence suggests the exact opposite. I don't see anyone disrespecting anything I say, apart from you, and Stoney, who was only pulling my chain, so that puts you in a minority of one in that respect.

 

Talk sense you glaikit c**t.

[tup]

pretty sure untill being knocked out by the 4th favourites they were 3rd favourites for the champions league.

so, yes they are one of the best sides in the world.

 

disclaimer - they are an ageing side however. next season is a BIG one for them, interesting to see exactly how they progress.

 

I'll have to assume the Champions League is therefore the only competition worthy of anyone's respect in club football.

 

And Europe = the world.

 

Get a grip, come out the Sky bubble.

[Foster14]

i dont get that.

 

they are stil one of the best teams in the world.

yet you call them poor.

 

the only poor thing about them is that they are not as good as they used to.

you know when they were probably in the top 3 teams in the world.

but then tahts teh overrated enligsh teams for you isnt it.

 

The squad just now at Chelsea is as poor as it has been in years. They are sorely lacking in key areas all over the pitch, some of their key players from prior seasons are not hitting the heights they were and the replacements brought in to compete with these players are not good enough. They have seem to have built a squad to try and play one way and when that doesn't work they are up sh*t creek. The lack of any natural wide players in midfield has cost them dearly, relying on the likes of Malouda and Kalou to try and fulfil those roles, but both are much more comfortable in a more central role. They also don't have one right back who is of the standard required to get to the heights they once were. If they hadn't had a purple patch at the beginning of this season with a couple of players stepping up to a level they don't usually operate on, this season they'd have been a laughing stock.

[tup]

He was only pulling your chain? Seems you can't read people as you'd like too.

 

People constantly argue with you (VDA, Bluto, myself, K-9, Stoney and many others) - just because you're full of it.

 

VDA, K-9, and Bluto are polite and even Stoney at times, and there's no harm in having a difference of opinion, so you're mistaking 'debating' for 'arguing' in those cases. No grudges are held if at times things get a bit heated.

 

You're not even polite, have no manners, and I'd suggest that you're the one who's full of it, constantly harping on about stuff irrelevant to the main debate, and posting utter nonsense then expecting an answer from the one comprehensible sentence in the midst of it.

 

All I'm doing is standing my corner, I'm damned if I'm taking sh*te from you unanswered.

 

You're expecting me to respect your opinion when:

 

A) you constantly tail and bait me

B) you cannot express it in a manner which would elicit an amicable response, you canna help yourself.

 

Respect is earned, not taken for granted.

[tup]

I asked you questions in a nice manner, you can't answer (Champs League thread).

 

That's your choice, but it proves you're just here to fish and play act.

 

No Roberto, it was in amongst some abusive and rude insults if you read your own post again.

 

I'm not, I'm here to talk about fitba, with people who know about fitba.

[Bluto10]

I'll have to assume the Champions League is therefore the only competition worthy of anyone's respect in club football.

 

And Europe = the world.

 

Get a grip, come out the Sky bubble.

 

 

sorry, i forgot that the champions of brazil and argentina are so good, they could easily beat barcelona.

 

i'm going to cower away humbly apologetic in my sky bubble

[tup]

sorry, i forgot that the champions of brazil and argentina are so good, they could easily beat barcelona.

 

i'm going to cower away humbly apologetic in my sky bubble

 

Right so now it's suddenly Barcelona, who do fit the bill, and not Chelsea we're speaking about?

 

By f**k I'm confused with all this shifting sand arguing.

[Bluto10]

The squad just now at Chelsea is as poor as it has been in years. They are sorely lacking in key areas all over the pitch, some of their key players from prior seasons are not hitting the heights they were and the replacements brought in to compete with these players are not good enough. They have seem to have built a squad to try and play one way and when that doesn't work they are up sh*t creek. The lack of any natural wide players in midfield has cost them dearly, relying on the likes of Malouda and Kalou to try and fulfil those roles, but both are much more comfortable in a more central role. They also don't have one right back who is of the standard required to get to the heights they once were. If they hadn't had a purple patch at the beginning of this season with a couple of players stepping up to a level they don't usually operate on, this season they'd have been a laughing stock.

 

foster you are right.

 

this chelsea side is relying on aging superstars like drogba and lampard.

terry is still his usual dominant and committed self.

and cole & chec are still top level players.

 

 

but essien has been a poor shadow of the machine like monster he was under jose mourinhio and giddink.

and players like anelka, malouda, zirkhov are not quite at the level this expensive chelsea side deserves and requires.

 

but they have some good young players in ivanovic, ramires, obi, and torres.

 

chelsea are not as good as tehy were. that much is plain for everyone to see.

however they are still amongst the best sides in europe.

 

top 10 deifinitley.

top 5, probably not.