Fernando Torres

[steve5221 91]

he has had longer to prove himself here than any other striker we have had.

Not so sure about that....in my Chelsea life, Robert Fleck, Paul Furlong and Chris Sutton come to mind..

[Madmax 9,219]

The way Liverpool reacted to the whole thing was pathetic. They made it seem as if it was a last minute betrayal and they weren't given any time, whatever.

It's a FACT that Torres was disillusioned with the club during all that Hicks and Gillette nonsense. He was promised many things by them and they didn't deliver. They let their best players in Alonso, Arbeloa, etc go. He probably wanted out at the beginning of the 10/11 season but decided to give it some time. Then he was managed by Roy Hodgson... I mean come on!

The boardroom saga went on for soooo long. He was suffering injury after injury. And you know what? One of the few decent games he had in 10/11 was against us at Anfield. I've got this feeling that that performance by him, was a message to Roman to buy him and that he's still "got it".

Why the transfer was so last minute: Liverpool were trying to sign Suarez for 20odd million and if Ajax had known that they were sitting on 40 or so mil (which would have been the original transfer price if Newcastle hadn't demanded 35m for that lump of shit), they would have asked for much more. Queen Kenny also must have blocked the transfer til the very last minute, as he wanted the LFC supporters to turn on Torres so as to justify the transfer. "He bottled it, he betrayed us" yada yada

Y'know what? FUCK THEM. I've never hated anything as much as I hate Liverpool Football Club. I want them to burn and I hope it begins on Sunday with a Torres hattrick.

Liverpool forced Torres' hand by publishing the news about rejecting the initial bid on it's official website. They could have stayed quiet about it but I figure they actually wanted to get rid of him, if it meant they could paint him as the villain of the piece.

[Krypt 241]

Not so sure about that....in my Chelsea life, Robert Fleck, Paul Furlong and Chris Sutton come to mind..

Sorry i meant recently , have to agree with your other post these has been glimpses of the Torres of old but nothing more than that. If we are still saying this at the end of the season we will be looking for alternatives.

[steve5221 91]

Sorry i meant recently , have to agree with your other post these has been glimpses of the Torres of old but nothing more than that. If we are still saying this at the end of the season we will be looking for alternatives.

But this is the problem, with these new financial rules we do not have the choice of another expensive option.....Torres is on 175k a week, even if we get someone interested they wont pay even half of that and would probably want him on loan, so we would have to front up the rest. The replacement would want at least 100k a week and with the transfer fee I dont think think we could afford it, as we already have huge debt. Unless we can get Anelka, Kalou, Drogba and Malouda of the wage bill I think we are stuck with him. That is why AVB needs to man manage him better. Torres said yesterday that he loves Benitez and gave everything for him, why not approach Rafa and ask how to manage him?????

[Krypt 241]

But this is the problem, with these new financial rules we do not have the choice of another expensive option.....Torres is on 175k a week, even if we get someone interested they wont pay even half of that and would probably want him on loan, so we would have to front up the rest. The replacement would want at least 100k a week and with the transfer fee I dont think think we could afford it, as we already have huge debt. Unless we can get Anelka, Kalou, Drogba and Malouda of the wage bill I think we are stuck with him. That is why AVB needs to man manage him better. Torres said yesterday that he loves Benitez and gave everything for him, why not approach Rafa and ask how to manage him?????

I cant see AVB asking Rafa he does need to man manage him better though , i agree in the terms that we wont be able to afford to replace him but there is a chance that we will be getting rid of Anelka, Drogba and Malouda so we may have some space in the age budget plus we have Danny , could he step up and be the main man ? Torres in some games shows he has still got it , we just need to get him to the point where he is consistent.

[steve5221 91]

I cant see AVB asking Rafa he does need to man manage him better though , i agree in the terms that we wont be able to afford to replace him but there is a chance that we will be getting rid of Anelka, Drogba and Malouda so we may have some space in the age budget plus we have Danny , could he step up and be the main man ? Torres in some games shows he has still got it , we just need to get him to the point where he is consistent.

Agreed, consistancy is the problem with Torres and it's up for AVB to get this out of him...He is not another Sheva, still only 27, which should be the prime of his career...I have doubts about wether Sturridge could be the main CF at Chelsea longterm. I know he is only young and inexperienced but his tendancy to use that left foot every time hinders him. I hope i'm wrong but time will tell..

As for Torres, I going to stay positive that this is the game he will give us his all and be a matchwinner

[Krypt 241]

Agreed, consistancy is the problem with Torres and it's up for AVB to get this out of him...He is not another Sheva, still only 27, which should be the prime of his career...I have doubts about wether Sturridge could be the main CF at Chelsea longterm. I know he is only young and inexperienced but his tendancy to use that left foot every time hinders him. I hope i'm wrong but time will tell..

As for Torres, I going to stay positive that this is the game he will give us his all and be a matchwinner

But the question is how will AVB make him a matchwinner , time will tell i guess.

[steve5221 91]

But the question is how will AVB make him a matchwinner , time will tell i guess.

That will be a part of how AVB will be judged. Carlo could not do it, so it won't be easy....

[francozola 2,040]

But this is the problem, with these new financial rules we do not have the choice of another expensive option.....Torres is on 175k a week, even if we get someone interested they wont pay even half of that and would probably want him on loan, so we would have to front up the rest. The replacement would want at least 100k a week and with the transfer fee I dont think think we could afford it, as we already have huge debt. Unless we can get Anelka, Kalou, Drogba and Malouda of the wage bill I think we are stuck with him. That is why AVB needs to man manage him better. Torres said yesterday that he loves Benitez and gave everything for him, why not approach Rafa and ask how to manage him?????

But we are going to get rid of them.. I'm 100% sure none of those will still be a Chelsea player come 1st September 2012

I get your point but if he doesn't come into consistent form by the end of the year then he has to go. If he isn't scoring he's kind of useless because he doesn't have the workrate that other players e.g. Rooney have, so that even if they aren't scoring goals they can still contribute their fair share. Yeah Torres gets a few assists here and there but it isn't enough. Anzhi or PSG will probably be willing to pay 25m for him

[steve5221 91]

But we are going to get rid of them.. I'm 100% sure none of those will still be a Chelsea player come 1st September 2012

I get your point but if he doesn't come into consistent form by the end of the year then he has to go. If he isn't scoring he's kind of useless because he doesn't have the workrate that other players e.g. Rooney have, so that even if they aren't scoring goals they can still contribute their fair share. Yeah Torres gets a few assists here and there but it isn't enough. Anzhi or PSG will probably be willing to pay 25m for him

True, but he would have to want the move or he could reject it....I think Malaga would be the best option - realistically they are the only side in Spain who would pay his wages and country I think Torres would go to...Lets not forget also how much revenue his shirt sales have made us, espcially in Asia....lets stick with him till the end of the season, but if we are having the same conversations then, than even the most diehard Torres fans must realise he has to go..

[Krypt 241]

True, but he would have to want the move or he could reject it....I think Malaga would be the best option - realistically they are the only side in Spain who would pay his wages and country I think Torres would go to...Lets not forget also how much revenue his shirt sales have made us, espcially in Asia....lets stick with him till the end of the season, but if we are having the same conversations then, than even the most diehard Torres fans must realise he has to go..

Completely agree give it till the end of the season , no results think about shipping him off then Malaga maybe a good destination i couldnt see him at PSG or Anzhi , though i hope we are not talking about this come the end of the season i want him to win trophies with us and become a fan favourite here. time will tell but he better get his shooting boots on sharpish.

[steve5221 91]

AVB at todays press conference 'he has picked up from last season not only with his form physically but his availability in terms of movement for the team.

'He is back to his old sharpness and back to goal scoring so we are pretty happy with him the way he is performing. So we just have to make a decision in terms of what we want in behaviour from our front line. Fernando will always be in contention for that.'

Interesting, we don't usually see Torres singled out for praise before a game...AVB thinking along my lines???

[Krypt 241]

AVB at todays press conference 'he has picked up from last season not only with his form physically but his availability in terms of movement for the team.

'He is back to his old sharpness and back to goal scoring so we are pretty happy with him the way he is performing. So we just have to make a decision in terms of what we want in behaviour from our front line. Fernando will always be in contention for that.'

Interesting, we don't usually see Torres singled out for praise before a game...AVB thinking along my lines???

Interesting , a bit of praise from your manager cant be a bad thing.

[francozola 2,040]

True, but he would have to want the move or he could reject it....I think Malaga would be the best option - realistically they are the only side in Spain who would pay his wages and country I think Torres would go to...Lets not forget also how much revenue his shirt sales have made us, espcially in Asia....lets stick with him till the end of the season, but if we are having the same conversations then, than even the most diehard Torres fans must realise he has to go..

Yes sorry I meant we should stick with him til the end of season, not end of the year

I really hope he gets it going. He's never going to get back to his "best" the way he was in 08/09 but he still can be a reliable 20 goals a season player

That red card against Swansea really screwed everything up. He definitely would have gotten a few more goals against Everton and Bolton

[Tortilla9 390]

Love or hate Rafa, Torres played brilliantly under Rafa. He understood how to play Torres to his best. Torres even said Rafa was all business, tactics, but he learned to appreciate that because Rafa was making him a better player. There were times when Rafa publicly said he was great. Others when Rafa said quit whining, play better. I do think Rafa publicly and privately thought he was a very good player and had the ultimate confidence in him. That goes a long way with any player especially a striker. Not so sure Carlo shared that same confidence. Surprised at the positive pre-match talk from AVB which is rare. Maybe he's trying a different approach.

Torres also highly praised Xavi Valero, the keeper coach, who worked with both Reina and him.

I hope come Sunday we're talking about Torres goal(s) instead of why not.

[Madmax 9,219]

Love or hate Rafa, Torres played brilliantly under Rafa. He understood how to play Torres to his best. Torres even said Rafa was all business, tactics, but he learned to appreciate that because Rafa was making him a better player. There were times when Rafa publicly said he was great. Others when Rafa said quit whining, play better. I do think Rafa publicly and privately thought he was a very good player and had the ultimate confidence in him. That goes a long way with any player especially a striker. Not so sure Carlo shared that same confidence. Surprised at the positive pre-match talk from AVB which is rare. Maybe he's trying a different approach.

But the thing with Carlo was that he had to juggle between two big names in Drogba and Torres. Rafa only had Nando to handle.

Love or hate Rafa, Torres played brilliantly under Rafa. He understood how to play Torres to his best. Torres even said Rafa was all business, tactics, but he learned to appreciate that because Rafa was making him a better player. There were times when Rafa publicly said he was great. Others when Rafa said quit whining, play better. I do think Rafa publicly and privately thought he was a very good player and had the ultimate confidence in him. That goes a long way with any player especially a striker. Not so sure Carlo shared that same confidence. Surprised at the positive pre-match talk from AVB which is rare. Maybe he's trying a different approach.

But the thing with Carlo was that he had to juggle between two big names in Drogba and Torres. Rafa only had Nando to handle.

[Tortilla9 390]

But the thing with Carlo was that he had to juggle between two big names in Drogba and Torres. Rafa only had Nando to handle.

You're right although it seems this season there hasn't been so much juggling with one or the other suspended or hurt.

[dodojojo 510]

Pepe Reina better watch his back after having offered an alternative view of Torres' departure from LFC. Reina paints a far more balanced and human picture of what went down. Since they're not directly about Chelsea, I'll only leave the links rather than pasting the interviews here.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-Real-reason-Fernando-Torres-joined-Chelsea-revealed-by-Pepe-Reina-article831961.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/nov/18/pepe-reina-fernando-torres-liverpool?newsfeed=true