Tortilla9

The author says "In circumstances in which it was difficult to assess individual performances" then he begins to assess/criticize Torres (fair enough) and even Drogba (fair enough). Where was his assessment of Lampard (who I thought was even more anonymous than Torres or Drogba) or Yossi who I thought was one of the best performers on the pitch? I don't think either Torres or Drogba set the world on fire. I don't think they were the worst players on the pitch either. I think it was a lazy review using Torres to catch the reader. Would it be as eye-catching if it said "Yossi had a good game"?

I watched both and neither wowed me today. That said not too many players out there today wowed me tbh with the exception of Yossi. I'm not going to panic yet. Let's see what they look like in a game or two.

Good header Fernando....not really.

Try this: http://url.ie/cfg8

Nice little ball movement there, final ball not so lovely.

Torres with an assist on the OG. lol

Here in the US and my Chelsea TV is working - no problems

Those are crazy numbers. Buying English (I know Adam is Scottish) seems to equal overpriced in my mind. But the LFC love affair continues in the media. I saw this somewhere: "Only Liverpool would consider Carroll, Henderson, and Adam an upgrade over Torres, Mascherano, and Alonso."

Formation Played...Maybe - it's the Daily Mail so take it with a grain of salt

I read on twitter (I know) that it was a 4-4-2 but don't hold me to that.

Small correction, its @NikkiBull1 Also said: Off to bed what a day! Rubbed shoulders and played against some of the worlds elite footballers. What an amazing game to start the season off Torres body language looked a lot better than last season in games I watched on tv. He looked happy, his touch was very good Somebody asked about Torres and pace and he saidL @JimmerP Electric! I know it was against lesser opposition but he looked very sharp

Man, this one hurts. As I type this my daughter is sleeping on the couch after having her acl reconstructed this morning (this is her second one). She's doped up (thank God!), bandaged up, thigh to ankle knee brace on. I read this thread with more than a little personal interest. My daughter is a center mid like Essien and like Essien her luck with injuries has been absolute sh*t. If it weren't for bad luck she'd have no luck at all. From personal observance, the mind is willing but the body sometimes isn't. Knee stiffness, over compensation on other body parts to protect the knee resulting in little aggravating injuries of other parts, performance inconsistency, mental block over possible reinjury. For us, it was a year after getting back out on the field (not surgery) before she finally felt 100%. I wish Essien the best of luck. My daughter's surgeon asked this morning if she was ready to give up football. I said not yet. He said "it's hard to have it taken away from you". For Essien's sake I hope it's not taken away from him and I hope to seem him back on the pitch again.

I feel for Essien. Damn knee injuries. My daughter is 16 and scheduled for her second ACL surgery on Monday. Injuries take a toll on the body and mind. Speedy recovery to Essien.

Seriously? WTH....

Player Goal/Assist (PL only) - top 10 - 2010/11 season Malouda 13/4 Drogba 11/13 Kalou 10/3 Lampard 10/2 Anelka 6/4 Branislav 6/4 Ivanovic 4/4 Terry 3/1 Essien 3/2 Ramires 2/0 Player Assists (PL only) - 2010/11 season Drogba 13 Malouda 4 Anelka 4 Branislav 4 Ivanovic 4 Kalou 3 Cole 3 Lampard 2 Essien 2 Torres 2 Ferreira 2 Zhirkov 2

2010/11 all competitions: Anelka 16 Kalou 13

Looking at Torres 07/08 season focusing on PL only, he scored 24 goals and had 3 assists. Gerrard had 11 goals and 11 assists so the big assumption is Gerrard provided most of those assists for Torres. Torres has never been one to provide a lot of assists either. I was looking at Chelsea 2010/11 PL only and I was surprised: Drogba with 13 assists (highest on the team) Torres and Lampard tied with 2 assists each

Now why do you want to go and be reasonable and patient.

@portugoaldotnet on twitter (follows portugual) "For the moment Falcao to Chelsea is just rumour, albeit very widespread & incessant rumour. No agent/club/player quotes on it" "A lot of the players pledged future to Porto on back of AVB's committment to staying" Also says Correia d Manha stupendously unreliable. If they printed today was Thursday he'd double check.

Falcao or any other striker will have the same problem to deal with that current Chelsea strikers have - service, lack of midfield creativity, inability to cross the ball in, slow build up. I hope the club is addressing that issue as a priority otherwise they're throwing money down the drain. AVB came from the left field when most though Hiddink was coming back. I'm hoping Chelsea leadership will continue to surprise us with smart, exciting, moving forward decisions. Or is that too much to ask?

Apologies if this has already been posted on the forum. If it has, mods please delete. AVB's scouting report for Chelsea against Newcastle Interesting comment about N'Zogbia in the report: On the other size N'Zogbia is a pure winger. Gives width, receives the ball when opened and from there attacks our full-back 1vs1 (incredible pace). Dominates all kind of typical winger behaviour......

Can cross the first one off your wish list. Fergie got him first.

There are a lot of morons on the radio today talking about AVB. I'm embarrassed to say a US caller called into Talk Sport to say that 1) Chelsea won't finish top 6 and 2) Fat Sam will do better in the PL than AVB. That was embarrassing to hear some Yank dumbass call in with that.

Thanks for responding and letting us know. The forum is a great place. TBH I think its my piece of junk computer because I experience it on other sites too.

That made me laugh. Too bad I can't rep that more than once.