Tortilla9

I watched this match in bits and pieces. Is it possible that Copenhagen is worse than Blackpool?

Torres hasn't been involved much at all. Drogba seems to be trying to prove something and having an awful first half. I thought Drogba/Torres would work. Not seeing it in this half. Would be nice to see either of them getting any type of service. It's painful to watch and not just Drogba and Torres.

Have you been able to hear the entire Torres interview done prior to the Blackpool game? I hear the first 20 seconds, hear a beep in the background, and then it freezes and static.

Not that anybody at Adidas or Chelsea are asking me, I prefer it without the collar.

Is there something I need to do on my end to fix the "time left to next game"? Mine says 10 hours 33 minutes and the game is in 2.5 hours, right?. I checked my settings and the time is 9:26 am in California which is correct. I'm ok with the time being different if I can get the game time to match.

Another article from Sid Lowe who is based in Spain and who did the Reina interview. The article is translated from Spanish to English. It loses a little context in the translation but you get the general idea. Sid intimates that Liverpool wanted to make Torres out to be the bad guy and succeeded. Torres to Chelsea Liverpool faithful are losing their mind: 1. How dare Sid Lowe and the Guardian publish the Reina interview right before the United game! 2. Why did Reina do this interview right before the United game? If they could read they would see the interview was done early Feb, right after Torres move and at the Spain NT camp. 3. Accusing Sid Lowe of not doing the interview and piece mealing it. Sid Lowe sat down with and interviewed Reina.

Not sure if the entire family is with him but Torres and his wife were watching the FA Cup game vs Everton with Yossi in the stands. That's what FSC showed.

Interesting read about Pepe Reina and his possible future. Posting it here because he talks about Torres move. Reina and the Future "So why is he still there? "That's the question. I imagine the fans will recognise my commitment, they will appreciate that. But those who say that Fernando is a mercenary or a money-grabber for going are wrong. Fernando gave them the opportunity in the summer by staying at the club and things haven't changed much." "In fact, Reina, Torres and Gerrard the club's three greatest assets were told they could not leave at a time when the club were looking for a new buyer. Reina will not admit it and nor will he deny it. "The clauses in my contract are between me and the club," he says simply but he secured a buy-out clause understood to be in the region of £20m. In the meantime, little changed to encourage him to stay. In fact, the handling of Torres's departure did the opposite. Loyalty cuts both ways." "The offer for Torres came back again," Reina says simply. The offer for him did not. But it will. And then? Reina puffs out his cheeks. "I can't … I don't want to guess what the future holds."

You may be right. He played twice against United this season with Liverpool, lost both games. Came to Chelsea and United lost. Torres came off injured against Blackpool the first time. I don't even think he played 20 minutes. Second game he scored then Liverpool blew it. A "big" club? I thought it was a "top" club. Isn't that what made RAWK go into meltdown?

Newbie error. I was trying to post, listen to a conference call, and text my daughter at the same time. Getting too old to multi-task.

How long will the suspension last? Is that up to the club, the FA?

Toure Suspended Manchester City have suspended defender Kolo Toure after he failed a drug test. That hurts them.

I loved watching him. My only concern is because of Fergie's rant and the media kissing Fergie's.... that refs may watch him a little closer. Any bets on him being sent off at OT later?

The positive is Blackpool are missing Adam and Campbell and their defense is pretty porous.

Fergie's after match antics might have him in some hot water. Not sure he even cares. Guardian Article

Sometimes I need a picture or two for clarity. He's a streaky player who can go quiet for a few games and then score in consecutive matches. 07/08 he was a beast. Torres Goals by Season

Damn frozen computer - posted twice.

I noticed it in this game (and commented in the Player Ratings thread) but didn't notice it in the others too much. I noticed Torres moving and connecting with players more so than previous games. He seemed to understand that Cole likes to attack and looked and waited for him especially second half. The same with Yuri. He had a few good interchanges with Anelka and Frank and Essien. Malouda not so much but most seem to think Malouda had a crap game so maybe that's why. I didn't think he connected passes with Drogba too much but that's not a bad thing. When playing with Anelka and Malouda, Torres seemed to drift wide and deeper. When Drogba came on, Torres seemed to play a little more central, up top. I think there were a few times when Drogba could have been more aware of Torres space and movement but it wasn't a bad thing overall. It would be interesting to see them play an entire game - maybe Blackpool. I think they could pound a team into submission if given a chance to work together more than 20 minutes. I think because the overall team was pressing and attacking in the second half, Torres looked sharper and more of a threat.

Dodo, I think this this article is being piece-mealed from the Chelsea magazine article that's coming out tomorrow with the Guardian adding their own spin. I thought I'd read somewhere else where his family was with him now. They'd gone to Spain right before the transfer (smart move).

They're out.

Not saying Chelsea plays like Spain but it seems a little reminiscent of Spain where he plays up top with another striker, usually Villa. Villa praises him highly for the work he does for the team although it's usually Villa who gets the glory, ie the goals. An announcer mentioned last night "With a 50 million striker you should build your team around him but they seem to be fitting him in". With the timing of his introduction to Chelsea that's probably the case. We'll see if it's different next season. He had a few chances last night from difficult angles that were more speculative than anything. If they'd gone in they would have been fantastic goals. His closest shot nearest goal was in the 94th minute.

Watched the match on DVR. It was end to end stuff from beginning to end. It was full of challenges, tackles (good and bad) and acting. Entertaining. Not sure what happened in the first half but Chelsea seemed out of it for a good portion. Second half, not sure what was said in the dressing room and by who, but do it again. I remember saying a few weeks ago "what happened to the we're freaking Chelsea team of the past". That was out there in the second half. They didn't look too old or disinterested last night. Thought Nani was going to have a field day based on the first half. He was shut down the second half. Hernandez and Berbatov were pretty quiet too. Shrek and Nani - can't decide whose more annoying to watch. Vidic - he seems to have a short in his brain when playing teams with Torres on them. Luiz - can't say much that hasn't already been said. He was fun to watch and a little scary too. He's a fearless player who Chelsea fans are going to love and everybody else hate. Most important - 3 pts!!!!

Regarding Torres, he didn't play awful, didn't play great. The ratings here 6-7 seem about right. His touch was much improved His passing was better too His movement was good He's willing to take players on - sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't Was decent in the air - would love to see somebody able to get a decent cross in the box because he can actually score of his head or volleys He seemed to be looking for other players and had good linkup with Cole, Zhirkov, Lampard, Anelka, and Drogba (for the time they shared the pitch) Does Malouda know Torres is on Chelsea now? Doesn't seem to see or want to pass to Torres He kept the defense of Manchester honest, they had to account for him His finish on the disallowed goal was actually quite nice. At times he was very involved and other times he seemed to drift wide trying to find space, the ball, or something. Counted a few times when he was open, unmarked, waving for the ball. Think he and the team are still trying to find each other's wavelengths. Ex: Second half, he had the ball near the top of the 18, he passed to an overlapping Essien. It was a nice pass except Torres passed left and Essien went right. I've seen Torres a lot and I've seen him get in the other team's faces, seen him seem disinterested, pouty, etc. Didn't really see that tonight. He seemed up for the challenge and kept working. He's never going to have the workrate of a Shrek but he has other positive attributes. Think Torres will eventually score goals this season and get close to the 20 goal mark for the season (Liverpool and Chelsea combined). Think he'll be a bright spot next season with the summer off and this time with the team under his belt. He's a 5 1/2 year contract and hopefully he's part of a bright future for Chelsea. No matter what Carlo says about scoring for Torres, he's a striker and the goals need to come. Have belief they will.

I'm still not quite sure how you feel after the weekend and tonight.

You and a few others. Good, entertaining read.