Tortilla9

Any comments from Carlo about the match?

And Luiz able to play.

Hope he's got laryngitis when Chelsea head up there. He's going to have them and their fans fired up. At least Charlie can't play.

Vincent, My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. My daughter, 16 years old, was diagnosed with cancer at 17 months old. She had months of chemotherapy, a kidney removed, part of a lung removed, more chemotherapy, too many blood transfusions to count, lost her hair. She has now been in remission over 14 years and we are truly blessed to have her with us. It is a fight but people (family, friends, and complete strangers) proved to me and they'll prove to you and your family their capacity for generosity of spirit and prayers. God bless. T9

2 of the fattest cats known to man - Thomas and Nicky. 2 dogs - Australian Cattle Dog (Rufus) and the best dog, Chelsea, a pound rescue that's part schnauzer, terrier, and a lot of mutt.

For what it's worth, if Chelsea make it to the finals my daughter and I are coming to London for a quick overseas trip. Even if we don't have tickets to the Final (unless I'm willing to sell a body part or two), we're going to experience CL something. My daughter will be very excited because anything with an accent is cool and hot to her. Part of me (the credit card part) is very scared Chelsea will make it to the finals.

God forbid George of the Jungle should score before Torres. The media will have a field day.

Interesting topic especially to a newbie like me. I apologize in advance for asking here, is there a website that you (or anybody) would recommend that give a CFC history overview? I'll check out the Chelsea Gold section but I was wondering if there was another rec.

My daughter tore her ACL and meniscus in a game and it was a grueling recovery. She had quality medical care combined with great PT and functional rehab. It's been a year since her surgery and while she's back to playing competitvely, she tells me privately that sometimes she has tightness and worries in the back of her mind it might happen again. I know Torres didn't have ACL surgery but he had two knee surgeries in 4 months. And I'm sure his surgeon and PT were top-notch and all he focused on. Plus he didn't have the summer off even if his WC stunk. I think with a proper summer off to give his body a rest, we'll see more and more of "THAT" Torres. Fingers crossed. I read somewhere that he's 5 or 6 years younger than Drogba but he's either played the same or more games than Drogba during his career. Take the summer off and come back stronger than even. With that said, I still think he can contribute positively to Chelsea this season with the best to come.

I've followed Torres since he was Atleti. Followed him at Liverpool and follow him at Spain. Now following him at Chelsea. Read the LFC forums a lot but never posted. Maybe because there are quite a lot of loons out there posing as fans. Also because they're not the most welcoming bunch especially if you don't follow the LFC mantra to the T. What I like about the Chelsea forums, the supporters seem to be reasonable even when disagreeing. I'm all for dialogue, debate, and even the occasional "you're a moron!" but the f-bombs and cursing at each other make those forums too hard to read. I've stopped reading the LFC forums and deleted them as favorites because the nastiness there just isn't worth my time. I've mentioned it somewhere but I don't think it's a confidence issue. I think he's the new guy trying to fit in with new teammates, new manager. He didn't do much against LFC. Yesterday, much better and it'll come.

It's interesting to read the comments on this forum compared to LFC forums. Even before Torres was leaving, many posters there were complaining about him and how crap he was. Seeming to forget he was the quickest LFC player to 50 goals. Great to see the Chelsea fans aren't looking to throw him under the bus and understand it takes time. I hope he scores soon and then often to repay the Chelsea fans who seem to have welcomed him with open arms. $50M is a jaw-dropping number (CRAZY!) but the market is what the buyer is willing to spend. He's not a technical maestro but when he's on he's fun to watch and you're glad he plays for you.

I always though Fellaini was Sideshow Bob and Berbatov (esp before the haircut) was Mr. Burns.

Not sure where to post this so since we're discussing Torres.... My daughter was watching the game with me last night. She heard the Torres chants and she said "I thought they were playing at Fulham". I said "yes, why?" She said "the Chelsea fans have been amazing". Kudos to the traveling Chelsea fans for their support last night, and not just Torres.

Liverpool game was never going to be good unless he scored a hattrick. LFC pumped up to play him. They were the wronged spouse facing off against their cheating spouse (in their minds and the media). Think it would have been better to bring him on as a sub. Let the Chelsea fans cheer for him as he warmed up. Spilt milk now. Fulham game yesterday. He had bursts of pace, good movement. Unfortunately his pace and movement were canceled out by his bad touch. He'll have those games where his touch is bad, he's pouty, etc. Then he'll score a goal where you wonder where that came from. Keep the faith.

Funny thing about Torres is Atletico Madrid youth coaches noted his less than spectacular first touch. It's always been an issue. He's overcome it with his use of space and movement, speed, and finishing. Unfortunately yesterday's poor touches made it impossible for him to use space, movement, speed to finish. I love Torres as much as the next Torres fan. I'm not blind to his faults as a player. It's his moments of soccer beauty that make the flaws easier to ignore, forget. I believe those moments will come for Chelsea. Luiz was a revelation. My daughter was talking about him the entire match. Halfway through "when I can get a Luiz jersey", "he's so cool", "love his hair". He was fun to watch and a young defender like that is going to be a godsend for Chelsea. Now if there was somebody wide and somebody to lead the attack from the center.

I hope for Torres, Carlo, and the team's sake, Torres scores soon. The longer he goes without scoring the longer the media will be on their feeding frenzy of negative Torres/Chelsea crap. It'll take pressure off everybody involved and hopefully the team can move forward.

Torres touch was typical for him - awful at times without the occasional moments of beauty to make you forget the awful. His movement and positioning were good, agree. Also promising to see bursts of pace. Benitez and Xavi Valero, former LFC keeper coach, worked with him constantly on finishing. Both he and Reina give Valero a lot of praise. Why not throw the kitchen sink at Fulham for the last 15-20 minutes, Drogba and Torres together. Could it have been any worse? Plus Torres can't play against Everton so you're not saving him.

And they love him because 1) Roy didn't like him and he was banished to the bench even though part of it was due to another injury; and 2) Kenny seems to love him so anybody Kenny loves, the Kop love. I've quit reading the media crap this week because it's been more nonsense than usual. The only way Torres was going to get anything other than negative press was if he scored a hattrick and Chelsea won. Since neither happened the media has been in a feeding frenzy. I hope Torres gets going and scores a goal. The longer he goes without scoring (and I realize it's only been 1 game which is so ridiculous) the more the media will spin negative crap day in day out. I hope Ancelloti figures out how to get the best of Torres, Drogba, and Anelka if he persists in using them all together.

I get what you're saying and I can understand your view. On the other hand, Torres is home in Madrid. While the white side of Madrid think's he's the devil incarnate, the Atletico side loves him and never wanted him to leave. They would welcome him back in a heartbeat even at the age of 32/33. He joined the club at 11 years old and grew up through the ranks. It's only natural the media is going to be asking him questions about leaving LFC, joining CFC, and will he come back to Atletico. When he left Atletico, Atletico gave him the opportunity to say goodbye to the fans. Atletico offered him a director's box when LFC played at Atletic. Torres declined because he was injured and wanted to recuperate at LFC. They love him and it's only natural that the minority Atletic reporters would ask him about Atletico. Now that the move is over, the LFC game is out of the way, the Spain friendly is done, he can move on, bring his young family to London, and show Chelsea fans what he can do.

I love Torres but he owes LFC fans no more explanation than he's already given, if he even owed them that. If they're too dumb, deaf, or blind to appreciate the many times he saved their bacon then whatever. I think part of the problem is he's actually a decent kid whose trying to explain. On the other hand, after the furor dies down we probably won't hear too much from him. He doesn't do a lot of interviews and anything will be speculation or words from "those close to Torres". We'll probably see articles quoting Torres for a few more weeks and the quotes probably came from Friday's press conference or his radio interview in Spain today. Lazy journalists trying to keep it going. Andre Mariner has reported LFC bozos to the FA for throwing objects onto the pitch when there was a corner and Torres was in the box. Greatest fans? Sure....

I'm definitely not saying Ancelotti's should be replaced because I don't know enough to speak intelligently or stupidly about him and the team. I'm just observing and wondering do the majority of fans want a change and why? Do fans blame him, the players, injuries, World Cup, the moon, or what. All I know is what I saw Sunday and in the previous LFC vs CFC game. On Sunday, Liverpool parked the bus and played a very negative game. It wasn't pretty but it worked. It was a sloppy goal that shouldn't have happened. Chelsea on the other hand didn't do didly except for an opportunity here or there. Previous game in Nov (?), LFC scored off two moments of Torres brilliance. In the second half Chelsea was dominant and I couldn't figure out how LFC kept them off the scoresheet. Did Mourinho use young guys or was everybody young when he was here?

Maybe but he's in Spain right now and they're having a field day with him. Keep in mind in Spain, LFC because of the Spanish armada was a club that the Spanish media followed closely. Torres leaving LFC was a big deal to them.

I followed the Liverpool forums for a few months and the tone about Carlo reminds me a lot of the tone there regarding Roy Hodgson minus the screaming lunatics. The majority seemed to think Roy should have never been given the job, he wasn't a long-term solution, wasn't tactically smart, didn't want to promote youth, played players who shouldn't be playing, etc. I personally think Carlo is head and shoulders above Roy but it seems reading the posts there's some underlying angst here. While I'm not part of the Kenny love-fest that's invaded the PL, it does seem he has given them the kick in the pants they needed. Do you think a new manager is the key? New players? It seems to be a crossroad time for Chelsea. I read the thread about will we finish Top 4 or not and that seems so odd to me. Maybe that's the problem but I've always automatically assumed Chelsea was a Top 4 team. It would be weird to see them out of it. Maybe that's the problem - the club, manager, and/or players assuming Top 4 was a given. The rambling is done.

I think near the end everybody, Torres and Reina, were burnt out by the H&G regime which included Rafa and his battles with H&G. I agree, Reina seeing what fans did and said is probably wondering if they really are the greatest fans. He's now the last one left of the Spanish armada (I don't include Pacheco or Suso who don't play) that included Alonso, Arbeloa, and Torres. Another Spaniard who was behind the scenes and was missed by Reina AND Torres: Xavi Valero who was the keeper coach. Reina credits him with much of his success and so does Torres. Torres stated he told him how different keepers played, their tendencies, and worked with Torres on beating them.

Rumour is that Reina has a $20M buyout clause. The timing would be perfect for Fergie wouldn't it unfortunately. Reina, like Torres, was another who spoke out against H&G and wanted more talent. This shouldn't come as a surprise to Liverpool but they'll keep their heads in the stand and be "surprised, shocked, disappointed, how could he" when he leaves.