dodojojo

I know AVB wants the beautiful game but I hope for a half he will practical and play it smart. Chelsea should be able to hold out on a 2 goal lead.

Contact or no contact, two feet in, it's hard to argue it. What in the world was he thinking. And precisely half a second before it I was so proud the #9 had gone back to cover a break. And he had to do was to disrupt and slow down the counter. There was no need to slide tackle. I love the guy but he really can't help staying out of the headlines.

Did I say he was playing well? WTF Nando. AVB needs to talk to him about his chatting with the refs and such. I think it feeds into his psyche and then you get THAT.

Stupid, stupid Torres. That's his first red card in England. Unbelievable. And he was doing so well. A goal and he opened up Swansea for Ramires' goal. What was he thinking.

They really do practice the dark arts don't they? Chelsea with two PL teams in the Carling Cup already. What are the odds...

That's a great read. Pity Torres can't give interviews like that anymore as he'd have half of England down his throat.

Here's the highlight video from the game. Ignore the 2005 bit, it's wrong. The game was played in Feb 2006. Loved that Torres cupped his ear at Nou Camp If you watch the goal on Torres' site where the video is much sharper, you'll see Barca fans flipping him off

I think that's one of the reasons why he went to Liverpool in 2007 but why did he not to go clubs from 2004-06 when he was on many clubs' wish lists? I guess it could have been he just didn't feel right about it until 2007 and Liverpool came calling. By the way, Tottenham was one of the clubs in for him. I've read Man U fans who wished they signed Torres and it's never been clear if he turned them down. Or that Ferguson had his doubts about him. Supposedly Ferguson didn't think Torres scored enough.

Barcelona was La Liga's Chelsea for Torres. I think he scored 7 in 8 or 9 games against them and that was with an Atletico team that never qualified for Europe. And Torres was 20M plus Luis Garcia and add-ons. I think the total was closer to 26M. One of the add-ons was that AM would receive 250K (or 350K, something like that) for every 15 goals Torres scored for Liverpool. Wonder why Torres didn't come to Chelsea? Did he say no? Did Mourinho not rate him?

Was a bit petulant even then, should have been sent off But he was involved in all the goals too. Looked to be a cut above, no surprise he made it to the senior team. Milan's goalkeeper meanwhile...

:lolwave:

AVB held Meireles out of the CC game for a reason. I'd be surprised if Raul isn't starting against Swansea.

Has Chelsea spanked anyone yet? I get a little nervous when I see predictions of 4 or 5 goal wins. The team is a work in progress and though I'm confident the team can grind out wins, I'm not sure it's going to hit all the cylinders any time soon. If Swansea play true to form, attacking football, I can see a few goals scored but that also means they can hit Chelsea too. I think the defense is prone to mistakes and clean sheets won't be automatic this season, not even against the smaller teams. Surprised some are choosing Drogba over Torres. He hasn't played in 3 weeks and Torres is coming off his best Chelsea performance. Seems like a no brainer to me. Plus, if it's an open attacking game, Torres is the one to play. Space is his best friend. Ever think of why he did well against Man U? That was a manic wide open game.

Let's hope Busquets and Mascherano have fantastic seasons and Barca won't need Romeu. After all Busquets is only 22/23. If Romeu goes back next year, he may still be 3rd choice. Unless they get rid of Masch. And I wouldn't mind a straight swap to get Masch either. So, no hype, was Romeu that good? Can he play against Valencia? I listened to the game only.

Yes, Soldado missed from point blank range, no keeper and could have made it 3-1...and the game ended 2-2. Very tough game, Chelsea will have to be at its best to get a result.

Ruiz and Luiz on the radio is hard to make out amid all the excitement. I don't know whether I should be happy or sad about a play described by the announcers.

This is the 2nd team for Fulham right? How poor is Chelsea's squad? Let's pray the first XIV stay fit.

AVB really has to rethink his defensive philosophy--at least for this year. The personnel is just not there to play his way.

Thank you! Enjoying it as I'm at work and having to finish a task so I can't watch. Enjoy hearing the game. Do they broadcast many Chelsea games?

Torres dropped! You know it'll be the headlines tomorrow.

Surprised Mata is there. Hopefully he won't have to come on.

Bench?

It wasn't that Lukaku was bad, but his substitution was. As right as AVB was about Anelka, he should have brought on Malouda for Sturridge.

Here's another good one. http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2011/9/21/2437050/match-analysis-chelsea-1-3-manchester-united-tactics-stats

That article is crap not because it's yet another poke at Torres but because it's so fucking tedious! Jesus christ, nice way to brush up on cricket, golf and David Beckham though. If Torres needs to brush up on his finishing (and he does), then Samuel should look for a competent editor.