dodojojo

Is it just me or the summer sun...or is he going back to blonde?

The Telegraph is reporting it too. Telegragh But I think this is more a Chelsea hire rather than a AVB one. I ran across this news in a Spanish article more than 2 weeks ago. I think Ortega was hired and AVB hasn't objected to keeping him on. Spanish source

If you know the story behind that ad, then you know Torres makes the best ads. He looks like he's just stepped on poo most of the time, but he does have a good sense of humor. And he's okay with poking fun at himself.

Nando "acting" LOL, Torres is so bad he's good. Love the guy, he makes the best worst ads ever. Youtube him for "hairdresser", "tennis" and "dogs".

Wholeheartedly agree. There were so many times where he looked like he was trying to "place" the ball into the net. And I was screaming internally, "Just kick the damn thing!"

David Villa had 2 goals for Barca during the same period as Torres' slump, roughly. And I don't know this for sure, but considering the number of subs Torres had or made, I bet Villa had more minutes than Nando from Feb-May. No one is saying Villa is finished.

That's not entirely accurate, Torres doesn't smoke. Well the team doc was recently canned and AVB is bringing in Porto's fitness coach so let's pray to every god possible Torres and everyone else stays fit.

I know he'll never live down having an awful World Cup and many won't forget it but the man had TWO KNEE SURGERIES before the tournament. Not one but two within 4 months. And for all who said he was shit in 2009-10, 18 league goals in 20 starts/2 subs. He finished the season with 9 goals in his last 7 games. Yes, more than one goal a game. That was during the time when many accused him being shit. I don't know definitively if Torres will get back to his best. If I did, I would also be betting big on the stock market, buy lottery tickets, etc. I'm just saying give him a honest try with him fit and playing to his strengths, not his weaknesses. He's my favorite player but I'm not blind to his faults. He's never had a stellar touch, it's always been inconsistent. And at 27, that's not going to improve. It's something you live with, just like Italy lived with Inzaghi being offsides half his life. What I saw this past season was a tentative Torres in front of goal. He had some superb strikes, the two against Chelsea of course, but check out his goal against Wigan in the following game. But overall, he just seemed to not strike the ball cleanly or with confidence. This I feel can be fixed because he had the quality before and it's not about pace so it's not something he lost due to aging or slowing down. I really hope AVB works with him on this, tweaking his mechanics but most of all, his confidence and mentality. It will also help if Chelsea plays in a way that generates many more chances in the box for the strikers. No striker has a 100% strike rate. You got this feeling last season that if Torres missed one, he would not see another for awhile and it became a vicious circle of pressing and anxiety on his part (on our part too...).

This is the most likely scenario. He's an automatic starter at RB for Spain so he's pretty solid. He's also prone to some serious brain cramps. He's very average as a CB -- likely because his brain cramps are more exposed in the central part of the pitch rather than out wide. He goes forward well and he's skilled for a defender. He's going to be better than anyone Chelsea has for RB but I don't think he's that much better at 40M. But again, this is chatter by his agent brother to force a salary raise. If he does come though, Torres will be happy I'm sure. They've been buddies for a long time as they both joined the national team very young.

Was it 30?

Then that's not really about him succeeding at Chelsea as you asserted earlier.

Fair enough. But if Falcao comes in soon, that kinda blows his assertion that he'll review the squad before making any major decisions out the water, no? And if AVB brings in Falcao, you don't think he won't be biased towards him compared to the other strikers here?

Keep the same midfield, get rid of Torres and Falcao will score 30 right?

That may well be true but I honestly don't think NOT playing Torres as a SS was one of Carlo's issues.

Even it in a 4-4-2, one of the strikers is usually more of a SS and the other is a pure striker/finisher. Torres I know falls in the latter category. Falcao I have heard is the same. What top club plays with two #9s consistently?

Yes, Chicharito worked because Rooney is a SS. Torres isn't remotely like Rooney. So how will AVB play Torres and Falcao together?

LDN, I agree with some of your points but this one I can't. Torres has never been and will not be a SS. He is an old fashion #9 (which has both been good and bad for him) and to play him otherwise is a waste. If he could play SS, Carlo would have done it this past season with him supporting Drogba. And Carlo never did. Drogba was the one who was asked to play out of position to the right even if Torres did go wide and deep quite often. But that was out of necessity or else he would have never seen the ball.

The thing is AVB will surely play a system which will be faster and with a midfield that will supply the forwards. Which is exactly what many of us said Torres needs. So instead of benefiting from the new system, Chelsea are going to sell him? Head-scratching in terms of football and finance. But I suppose if it's a case of what the new coach wants, it's what is going to happen.

Where's the logic here? Falcao is a striker who needs support to score. Torres is a striker who needs support to score. He is already on a team where that support needs to be bolstered. So why not concentrate on bolstering that support rather than to replace like for like? Let's face it if this speculation is true and Falcao does come in for Torres then it's simply because the new coach wants his own man rather than to deal with a star signing that isn't his. I think it's a bit crazy to not even give a huge signing like Torres one season in the right environment and opportunity to succeed but this is football. What isn't crazy about it?

Since there has been rampant speculation on Falcao on the transfer forum, I'll jump in the fray with a little reckless speculating here -- according to O Jogo (and depending on the translation and interpretation of the article and what is the credibility of O Jogo?). It's Torres who Falcao is replacing and not Drogba. And it's likely that Falcao will come only if Chelsea can find a buyer for Torres. I'm not going to sweat over this for now. But if there is even a whiff of truth to this...selling on a player like Torres after only 4 months of football? Seriously, this would be mind-boggling. I hope the article is complete rubbish but I'd be disappointed if AVB already sees Torres as an obstacle rather than as a player he can bring back to form. O Jogo

Not for the post, but your Torres GIF is

Hmmm...or that it's really true Ancelotti wanted Torres and now that he's gone...

Drogba may well go if Falcao comes but I wonder what Torres thinks of this too. I don't know much about Falcao but I hear he's a targetman and it's very, very difficult to play Torres with a targetman since he's a central striker himself. Instead of the Drogba/Torres situation, it'll be Torres/Falcao instead.

No. He's not useless with his left, but he's seriously right-footed. Playing Torres anywhere but as central striker is a waste of everyone's time.

He's so ginger. Would he agree to a dye job?