DJ Nevin

When I login the first screen of the forum is ok but when I go any further - threads re players, matches, etc. - the majority of the forum topics are obscured by a blank white screen which makes them difficult to access. This has been going on for ages but there have been no complaints from anyone else so presume I'm the only one experiencing it and it may be something to do with my computer settings.

Shit-stirring from the Mail. That part of the interview roughly translates as follows (a general statement about the Spanish NT rather than his own situation): Torres: I think that we have been through so many things together that it’s always hard when important players don’t play. That was the case with Marchena, Senna, and Santi during the world cup. It hurts us all, we all talk about that and I think that doubting any of these players who are European champions and world champions is disrespectful. It’s always nice to see that your teammates believe in you and want you to be there because they see you as important to the team ...

Wrong! Apart from the Arsenal game (which coincided with the demoralisation of the whole team after QPR and the Terry racism accusations) he has played well when Mata has been on the pitch with him. Anyway it's immaterial now. He's clearly not in the manager's longterm plans.

inBloody media ... they must be thrilled at the success of their campaign against this luckless player. Ashton claims that the arrival of Juan Mata has failed to spark Torres but the reality is that he has played well when Mata has been in the team and shown signs of a return to form (apart from the Arsenal game), but he clearly doesn't figure in the manager's future plans.

But Torres doesn't play well with Lampard. In recent games he hasn't been given the opportunity to play with Mata or Meireles who suit his style of play, so I don't think he forms part of AVB's future plans and therefore has no future here. I like him as a player (when on form) and he seems to be a decent person off the pitch but clearly AVB regards him as a jink and the team seem less fragile without him. The drama surrounding his departure from Liverpool and the media witchhunt, which began just before the world cup when he returned from a serious knee injury, has been unrelenting and doesn't look like ending anytime soon. I don't think you can underestimate the effect of this on a player's confidence. Neither Drogba, Mata or Sturridge have this kind of burden to carry and can just play their natural game. It's also interesting that since his transfer Liverpool seem to have replaced Everton as Chelsea's bogey team. Perhaps it's time for him to move back to Spain and try to recover something of what he was, while CFC retrench in January.

But Torres has rarely been played with Mata (when he was he played well). He seems to be constantly teamed with Lampard and Malouda.

Why all this criticism of Drogba? It's more than a little unfair considering how much he's contributed to the club's success over the years. I can understand why AVB is reluctant to play Torres. Let's face it the shitstorm surrounding the player is not going to die down. Creeps like Lipton are never going to let it go unless he scores hat tricks in successive games or something terrible happens to him. There seems to be too much primal pleasure for these grubby little hacks in seeing a career potentially destroyed. Perhaps AVB, with similar troubles of his own, feels it's safer to play Drogba who gets far less criticism from the media when he doesn't play well, and so has reverted to Carlo's tactic of playing Torres for a few minutes at the end of games. From the press reaction (with the exception of Henry Winter) it's clear that any implied criticism or lack of faith in the player wins media approval and takes some of the pressure off himself. It's instructive that it was Di Matteo who spoke to the press about Torres in the wake of the league cup game against Liverpool when he might be playing. Maybe AVB just isn't used to handling this level of media criticism and sees washing his hands of the player as one way of taking some of the heat off his own situation and part of his strategy for survival as Chelsea manager, If this is the case it's probably better for all concerned if Torres is sold or goes out on loan to a Spanish club in January (Malaga has been mentioned in dispatches) and the club look for a new striker to combine with Sturridge and Mata.

This has been going on too long to be merely a case of poor form. Can't help wondering if something off the pitch is affecting his performance on. Depression? As a very reserved person he's probably not the type to open up about such things and the witchhunt by the media (which started with Liverpool drip-feeding them with negative stories) can't have helped. Who knows? Just wish he could find the dynamism and confidence to kickstart his career to the benefit of Chelsea.

The press appear to be having a field day with a storm created by disgruntled internet warriors (probably Liverpool or Manchester United fans in a move to take the heat of their own clubs). Looks like it's going to be open season on Terry again. The media really are utter scum! Hope he sues whoever's responsible till the pips squeak.

I was over generalising and should reflect a bit before I post. Probably too influenced by the dramas created by the media myself!

Lets face it the victory at Bolton was largely a victory for the so called 'old guard' ... and why not if this bring success ... but does that make Mata, Meireles and Torres obsolete before a quarter of the season is over? What are AVB's plans for the next few games and will they involve Torres et al. or the more traditional set up? Marcotti has written an interesting article which implies how costly the recent red card may prove for the development of the player's career at Chelsea.

To be fair Lampard did say the team which played without Torres against Bolton was 'the finished article' and referred to the previous lack of goals taking the 'gloss' off some good performances, so I'm surprised the media hasn't made more of a song and dance about it. Post-match commentary definitely seems more favourable to Chelsea when he isn't playing (even in the Metro). Newspapers do what they do to keep the money rolling in. With the boycott of the Sun, the Mirror must have the largest circulation of any tabloid in Merseyside so I'm sure they do the necessary to maintain this. Before he moved to Chelsea the attitude towards Torres was reasonably favourable, even when he was out of form. I think they even serialised his life story at one stage. That said I've never seen such a sustained media campaign against one player.

According to the Guardian report, the Torres sending off was announced over the tannoy at half-time during the Wolves Liverpool game. How classy is that? After hanging the player out to dry when he left, the club just don't appear to be able to leave it alone. It seems to be part of the new corporate hierarchy's way of maintaining their popularity. Would be interesting to know what really went on behind the scenes before he left.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/ColumnistsDetails/0,,10268~2456507,00.html Good article re 'experimental' AVB.

http://www.footballtransfertavern.com/2011/09/premiership/abysmal-anti-chelsea-press-have-twisted-torres-quotes Apols if already posted elsewhere.