LukakutoStamford

Qualification still needs to happen and it would behoove the NT to avoid a playoff. If Belgium qualifies they will be a very dangerous side in Brazil as the top players will have 2 more years of maturity.

Would love Witsel here and I'm not surprised he's not playing well as Russia is not friendly towards people of color not to mention the pressure of living up to his unwieldly contract.

It's better to patient with him and a second loan year would be better in the long run. The team here needs to get quiet a few things sorted before they can move forward to be a legitimate contender for PL title. Coaching, midfield, playing system, defense all need to be sorted before Lukaku should move back to Chelsea. The last thing that needs to happen is rushing him back to Chelsea and having him falter because he hasn't developed into a consistent player and everyone is expecting 25+ PL goals from him. He'd be better off returning to West Brom for another year and getting more time and starts. He's doing well because he's being gradually brought along and he needs more time to develop. Tossing him in next year could work but you run the risk of ruining him because of the immense pressure of expectations of both him and Chelsea.

He might be the best Spanish striker ever. He was so good that Spain played a 4-6-0 at 2012 Euros instead using him as a striker. Falcao is miles ahead of Torres in his prime form at Athletico Torres is not ahead of Butragueno, Zarra, Quini, or Langara for Spain Torres is not ahead of Bearsley, Owen, Keegan, Rush, or Dalglish for Liverpool

How can you bring him back to Chelsea in a part time role when he's starting most of Athletico's matches. It doesn't serve him well he needs more experience and he's already good enough to start for just about any club team in the world.

  &Rubbish, I don't care if Torres played like Peter Crouch or Shane Long, the simple point is scoring goals. The style is unimportant. As I posted a page back he's getting outscored by Lukaku who maybe plays a full 90 one out of 7 matches and starts maybe 1 out 3/4 games for West Brom. Torres starts just about every game and he has 7 PL goals ... 7. Benteke has more goals than Torres and he's in his first year in the PL with Villa, who are gash at the midfield position. Torres is one of the worst strikers I've seen. I have no clue how anyone defends him anymore he's worse than just about any starting PL striker and he's worse than many of the reserves. He's playing at a mid table championsip team level. Hell, even Sturridge is likely to pass him goals soon.

Lukaku, Benteke, and Fellaini all have more PL goals than Torres. Lukaku barely plays at WBA (Plays maybe a full 90 once out of 5 games), Benteke has a very poor team around him and is in his first PL season, and Fellaini is an attacking mid. Now Torres plays at Chelsa and has Mata, Oscar and Hazard and he's managed 7 PL goals this year. He's at an Andy Carroll level of inept

Cech has more experience and does somethings better than Courtois but Courtois's ceiling is higher. He's the best Belgian goalkeeping talent I've seen and I got to see both Pfaff (FIFA 100, Goalkeeper of the Year in 1987, 1986 world cup team) and Predu'homme (Goalkeeper of he year in 1994) in their primes. This guy has the potential to be the best in the world year in and year out. He's already top 10 in the world at 21.

This thread is cracking me up. What's crazy is that Lukaku hasn't started many games. He's been mostly used as a 60-75 minute sub for WBA. While Chelsea could use him as a super sub next year it would be short sighted. He needs another year in order to get many more 90 games under his belt to develop his stamina and get used to playing 30+ 90 minute matches. Another year at WBA in an expanded role would be excellent as Clarke has been very good at bringing him along slowly.

I think Benteke hit a wall due to fatigue. He's been playing in just about every match for Villa. He had a run of 3 poor games but bounced back against Swansea with a goal and an assist.

He needs the international success. There's no excuse for Argentina to not get to WC Final either in 2014 or 2018. They are loaded with talent.

Well considering that Essien is out on loan and Lampard appears to be heading out there's a dearth of quality CMs on the roster who are ready enough to play on a regular basis. Of course the other issue is continuing with the 4-2-3-1, which I think is not the formation best suited for Chelsea's current roster.

Good lord, man, I never suggested he wasn't poor against Chelsea I merely added that the entire team was atrocious and singling him out was absurd. When a team loses 8-0 and their goalkeeper was the MOTM for them then there's plenty of blame to go around. Even in spite of that, he did have one intricate play late in the game versus Chelsea that did show quite a bit of class. The lad ssut turned 22 a few weeks ago and for all of his "shocking" passing he's also had some brilliant top level play. Is he wasteful? Certainly. Does he make mistakes? Absolutely. Should he have more goals? Yes. He's only played 16 premierleague games so it's a bit premature to peg him. That being said he's a raw and inconsistent yet immense talent and if Villla was a bit more developed he would have more opportunities.

Oh I'm sorry that I'm against making rash judgements of players based on one game. Perhaps you need a) not take it so personally actually watch games that don't involve Chelsea c) rewatch the game and focus on the individual player throughout the game whenever possible. I disagreed with his sentiment on Benteke, I disgree with people on many other players that aren't Belgian. Villa as a whole was rubbish and I find this whole not Chelsea caliber line pedantic and ignorant especially when the summation comes after a one off viewing and with no given explantion as to why a poster feels that way. (And no this isn't solely about Benteke) I'm not asking for lengthy diatribe as to why a player isn't a good or suitable for Chelsea, but I'd like to see more than he's rubbish and/or he's not Chelsea caliber or no way he could ever play for Chelsea.

Imagine Chelsea with RVP instead of Torres er wait better not it's too depressing ...

He had a poor game although everyone but Guzan had a poor game and Guzan let in 8 goals. If you're going to judge him then look at his whole body of work. He was a handful for Pool, ManU and he's been decent for the Belgian NT. His touch is far superior to Torres.

Villa is much improved, however Liverpool carried most of the play and if Liverpool wasn't so poor in the final third Liverpool could have been up 2/3 goals. That being said if Chelsea leaves the barn door open Villa will sneak through and I'm not very confident about the centre backs against Benteke.

I feel like I must be in a twilight zone episode or something. Torres's link up play is atrocious. He's a massive black hole. His positioning is maddening and has a poor sense for the ball. Spain chose to use a 4-6-0 rather than play him in the Euro championships. That should tell you all you need to know about Torres.

The hyperbole for Musonda Jr. has been outrageous with some articles suggesting he's the best young talent (U17) in the world. We all know how that often turns out. However, he appears to be the genuine article.

Yes, scoring goals is part of a striker's job. However, please notice he is scoring most them against Championship quality teams. In Torres's "reign" at Chelsea he has appeared in 94 games with 25 goals and 14 assists; however when you look at the numbers you begin to see things a bit more clearly .... 5 Goals 1 Assist v. Genk 2 Goals 2 Assists v. Leicester 2 Assists v. Portsmith 1 Goal 1 Assist v. Wolves 2 Goals v. FC Nords 1 Goal v. Leeds 1 goal v. Monterrey 12 Goals and 4 Assists against championship level teams 3 Goals v. QPR 1 Goal 1 Assist v. Aston Villa 1 Goal v. Swansea 1 Goal v. Reading 1 Goal v. Norwich 2 Goals v. Sudnerland 1 Goal 1 Assist v. West Ham 1 Goal 2 assists v. Newscastle 9 Goals and 2 Assist against mid table PL teams. 1 Goal 1 Assist v. Manchester United 1 Goal v. Manchester City 1 Goal v. Arsenal 3 Goals and 1 assist against top 5 PL clubs 1 Goal v. Barcelona 1 Assist v. Benefica 2 Assists v. Leverkusen 1 Goal v. Shaktar 2 Goals 3 assists against top European competition

I have to have a bit of a laugh at his first name, Dieumerci = Thank God or God, Thanks.

The U17 team is pretty stacked Siebe Schrijvers (Forward) already has 14 caps for the U17 team. Mathias Bossaerts (defender) already signed by Citeh Bakkali - PSV but looking to leave Musonda - Chelsea Pereira already signed by ManU I don't know enough about the rest of the team yet.

I'm hoping Chelsea is on this kid because he's one of the top young Belgian talents ... oh and he's a 9. I know Citeh was after him and I haven't heard much lately

Heh, I try not to be homer, hence a mild critique of Hazard but I live and die for Les Diables Rouges. I'm frustrated with the crazy manager swap the tactics and like everyone else, Torres.