Las7

Jesus are we still going to argue about this? Torres is shorter, every site in the WORLD WIDE WEB has him as shorter than Sturridge. Professional Football players have a medical every few months it makes no sense that our Official Site; Wikipedia and every other statistical site for football out there to have the wrong statistics. http://www.premierle...aniel-sturridge http://www.premierle...fernando-torres Stop arguing about FACTS

Based on outscoring Torres two years in a row maybe? Based on outscoring Torres; Drogba and Anelka's combined tally while at Bolton? Based on his footballing ability? Based on being younger and having his best years ahead of him? I don't know it annoys me, when people say Sturridge is unproven but yet forget that we have given Torres an automatic first team slot based on one and a half years of pain and misery for all parties involved.

I don't get the impression from redcafe that they watch too many of our games - I think they don't even think there is a remote chance of Sturridge playing and they all rate Welbeck higher than Sturridge anyway. So in the off chance that Sturridge starts they are going to celebrate cause they all remember the Torres that used to take the mickey out of Vidic a few years back.

Nah, he'd have to run too much as a CB I reckon Shaq could have easily been the player to fire Stoke to their first ever CL title

Roman Sign him Up!

MIKEL is taller lets play him up top!

Use my eyes? Every site out there has Sturridge being taller than Torres. Those are the facts, footballers have an yearly medical if Torres was taller than Sturridge it would have been reflected in at least one site that provides such information. Like I said I've given you links stating that Torres is in fact shorter than Sturridge - not that I personally think it makes any difference. I've only brought up their height because somebody said that an extra few inches for Torres will be key - I disagree with such a notion especially when factually Torres is shorter.

Torres has Aerial Presence I have read all type of crazy reasoning for Torres to start - height is not one of them Torres is not taller than Sturridge maybe Wiki is wrong but here you go Soccerbase http://www.soccerbas...player_id=31990 http://www.soccerbas...player_id=46104 Torres 6ft (1.83m) Sturridge 6ft 1in (1.85m) On our Official website once again they have Sturridge taller than Torres... I can't believe we are arguing about height

Torres - Height, 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Sturridge - Height, 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) So if height is important we should play Sturridge

How many matches did Bertrand start before the CL final? If he is fit enough he should start simple as that - because he offers more than Torres. Like I've said Torres's link up play is nothing special he has 71% passing accuracy which is nothing spectacular when over 70% of his passes are sideways or backwards, when we have Mata; Hazard and Oscar always moving into channels. Torres will be picked because he is a bigger name, Sturridge trains with the same players and within the same system as Torres; he knows most of our players for a longer time than Fernando - Sturridge is not some striker we bought this summer who is still adapting to the EPL and our team. Torres - Height, 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Sturridge - Height, 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Yeah Torres is much more of an aerial threat than Sturridge in winning long balls or helping the defenders due to his height and Sturridge being a MIDGET! You think stretching the back line by moving to the wing is something that exemplifies Torres from criticism about him never making runs in the box trying to beat his markers? Fact is that any half decent forward can stretch the defense for such skillful players that require very little space to operate like Hazard; Mata and Oscar. We shall find out, Torres looked nakered when he came off

Last season Torres also didn't have a goal in 24 hours of football - not having a single assist is just proof that the perceived chemistry that he has with the 3 maestros isn't anything all that special. Besides I don't really mind him not assisting if he is actually taking shots a thing he is failing to do regularly.

Torres is loosing the ball more than any other forward out of our direct rivals, he hasn't got a single assist this season.53% of his pass going side ways and 21% backwards. Fernando Torres almost seems like he has no intention of going towards goal. Sturridge doesn't get dispossessed off the ball so easily once he has it under control - his first touch at the moment is miles better that Fernando's; his dribbling and close control is also far superior; he is able to make enough space for himself to have a shot at goal and to top it all off he is faster both in speed with the ball and off the ball. If we start playing long balls we are already conceding possession to Manchester United, we need to play it a long the ground because not only does Torres not win that many aerial duels but also lack anyone else up top like Anelka in the past to also be an aerial threat. What some people don't realize about heading the ball is that you need to make yourself available taking up a better position than your markers inside the box in order to have any chance to actually have a free header inside the box - Torres is static inside the box usually behind a central defender unless we expect MU's defense to fuck up and let Fernando have a free header he won't get many opportunities to head the ball at goal - other than set pieces. Torres defending set pieces is dreadful once again he is usually ball watching - so bringing up his height when he is not utilizing it is pointless. You are absolutely right with Torres I know what we would get. We will get a forward who gets dispossessed with the ball; Runs into defenders; Scared of one on one chances; Doesn't make space for himself to shoot because he takes too many touches allowing defenders to dispossess him without even test goalkeepers; Is slower than Sturridge; Doesn't provide any assists this season; We know what we get with Torres - the question is do we want it. Currently the only thing Torres offers which is better than Sturridge is a treat from set pieces. I still know with certainty that Torres will start against United but I don't agree with the decision and I also don't agree with your reasoning.

He needs to have a good performance against United(don't see RdM dropping him against them) if he performs the same way he did in Donetsk I don't want to see him any more as a starter in this squad. Freeze him out and offer him for free to Russian/Spanish club for free like Sheva in the winter. Simply to offload his massive wages - it's optimistic thinking anyone is actually going to pay anything over 10 million pounds for him at this time unless he is willing to lower his wage demands substantially. If he has an indifferent performance loosing the ball, afraid of shooting, making the wrong decision just play Sturridge as first choice a few matches and figure out do we need to sign Falcao or just another striker to compete with Sturridge for a first team place on equal footing.

Yeah I think he won't find it too hard to be on the same wavelength as our 3 maestros. I think his speed and incisive runs will be lethal with those 3 players behind him. The main thing is he can stop the ball with such guile - his first touch is fantastic. When you are a striker especially running into a one on one situation or a congested penalty box have the capability of gluing the ball to your foot can be the difference between getting dispossessed and having a shot. There was one time when an offside was called against Tottenham when he literally plucked it out of the air like Zlatan and Berbatov regularly do.

Another site compiled a comparison chart between Fernando a few other EPL strikers who are on form at the moment and Falcao Just look at the amount of times has either lost the ball to a defender or passed it directly to one per match, also look at how few shots he takes compared to other strikers - he certanly has had the opportunity to shoot a fare few times but took too much time and was dispossessed/blocked or chose to pass.

double post

Can you think of a worse transfer - all I can come up with is Gaizka Mendieta to Lazio. Sheva did better than Torres(considering we never really dropped Drogba to play him) for us and wasn't as costly; Carroll is not on the type of wages Torres is on and Liverpool could possibly make between 15-20 million pounds when they sell him; Veron to MU was a possible contender until we took him off their hands Aquiliani to Pool was a massive flop but they paid like less than 20 million pounds for him. Only transfer as bad as Torres is Kaka to Real Madrid and possibly Mendieta

Sturridge will be let go/ leave regardless of whether we sign a striker for a massive sum or not - he has been at CFC for 3 years and his the number of games he has started up top can be counted on one hand. It's a major cock up and the fact we only have Torres has not helped Sturridge see any more of the green than from when we had Anelka and Drogba. Like I said he was available for the first 8 matches and played a spanking 10 minutes leading our line against QPR. He knows it's only him and Torres right now and he is still not trusted to start a game - I think he is getting the message we have send to him loud and clear. All that matters here is to be a massive name, who the management team don't want to up sad. I was saying the same thing 2 years ago when Drogba/Kalou/Anelka couldn't hit a barn door so we decided to loan Sturridge and sign Torres without even playing Sturridge up top except an odd appearance as a sub or Carling Cup games against lower tier opposition(he had a good haul out of his starts in those games). Like I've said we will lose Sturridge unless management has a massive shift in the way they treat him and no doubt if Lukaku doesn't develop fast enough on his own he would also be moved off in 3 years. Everything else you've said is pretty fair Sh0n3x

Yeah it boggles my mind Sturridge hasn't got experience - what experience did Chicarito have arriving at MU? Slotted right in and played ahead of Berbatov. What experience does Welbeck have last year? Slotted into the lineup and played big games for MU last season. Without playing a player how exactly do you expect him to gain experience, saying a left footed striker who was never taught how to cross from the right wing is better there instead of the position he has trained all his life is a JOKE.

It did not stop us giving Sheva on loan to Milan and loosing a 30 million investment - Sheva during his time here showed to me far more than Torres has done to warrant the type of support Torres is getting. Fact is we had Sturridge fit for our first 8 games this season and he played a total of 10 minutes up top. RdM deserves as much stick as Torres is getting for not trying any alternatives, now Torres is starting to cost us games, he has missed around eight one on one chances. He doesn't get into goal scoring positions ahead of defenders and whenever he is inside the box he hesitates. He can't deal with the pressure being at CFC, yet he is the first name on the team sheet. He got an automatic first choice spot while not earning it. Never been booed by our Fans, always supported far more by them than even club legends or youngsters. He was outscored last 2 years by Daniel yet it's still Sturridge who needs to prove himself in 20 minutes while we are chasing a game and our entire squad is under performing.

I think we should not play Oscar in this game, he was awful against Shakhtur despite his late goal, maybe bring him on in the second half. ---------------------Cech-------------- Ivanvovic-----Luiz---Cahill-----Cole ----------Romeu---------Mikel-------- -----------------Ramires--------------- Hazard----------------------------Mata ----------------Sturridge--------------- Doubt that Romeu and Sturridge would start but I'd have Romeu in there with the task of shadowing Rooney through out the match to whatever areas he drifts to cutting off supply for RvP. Sturridge for Torres is a none brainer for me but I know RdM won't do it. RdM has a lot of clout in my eyes after his CL triumph but he doesn't seem to want to up-sad Torres even though he ends up loosing possession for us and is indecisive up top. Hopefully we see Mata back to his best in this game it would be vital for him and Hazard to play better.

I'd say he could still be sold just at a massive lose for the club - but it was always going to be that way considering the amount we paid. He is 28 year old, the things that made him feared in England like acceleration and instinct are gone. Nearly two years later his greatest contribution to this club is winning a Corner, while he picks up his 14 million pounds in wages and plays regardless of form. There have been 3 coaches who thus far have tried to get the best out of Fernando and two of them were sacked in small part due to not getting the best out of him. RdM has infuriated me with his persistence it would have been nice to see Sturridge play 1 or 2 games as a starter when he was fit in our first 8 fixtures of the season and make a valid comparison between the two players. Tonight Sturridge setup Hazard a thing that in a few other forums I'm signed up in Torres would have been praised to no avail and all the lose of possession we witnessed tonight would have been swept under the rug. My main gripe with Torres is his complete disregard to scoring typical striker goals. He remains static waiting at one place for most crosses and passes into the box, hoping they ball is played into his feet. Usually a striker would try to get in front of a defender and not remain static during such situations. Torres remains in one spot waiting for the ball to be played into his feet, something that is not going to happen unless a defender fucks up. Sometimes during such situation he isn't even in the box. He moves far more in the box during set pieces than in open play. He might be running at full speed, but as soon as he enters the box he stops quite often wondering what to do and where to be. Most strikers playing in front of Oscar; Hazard and Mata would want to make themselves available rather than shy away - Torres has never been that good inside the box with his movement but thus far he has failed to adapt and won't get many easy goals like the one against Reading unless he starts to move there. I've given up, I feel that with the current squad Sturridge would easily outscore Torres given the same amount of time because he will look to make himself available, because he is able to beat a player with both speed and trickery and MOST IMPORTANTLY he is NOT AFRAID TO SHOOT. I just hope RdM realizes this soon and stops using Sturridge when we are already chasing the game(QPR and now Shakhtar). Give Daniel a run in this team and start it off with our match against United

Can someone make a gif of the chance he missed I didnt see it on my stream

We signed Moses and Marin to keep Eva company cause she misses Essien

You're the 7th best paid player in the World Fernando, supposed to dig us out of tough situation - instead you continue to dig beneath the lowest expectations I ever thought was possible to have for an automatic first choice striker at our club.