Las7

Kalou of all people..

We had a good first half in defense, created close to nothing for 68 min, while Benfica are starting to get close - so pretty much standard performance for this season

If our defence improved their defending today I'm confident Benfica won't score

That lineup is a joke

TBF I think Mata; Sturridge and Lamps were completely ineffective creating chances.Most of our best chances were setup utilizing long balls from our half.

That might be true but he wasn't played on the left wing very often he was playing on the right while Malouda was mostly on the left

At the very least we need someone who can make chances for himself. Sturridge appears selfish when most "chances" are created by him and wasted by him; if we had a few more players able to create an opening for themselves we wouldn't be in such a mess.

This is a shitty formation on the back of a good result against low level opposition, I hope I'm proven wrong

I wouldn't read too much into this, he seems more selfish because he creates more opportunities for himself to shoot - he is still pretty one footed so he barely tries to cross with his right foot and doesn't seem to trust it very much. So he is reliant on his instincts a lot which lead to unsatisfying results from the right wing. When he is playing in his natural position and he gets goals regularly he won't be as selfish, it's just the lack of goals in the last 3 months that has made him a bit desperate to break his duck. If he continues like this he might warrant a few games watching the game from the bench but I feel he has a bright future leading our front line.

It was a bad move not playing Joshua and expecting a team with a better midfield than us to play him.

I don't understand the logic here, what we should be doing is actively looking for a right winger and left winger to bring in for the summer and giving more opportunities to Lukaku and Sturridge to play up top. Currently there is pressure on the squad to get results, but at the same time Torres has shown time and time again that he should not be played. First it was the not being able to work with Drogba; than the tempo; than not playing; than the midfield; than no through balls; than players not passing to him because they dislike him - now we have come full circle and the reason he is shite is because he ain't playing with Drogba or playing in his new natural position the right wing . Yet a lot of these problems don't exist in the Spanish National Team - yet he is still shite. Give up, if Torres didn't cost 50 million he would have been flogged off in the summer, he has outlasted two coaches who failed to get the best of him - it's about time he is shown the door while he still has some value and reputation. I don't care about his effort really, they could sign me and I would run my bollocks off without being paid 150 grand a week and I would probably be just as effective at running as Torres is.

When have our fans ever been un-supportive of Torres? I mean whenever I've gone to matches he gets more support than most other players that out perform him or have done far more for the club than him

He missed an open net - his miss could have effectively cost us the tie considering that Napoli looked fresher and that was our first chance in ET and you don't get a lot of those when chasing the game(how many chances did Napoli get once they were behind?). It was a moment of brilliance from Drogba the men who Torres should of been replacing that provided us the win. Torres was bought for 50 million pounds to be a striker and in our biggest games he is a liability in forward position. A 34 year old out-of-form Drogba is a better option in every sense of the word - I just want to see the back of Torres in the summer and no amount of tracking back will change the fact he is a complete and utter failure of a striker since joining us. That is all, don't take it personally if you though he did well for me he can f off in the summer

Kalou off Torres the Joke still on - that's it I'm going to the City to ensure that Torres doesn't play another minute for us this season.

Mata and Kalou sort of combine for our goal

If Kalou is taken off and Torres stays on I'd personally go to the Stadium and injury Torres to ensure I don't see him starting a game until the end of the season.

Anyone have actual quotes from the alledged interview in which AVB compared Torres to Sheva and Kezmen?

Instead of signing another high profile striker, we should address our real problem areas and play Lukaku and Sturridge up top. We need to get a right winger; possibly a left winger.

Theo is horrible, I'd honestly offer Malouda and Kalou new 5 year deals ahead of signing Walcott.

Just because you ask Samba to play a striker doesn't make him one simply because he is playing up top. Essien and Romeu are actually natural defensive midfielders, Essien might lack the power but it's a guarantee that he doesn't loose the ball like Ramires did on a couple of occasions and Romeu actually knows what he is supposed to do when he is played as a defensive midfielder while Raul just looks lost out there whatever position AVB decides to play him. I personally though Essien played a lot better than either Ramires or Raul when he came on, Lamps on the other hand failed to make any sort of impact apart from wasting possession with hopeful efforts.

How could AVB get his tactics right when we had no defensive midfielders and Napoli were winning all the midfield clashes ? What did anyone expect we started without a defensive midfielder in a tough away fixture in the CL. Ramires sucks defensively, he is good getting forward and missing/scoring chances and covering ground - but he gets out muscled by strong wind currents. Raul is an enigma, I don't know what his role is and I don't know why he is starting. It would have been much better if we had started Essien with Romeu behind Ramires in midfield - at least give this defense some protection and play for the draw and counter attacks - away from home in a tough ground. It was a naive starting 11 to say the least

Our whole defense and "defensive midfielders" were inept tonight. Ramires probably had his worse game in a blue shirt, Raul doesn't do enough defensively or offensively to merit a spot in a CL first eleven, A.Cole was taking a rest for the third goal instead of trying to keep up with Cavani; Luiz had a usual one howler per game; Cahill was decent but don't expect him to be anything more; Ivanovic today had Bosingwa like crossing and overall game. Drogba had ok hold up play, but as I've said countless times neither him nor Torres really warren a first team spot in the team at the moment. We still have a second leg to play, but if anyone thinks this defense can keep a clean sheet at home they've got another thing coming. And we could have really done with two wingers and Sturridge up front tonight, Malouda's positive contribution tonight is one cross which only Drogba can control and Sturridge will never be a great right winger he should be playing in his natural position because he can cross with his right foot.

Malouda is in the starting 11 I do not know what to say

The difference is that Sturridge gets ahead of his marker and is able to receive the ball, Torres mostly gets clattered and is unable to be in front of one of the defenders - for a top class striker you have to know where to run in order to position yourself between the ball and the defender. And as I said it's easier for Sturridge to find space with Drogba on the pitch because Drogba is a big guy and is not as easily marked as Torres is right now. A lot has been said about Torres and the amount of chances that are created for him, but witness this game and see how many times in the first half Torres was able to position himself between one of the central defenders and the ball - it certainly did not happen often enough.

Disappointing line up and squad