Rubber bullets

For all the talk about Torres fanboys on this forums, there are some who are at the other extreme who just bash him just for the sake of it. I just looked at BL's match report, and the stupid shit he spouts about how Torres does not deserve good service and a squad that can play good football says it all.

According to the BBC, bar the need for surgery, he will be out for 4 weeks

I think it was the first time that I was dropping of to sleep while watching Chelsea play.

Essien kept falling over everytime he got the ball. Hope tahts not any sort of indication.

From Twitter Team v QPR: Cech; Ivan, D Luiz, JT ©, Cole; Ram, Meir, Mal; Sturr, Torres, Mata. - subs: Turn, Bos, Bert, Cahill, Ess, Romeu, Lukaku.

Oh for fucks sakes, we always lose a match when you post something like that before a game.

Now the newspapers are picking up on it and claim we won't sign him till the summer http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Chelsea-transfer-gossip-Willian-pursuit-hit-by-red-tape-he-would-struggle-to-get-work-permit-article857838.html

I never thought Marcel would be a person like that. Then again I never thought John was a person like the one being described!

Sorry, I have nothing against you but ARGGHHH!!! The bloody cup tied thing!!! Why the fuck should we care?

What I should have added that you may have missed becuase I edited that post much later on waas that the clun are being punshied for not trying to scrape away the Drogba-Lampard centric tactics.

To be honest, I think most of the so calld leaders and experienced players tink they are the club and above them. People like Tery, Lampard and Drogba will not want to teach players that want to replace them, becuase they think that the club is them. And that should not be a situation that should ever be allowed in a football club.

But thats the thing, Drogba i not ging to be our savior. There has only been one game where he realy has made an impact this season. Lets cut the crap about past seasons. What about now? We have one striker who has no confidence left and is a misrable wreck. One that is past it and cares moreabout which club will offer him a big paycheck. And two who are inexprianced as the lone striker, But if we spend a lot of money on another striker, they will flop becuase the rest f the team is so shit and uncreative. Don't you get it? The club has basially screwed itself up. And Drogba will not give us much help I'm sorry. He is pst it. Some people needd to let go. We have much more presing concerns then a past it player crying that he is not getting a 2 year contract despite being 34. Bt we must blame the club for not getting rid of the Lampard-Drogba system, which in my opinion is the biggest problem we face.

But isn't always that Chelsea want to send him on loan? We do need players that can come in now lol.

The worst thing about Malouda has been his use of the media. I can't help feel he is using it to show that he is demanding the club lick is arse and give him a long year contract. Remember at the end of August where he outline this cute little plan where Chelsea will keep him until the 2014 world cup. Maing me think he just wants to stay for other reasons and not for Chelsea.

And I completly disagree with that, and this is not a personal attack on you but I think that mentality is the reason why we are in these difficult times. So what I'm interperetating from this post is that for some reason Drogba has this god given right to be Chelsea's main striker, and that it should acceptable for him to moan and complain when someone has the audacity to not start him every game? Even though in the last 15 months he has been below average bar one or two games? Where it seems his first touch and ability have been going down and don't seem to be returning? I'm sorry, but no player is bigger then the club and these levels of sentimental feelings from some fans has in my opinion, played a part to a player power problem where certain players at the club think that Chelsea is all about them. When you hear Lampard constantly talking about not dropping the old guard you can't help but feel that is the case. And it seems to be that your saying that Drogba is a crybaby and emotionally weak. I'm mean he has taken the wrong attitude in the first place by demanding a 2 year deal even though he is nearly 34 and clearly is on the decline. To me I have a feeling he simply wants to be garunteed that he will have a large wage for at least 2 years. But if he really thinks he deserves it then surely he would be playing his heart. Giving world class performances or at the least trying his hardest. To me half the time he can't be bothered and just wants to be on the pitch for the sake of it. But either way IMO opinion his atitutde has been poor on the contract issue. The best way, if he really playes with his heart on his sleeve, would be to do this. Realise that the club needs to begin a new era, realises he is 34 and on the decline and that the club have set a new policy on players over 30 and new contracts (one year extentions). But he will except the one year extention (in my opinion he and a couple of players over 30 should not be even considered a one year contract extenttion) and play his gut out to show he still has value. And that he will keep fighting for a one year extention every season until its not physically possible. However to me, it seems like he wants to bee sure he will still have the same wages for two more years, realises he won't get it and now could not give a shit about performances anymore. Frankley if that is the case, and with the club in the problems it faces, he and others like him should go. I'm sorry but the sentiment and mentalility you have shown would be a complete disaster for the club. Maybe I might be too harsh on Drogba. But his attitude bar some occasions as left me disappointed. Yet I think this happening with other Chelsea greats such as Lampard and Malouda.

According to various news reports, he is out for the next two games and is a big doubt for the Manchester United match.

Would barely be better and comparing them at most he thats all he has been, just a tony bit better.. It does seem this season that whenever Drogba is absent from a few games some sort of myth is created that Drogba will somehow be scoring lots of goals and winning games by himself, even if only its been one game where he has truely been world class. Also am I the only one who fears when he comes back he will care even less on the pitch? I mean it seems certain that he will leave in the summer and get a massive rage rise so I won't be surprised if he does nothing else this season. Mainly becuase he will give less of a shit then he already has. My biggest fear is that Torres will not score when Drogba is away. Then when Drogba immediatly comes back he is put on the starting 11 and does nothing out of laziness/

Also, I would like to add that we have for many years we have been using 4-3-3. But its been a bit unique as it has been built on Drogba holding the ball against 2 centre backs and Lampard slipping in to score, and to an extent we still try and play like that, even when Drogba and Lampard are not even on the pitch. For most strikers to work in a 4-3-3 they need quality service, with midfielders playinng a good tempo and wingers stretching the defence becuase the striker will constantly be monitered by two centre backs. The reason Sturridge has scored 11 goals is becuase he plays out wide and only gets marked by one full back most of the time and he can use his pace to beat him and get a chance on goal. Torres does not have the luxary of only having one man marking him, and certainly not all the time. Not to mention that Sturridge hardley ever tries to pass it to anyone in the box even though its obviously the only option and what wingers are suppose to do. Same thing with Lampard to an extent, he only has one player marking him, if he breaks free from that then he is free to go against the defence unnoticed most of the time, for example the winner against Wolves. And lets not forget 2 of his goals camee from penalties and one came by pure luck. And Drogba, who is playing in a system that is more tailered to him, has scored only two more goals, one being a penalty. I don't want to come across as some kind of Torres fanboy, I'm just pointing out that in most 4-3-3s the strikers need service. If you can't provide him service, change it to a system with two strikers, where you may hae something where both can feed off each other.

Can I ask you a question? If we were to right now, spend a lot of money on another striker (like Higuain or Cavani, or promote Lukaku or Sturridge to centre forward) and played him in the same team that Torres has worked with. Apart from the sitters that Torres has missed, would they be scoring regularly? Becuase apart from Torres' confidence, the other main problem in my opinion is that our squad is so shit and plays some of the most slow, boring and uncreative football which is exactly what a striker needs.

But whats the fucking point if his cup tied? We may not even get a CL spot for next season and will probably not win this year's competition. At the moment we need to focus on getting players that can help us secure a CL spot so fuck it if they are cup tied.

I'm only reacting to this idea that the reason we dropped points was entirely Nando's fault when its obvious that there is much more glaring faults that do not focus on one player. But some people are being ignorant (CHOUL019) and thinkthat I'm somehow ignoring Torres mistakes or trying deny it. Of course he sould have scored that chances and needs to be much better infornt of goal. I'm just staggered that a couple of people are suggesting that Torres should be gven all the blame for missing that chance. Even tough time and time again its our creativity that should be blamed. We might as well as blame a player every time we drop points for missing.

Or maybe the whole team should be blamed for being one of the most uncreative, boring and dire teams we have seen for years (and certainly the most boring in the league), who can't seem to create even half chance and we have to rely on something very lucky to get a goal. Like Torres having to out of nothing volley the ball, only to hit the post, but lucky enough to smash against Lampard last weeek against Sunderland. I know there is complaints about Torres fanboys and that people praise to him too much for apparent decent performances. But it seems that there are also some people who just want to blame everything on Torres and just want to use him only to vent their anger and never want to give him credit when he gives a good performance. But lets be consistant with your philosophy. So the reason we dropped points againts Spurs is becuase of Ramires, he had 2 great oppertunities to scores and fluffed them. So all the blame lies with him and its his fault we did not win. Or how about Drogba against Fulham, goes one on one with the goalkeeper and gives a pathetic tap on the ball that took no effort for the keeper to pick up, he should get all the blame for us dropping points there as well. Well I hope you will be consitant with that and not just be selective for Torres only. Becuase I think that is what you might be doing. I don't remember you ever blaming it all on Ramires and Drogba in the other matches.

I wish I could bash in with a sledgehamer, a toddler could see we need them

Buts that my point, the system we use is so dull that unless we change the players the we have to change the formation

I think that every Chelsea supporter knows that there is one thing that Chelsea sincerely lacks. Creativity. Both in terms of tempo, where we simply play so slow and every player takes 5 minutes and 20 touches before making their next move. And in terms of creative passing, we never seem to give a good pass that can split a defence and allows a striker a chance to score a goal. When you play a system like 4-3-3 where you have just one centre forward, it’s vital that you have a good amount of creativity from the midfield and wings. At the moment it is not the case and clearly shows with our Strikers. Torres either has to come into the midfield or out wide to just to get a sniff of the ball and to try and create chances himself (when he is not missing sitters) and Lukaku will be the same too, most strikers need service and he is no exception. Even if you think Drogba is the type of striker who can do something on his own, he clearly has lost a lot of that apparent ability and looks uninterested most of the time. It’s awkward when you rely on a near 34 year old Lampard to get a lucky chance to slip one in. And even though Sturridge has scored 10 goals even though playing out wide, he has a tendency to be anonymous after that, which was shown especially against Norwich where he was lucky to play the full 90 minutes. Even though we brought Mata who is the only one who seems to be able to do a remotely good pass forward, the 4-3-3 is forcing him to play wide even though he prefers and naturally wants to be more central of the field to influence games. I'm starting to think that other teams know that if they can force Mata to stay wide, then he has far less influence. Since it looks like the manager has no intention of buying more players that can perform and have the ability to play more creative football, and that leads to our strikers not being a threat they can be on their own. I think we need to ditch the 4-3-3 formation to play a formation that has two strikers playing in a partnership. Whether it is 4-4-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-2-2-2 will not be discussed here, but when done right a strike partnership can make up for a lack of creativity. You can easily see this with Norwich between Grant Holt and Steve Morrison. Despite having no expensive world class players, the partnership between these two puts us to shame. They were creating chances for each other, finding space for each other, putting them on for goal, all while at a high tempo. Even though they were playing a rigid 4-4-2 system that was more about stopping Chelsea scoring. The partnership between Holt and Morrison made Norwich more threatening on the attack then Chelsea most of the time. If we can't get our midfielders and wingers to play anywhere near like that with the one striker, we surely must try two strikers that can feed off each other. Of course if we do decide to go for this, you can't just play any two strikers and expect it to work. Each striker reacts different to certain strikers, playing better with certain partners and worse with other types. The problem for Chelsea is that since 2004 we he have almost always played with just one striker, mostly it being Drogba, if another striker (like Anelka and Sturridge) is on the field they are always forced out wide in the 4-3-3 system. The last time we really had a striker partnership was when Carlo went 4-4-2 and put Torres and Anelka together, and even though it showed signs that they could work together, was only used for a few games before we went back to 4-3-3. So who should be partnered up on the field? I will get it out of the way by stating that Drogba should be completely excluded from this. For the simple fact is that strike partnerships never work with him. It involves both sharing the attacking spot light which is not in Drogba's DNA, he simply will not accept having a partner and his big personality will push the other striker out and become mainly useless. When Carlo partnered up Drogba and Anelka upfront in diamond, Drogba was mostly centre staged and forced Anelka out wide or midfield. We need the two strikers to work together, not simply for one having to do what the other wants him to do. Otherwise we don't get a dynamic attacking force going and instead be almost like the current predicament we are in now. And with Drogba being slow, lethargic and uninterested most of the time but still demanding to be the main man, I fear this is what will happen. Even if you think that Torres is done and is just getting poor excuses with the lack of creativity and support argument. It has been shown (with David Villa and to an extent Anelka) that he can work in a strike partnership. Infect with his lack of confidence but having the knack to create chances for others, I believe switching to a system that uses 2 strikers just might be the thing that saves Torres' Chelsea career if we can get something dynamic like the Grant and Holt partnership going. For Lukaku it’s still unknown how well he would do. From what I understand during his time in Belgium, he was mostly played in a lone striking role similar to the system that we use. With everyone comparing him to Drogba, the trait I hope he does not share with Drogba is the inability to work with another striker and try and force them out of position. However if he can work with another player then it could play a vital role in helping him settle in English football and help show any talent he has that decided was worth paying £18 million pounds for. But it may be the case that he needs the right partner This brings me to the case that a partnership of Torres and Lukaku will probably not work. Since Torres needs to have someone who can be dynamic with him and can feed to him chances - it will probably be a case of Torres benefiting Lukaku but not vice versa, making it useless to start with them together. However, one player that would defiantly work with both of them is Daniel Sturridge. It seems that Sturridge is best when playing with a partner and not on his own. The few time we have seen him pay as a lone striker he looks completely lost and when on the wing, despite scoring at a good rate, has a tendency to be anonymous for large periods. When at Bolton and playing with Kevin Davies not only was he scoring at an exceptional rate, but the team seem to function well with him due to his pace and skills bringing others in the attack when not selfish. Of course that’s the main problem potentially stopping it working. He will need to lose some of the selfishness that has become a delight/annoyance for some. But we could see him not only helping the other striker with chances due to his pace and skill (potentially helping Torres find form or help Lukaku set in), but him giving a much full performance. Of course this is all just speculation; football is not about what ifs, but with the team in dire need of something fresh due to lack of creativity. This might be the only way to get a more dynamic attacking force gong. Of course many here will have different views on who should partner who, anything must be better than the current tactic we are using, if only the strikers don't have to rely on the midfield or service. If two of the here strikers can have a partnership that works, we can make up for the lack of creativity. It would also allow Mata to play more centrally, giving us two advantages, so it’s worth having a go.