Rumoured Fernando Torres

[The Big Drog 1,110]

I doubt we will let him go out on loan no matter how bad his form is, afterall he cost 50 million and he is a household name which is pretty important for the club to have.

I've always said give him a chance, he will come good. I still hope that if he gets a regular run of games in a side that also includes Mata, Meireles and Sturridge it might really help him because they are the kind of players he needs to succeed. That being said, if it were up to me and he was still in the kind of form he is now come January and Milan are offering Pato in exchange for Torres Id bet Milan's hand off, infact Id throw in Kalou to sweeten the deal.

[dodojojo 510]

It's extraordinary the frenzy that swells on a turn of a dime. Three weeks ago we were optimistic that Torres was going to be much better this season but in one week's time, he's been dropped by Spain, dropped by Chelsea and had a poor 15 minutes in the most recent game. And it seems all of the frustrations have blown the top off the volcano. Whereas if you step back, you would see a striker who was relative to his teammates; MOTM in his first game, good in his 2nd game, below par in his 3rd and poor in a brief sub appearance. Can you honestly say as a center forward he received adequate service? If he had good service during the Stoke and in his fine form, grabbed a goal or two, how different would the situation be now? Has he had a chance to play with the faster and more creative players in the team? Has he fluffed chance after chance?

And Drogba is a better passer than Torres? Maybe. But in the Norwich game, he didn't even complete 50% of his passes.

Torres can't score for Spain even with their great midfielders, yadda, yadda...except the facts show he's only started two games for them since the WC, scored a brace in one of them and a concussion in the other. He's played the equivalent of 3 halves of football for Spain in the last 14 months and has 3 goals. His scoring rate is every 98 minutes. David Villa has 7 goals but has started 12 games and scores every 116 minutes. Am I saying Torres is better than Villa or that he shouldn't have been dropped? No of course not, but having a look at those facts tell me that Torres can be criticized but the shitstorm he endures in ratio to his time on the pitch is undeserved.

Also how do you explain that even when Torres was at his absolute peak, he was never the star striker for Spain?

What's the long-winded point then? Just step back a bit, let's see if he can play with the evolving line-up AVB is putting out there. With the the addition of Mata, Meireles and return of Sturridge, you have much more different team than the one against Stoke, WBA and Norwich. Can I guarantee Torres will perform. I wish, but of course not. But how about simply giving him and the team some time? Because the fact that is lost in the past hours of slinging is he's not played a single minute with that team.

I understand the criticism of Torres and even more so the frustration. I'm just astounded by the eruption within the last 24 hours though.

[Tortilla9 390]

A week ago the media were all over Frank, his days were numbered with the English squad because he was too old, too slow (sound familiar?). Then the next day it was Torres' turn with Spain. Then they come back to Cobham to train, game time Frank starts and Torres doesn't. All is forgotten about Frank in the media and his demise earlier in the week and now it's all Torres. Torres didn't have a good 15-20 minutes on Saturday but the noise level seems like he played 90+ minutes and missed chance after chance.

According to some AVB was a God because he had the balls to drop Torres. He's dropped Drogba, he's dropped Anelka, Kalou, Malouda, Torres. I say he's a God when he has the balls to drop Frank but that's just me.

Resume normal broadcasting, ie Torres bashing.

[eldo 868]

Yes, media started it again. I heard that they were asking stupid questions about Torres at the press conference today.

That's the problem on this forum, some are just naive and believe the media. Don't you see that they are playing with Chelsea?

[dodojojo 510]

I don't know if the media started it but honestly reading Chelsea boards/forums today, I feel like I've walked into a shit stirring conference led by the Sun, People, and Daily Fail. It's really bizarre and fascinating how crowds can turn savage.

It's the same with the interview, another molehill turning into a mountain. Sure Torres should have been more discreet but really, is it headline news? Did they read the entire interview? Or is it enough to go nuclear on one or two sentences he uttered? Isn't this the equivalent of when Kalou said that there were players who sulked when they weren't picked for games? And in the way he worded it, implying it was Torres? Did that they make the top story for all the papers? Was it investigated by the club? Did he get fined? Did we care about on the board? How many posts or threads were devoted to that one utterance by Kalou? Furthermore, that interview was out about 4 or 5 days ago. Did it cause a frenzy amongst Chelsea fans? Not that I could tell, but now that it's being 'investigated', let's see how something that was merely 'meh' 48 hours ago is going to turn into the world's greatest problem ever. Ever.

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

You never get this undermining of the club with Man Yernited....

That said, I just heard AVB on t'wireless saying that he wants a translation of El Ninos comments -if the translation comes back that he was slagging off the others for being slow, I dont think it bodes well for Fernando the Wonderhorse -....... ''when in a hole you stop digging''

[Waterfall 893]

And Drogba is a better passer than Torres? Maybe. But in the Norwich game, he didn't even complete 50% of his passes.

Pass completion rate in isolation tells you little about the player's passing ability, even less if you are talking about just one game. Drogba in last two seasons has had just as many assists as Torres in his entire career while being among the league leaders in chances created. And I shouldn't have to tell you about all the quality/crucial long passes he's made for us over the years. I can hardly remember one Torres made. And this isn't a knock on Fernando because Drogba's been one of the most complete forwards in the world.

[eldo 868]

On that Torres interview; Villas-Boas doesn't seem bothered by it. But indicated he'd be fined if it was unauthorized (club policy).

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I don't care if we win silverware with or without Torres scoring, I care about the club, not just individual players.

[SeB 1,281]

I voted Sell him, he is a big flop.

The only thing that makes me happy is to think now are the last moments where we will find Fernando struggling. He has the fitness and the energy, seeing him play alongside Mata against Leverkusen (for me it was that AVB's coaching meant at the Stadium of Shite) is very positive and I'm sure he will launch his own season tomorrow. Or until a little 2 or 3 weeks to be wide

[lentherussian 86]

Pass completion rate in isolation tells you little about the player's passing ability, even less if you are talking about just one game. Drogba in last two seasons has had just as many assists as Torres in his entire career while being among the league leaders in chances created. And I shouldn't have to tell you about all the quality/crucial long passes he's made for us over the years. I can hardly remember one Torres made. And this isn't a knock on Fernando because Drogba's been one of the most complete forwards in the world.

too true, i have a problem when people drag a load of stats in to try and prove a point, they can be very useful sometimes but i think the idea that torres has even remotley played well since his arrival is a joke. Hes been awful bar the stoke game. The amount of excuses that have been made for him and now it appears its the rest of the teams fault hes shit. Forget all stats etc, id ask anyone to look at his body language when he plays and tell me its right, he doesnt look interested. Id accept we fucked up and take whatever we can get for him in jan and move on.

[lionsden 4,689]

Let's revisit the excuses shall we.

From "Torres suffered series of injuries and hasn't been rested sufficiently in the last 2 years" - "he needs time to adapt to a new system" - "He can only function under a certain system" - "The lack of service is responsible for his woefully unbelievable form" and many more excuses.

Allow me the honor to contribute to the growing list of excuses made for Torres. "Global warming, the current situation with Ghadafi and Libya, recent England riot and the high unemployment and inflation rate in the UK and America" can also be attributed to his fall from grace.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

He hasn't even been here for 12months.

[Kostas 1,468]

*snipped*

Please do post more.

[dodojojo 510]

Pass completion rate in isolation tells you little about the player's passing ability, even less if you are talking about just one game.

And picking out a bad pass from a 3 on 1 situation from the most recent game in isolation is as fair as pointing out a player couldn't complete 50% of his passes for a game.

And this isn't a knock on Fernando because Drogba's been one of the most complete forwards in the world.

I know Drogba is a more complete striker than Fernando. The point is Torres, the entire time he was at Liverpool, a tip of the spear striker. Has he been played like and played to like one since he's been at Chelsea? I'm not absolving him from blame but there's plenty to make you stop and think a bit isn't there?