Praise for Nando

[ChelseaChick 430]

I love Torres, I'm forever defending him, even when he was with Liverpool I was obsessed with him, he will get better! I get some amount of abuse though because even when he loses the ball for being stupid I'm like 'nah the pitch is bad' and everyone else is like shut the fuck up nic. He's going to continue getting a hard time until he starts getting his name on the scoresheet so there's no point going on about it really.

[matty18 15]

I love Torres, I'm forever defending him, even when he was with Liverpool I was obsessed with him, he will get better! I get some amount of abuse though because even when he loses the ball for being stupid I'm like 'nah the pitch is bad' and everyone else is like shut the fuck up nic. He's going to continue getting a hard time until he starts getting his name on the scoresheet so there's no point going on about it really.

Basically agree with what is said here. He can look good and lively all he wants. But unless he starts scoring, he will continue to get stick and be regarded as a failure.

[EskWeston 696]

He will definately get there. 2 very good assists on Tuesday, he will grow in confidence and the goals will come, hopefully starting with United on Sunday. So much unnessary talk of him, not as if we have ANY prolific strikers at the moment...

[cujo101 75]

Torres has been poor and we have to accept it. I really hope that he recaptures the form he had a couple of years ago but we'll see. I have no problem with the criticism that he gets as he cost a huge amount of money and we've had little return for it. The man is becoming a millstone around the club's neck and as long as he lacks goals, Chelsea will be mocked for wasting £50m.

[Kojo 4,676]

Good signing?, I don't know how u can say that really... He's been the worlds biggest flop in my opinion, yes I know Kaka, but Kaka at least does something for Madrid when he comes off the bench.

[Fulham Broadway 17,363]

Average player, bordering on rubbish at the moment because hes not doing what he was brought in to do.

This could change, but realistically he will not be as prolific as before. Getting most of the flak though because of the price tag, and the media love sticking the knife in whenever they can.

[steve5221 91]

Average player, bordering on rubbish at the moment because hes not doing what he was brought in to do.

This could change, but realistically he will not be as prolific as before. Getting most of the flak though because of the price tag, and the media love sticking the knife in whenever they can.

Wise words from your "experienced" head there FB. I've got a feeling the stick he gets will ultimately send him out of this country and the English media will be to blame. That said I think he will b a better option up front than Drogba with our new style of playing. If Drogba starts trying to display his "footballing" skills it will be embarrising. Think Anelka should be our CF on current form...

[Badboy 1,526]

He played well against Bayer but he has been a shocking signing up to now. He is a 50 million pound flop and he will never score the goals we were expecting from him. Fernando Torres is Shevchenko part 2 ! He is just a counter attacking striker nothing more ! You have to play to his needs to the detriment of the team.

[Badboy 1,526]

The thing that gets my goat is he has the cheek to complain about the team not playing to his needs. Well i am sorry mate but we ain't going to win the league just playing to your needs. He is trying to turn us into a 2 man show like he did at Liverpool, he is nothing more then a 1 dimensional goal scorer that is it.

[Fulham Broadway 17,363]

Wise words from your "experienced" head there FB. I've got a feeling the stick he gets will ultimately send him out of this country and the English media will be to blame. That said I think he will b a better option up front than Drogba with our new style of playing. If Drogba starts trying to display his "footballing" skills it will be embarrising. Think Anelka should be our CF on current form...

Wise words from yourself as well there ! It livened up proceedings a bit when the old fogies Anelka and Lampard came on, and it seems AVB has sidelined Kalou for the moment.

Back to Fernando, yes his assists were good, and I beleive he will score a few this season ,but wont fulfil expectations -and you could be right, eventually bullied abroad -prob back to Spain.

@Badboy -you have to admit though most of the bile is directed at him because of teh price tag -which although over inflated is like a tenner in Romans back pocket

[steve5221 91]

Wise words from yourself as well there ! It livened up proceedings a bit when the old fogies Anelka and Lampard came on, and it seems AVB has sidelined Kalou for the moment.

Back to Fernando, yes his assists were good, and I beleive he will score a few this season ,but wont fulfil expectations -and you could be right, eventually bullied abroad -prob back to Spain.

@Badboy -you have to admit though most of the bile is directed at him because of teh price tag -which although over inflated is like a tenner in Romans back pocket

True - it is fuck all to Roman, but the dough we paid for him and his wages will count towards this financial fair play bollocks so the deal will hurt us in the long run. Even if we loan him can't see anyone matching his wages....I do feel sorry for him though, I have never seen one player get so much stick for such a long period of time by the press. Fourth question in Mata's PC was about Torres.

Has anyone seen a recent article about Chelsea that does not mention the name Torres???

[Badboy 1,526]

Yes i agree with you FB the media are trying to kill him, he is getting much worse then what Edin Dzeko was getting last season but he has been shocking up to now.

[steve5221 91]

Lets look on the bright side to even things up..... 12mill for Mierlies and 25mill for Mata are very good buys....plus how much did we pay for sturridge 5million??.....Romeu for 5 is a good buy to....It could be worse, we could have paid 40 mill for Modric and would then be stuck with him and Torres....the wages of Mierlies and mata are good for the club to, £50 and £65k a week....nearly matches Fulhams Broadways Talk Chelsea salary!!!!

[Fulham Broadway 17,363]

Lets look on the bright side to even things up..... 12mill for Mierlies and 25mill for Mata are very good buys....plus how much did we pay for sturridge 5million??.....Romeu for 5 is a good buy to....It could be worse, we could have paid 40 mill for Modric and would then be stuck with him and Torres....the wages of Mierlies and mata are good for the club to, £50 and £65k a week....nearly matches Fulhams Broadways Talk Chelsea salary!!!!

Good points about the wage bill there and a good point before about the Financial Fair play shenanigans. I reckonthe squad is developing depth, and there are a few for the future as well. Gave you one of those rep points things whatever they are

[steve5221 91]

Good points about the wage bill there and a good point before about the Financial Fair play shenanigans. I reckonthe squad is developing depth, and there are a few for the future as well. Gave you one of those rep points things whatever they are

Cheers....I also like the way it is coming together regarding player purchases.. The Modric situation showed we are not the mugs of old when it comes to splashing Roman's dough.....

I like the way that we are trying to play attractive football to....really enjoyed the Bayern game the other night....Mierlies is a very good underated player, look how long he holds onto the ball - Hardly ever takes more than 2 touches before passing it....

Watching us play has defo became a joy again under AVB in the last few games compared the the drivel we had for the second half of last season...

[SeB 1,281]

The thing that gets my goat is he has the cheek to complain about the team not playing to his needs. Well i am sorry mate but we ain't going to win the league just playing to your needs. He is trying to turn us into a 2 man show like he did at Liverpool, he is nothing more then a 1 dimensional goal scorer that is it.

I must say that you are a bit excessive, we all know that Torres is not Drogba. But Torres does not want the team to catch the moon, you put a lot of strikers in front of a team with no movement and with no support and this lot of strikers will struggle. And these strikers will leave their position upfront

I can tell you an example of that, Anelka with France was blamed for leaving his upfront position whereas he had no good balls and no player able to give him.

Torres only needs a support player like Mata, and like many others strikers... I don't really see that as a playing style exclusively tailored for one player...

Torres in his last months at Liverpool became static and less usefull in the play... When he is in good condition he is a really good striker, present in the play and able to call the ball on the entire width... When he is full of energy he can make the difference on short distances so he can be usefull in all the last tier of the pitch. He really isn't just a counter attacking striker or a goal hunter very poor with the ball à la Javier Hernandez or Pippo Inzaghi

[Badboy 1,526]

I must say that you are a bit excessive, we all know that Torres is not Drogba. But Torres does not want the team to catch the moon, you put a lot of strikers in front of a team with no movement and with no support and this lot of strikers will struggle. And these strikers will leave their position upfront

I can tell you an example of that, Anelka with France was blamed for leaving his upfront position whereas he had no good balls and no player able to give him.

Torres only needs a support player like Mata, and like many others strikers... I don't really see that as a playing style exclusively tailored for one player...

Torres in his last months at Liverpool became static and less usefull in the play... When he is in good condition he is a really good striker, present in the play and able to call the ball on the entire width... When he is full of energy he can make the difference on short distances so he can be usefull in all the last tier of the pitch. He really isn't just a counter attacking striker or a goal hunter very poor with the ball à la Javier Hernandez or Pippo Inzaghi

He is not a team player and he just needs the whole team focusing on him or its a waste. You have got to play counter attack with Torres or there is no point. He can not play in a team that dominates possession, he is a counter attacking player and that is it. He is useless in all parts of the game except for the ODD dribble and exploiting space which admittedly he is good at.

[manpe 10,861]

He is not a team player and he just needs the whole team focusing on him or its a waste. You have got to play counter attack with Torres or there is no point. He can not play in a team that dominates possession, he is a counter attacking player and that is it. He is useless in all parts of the game except for the ODD dribble and exploiting space which admittedly he is good at.

I disagree... Hopefully Torres won't make me eat my words

[SeB 1,281]

But Ramires is also a great counter-attacking player, but it does not prevent him to be usefull in another domains such as the defensive aspect, cut the transmissions and cover the runs upfield of Bosingwa.

Torres is perfectly able to play relays on the width of the pitch, he is a mobile striker and at the top of his form one of the most complete #9 in the world, he is a clinical finisher and he is able to score smart goals that can bring an extra 10 or 15 points in a season when he unlocks a situation, thing we lacked last season, our struggles in the box in front of the goal were obvious at several moments such as at Wolverhampton.

He is a generous striker and can really be the first player to rely on in the new philosophy to press higher and smarter. Kevin Davies would agree with me, strikers are the first defenders on the pitch

So yes, some people may say that for £58m we can expect more, but that fee was interdependent of the situation where we did buy Torres. I don't especially see him as a player with a limited palette or playing style, he is not Drogba but he is not totally useless. The 15-20 goals he will score this season (and more than 20 considering the other tournaments) will be fully enough for what we need from the player who scores the goals, thing that was not that clear or defined the last 3 seasons and was dependent of the form or the role of the several players able to provide these goals (Drogba, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka...)

[Kostas 1,468]

He is not a team player and he just needs the whole team focusing on him or its a waste. You have got to play counter attack with Torres or there is no point. He can not play in a team that dominates possession, he is a counter attacking player and that is it. He is useless in all parts of the game except for the ODD dribble and exploiting space which admittedly he is good at.

Did you believe that back when he played for the scum?