The on form forward

[Sheva. 5,373]

@Super-Frank - Torres will either start and be marked out of the game again, or he will come on and ramble around aimlessly for the last 20 minutes. Because whilst I support the player, I find it hilarious how people find another sub-par showing against Leverkusen where he missed a sitter or two constitutes a spark in form.

There is no difference between this Torres and the one who scored once in 18 games last season.

I'm waiting for Torres to prove me wrong now, and to silence the press as well. I'm just being realistic when I say I don't think there is going to be some instantaneous change in fortune.

Think that was mainly 'cos of the assists.

I personally was happy, because at least he did something positive in this game, compared to others where not only did he not score, but was hardly involved at all.

[SeB 1,281]

There is no difference between this Torres and the one who scored once in 18 games last season.

This conclusion seems to me aberrant

You don't see the difference of form between the Torres of last season and the Torres of the first games ? Last season he lacked both fitness (but neither Roman nor Torres are to blame for, just Losepool) and support behind him. He is a player who used to shine in a team featuring Gerrard and Xabi Alonso on the top of their form, when you replace them by a Lampard lower on the pitch and far from his best level and Mikel who has not the vertical play of Alonso, it's the result you get.

Nonetheless Torres was pretty good at Copenhagen with a support player behind him whereas he wasn't at his best form.

This season he lacks only support, I am not making anything, the fact is that he had to leave his position to touch the ball against WBA or Norwich and was lonesome on the top of the team because Lampard and Bosingwa were too far. I don't think I'm the only one to see that Torres' performance at Stoke is an irrefutable evidence that's the day & night compared to last season ?!

Against Leverkusen, one must be in bad faith if he says that there's still the crap Torres from last season, I think (for me it seems obvious) that Torres has to adapt to the playing style of Chelsea. If Carlo did play that much Torres last season, it's not because of rubbish reasons that Roman did put pressure or threatened him with a gun ; Ancelotti just wanted Torres to adapt the more quicky to the settings of the play of the team even if he wasn't in the best fitness form, he wanted him to be used to the kind of deliveries the players around him could provide him. Not particulary specifically to him because of the 58m blabla, it’s the same with all other strikers in the world, you want them to know the playing style of the team the more quickly then to perform as quickly as possible.

Liverpool’s way of playing used massively long balls on the entire width of the pitch ; Torres’ ability to call the ball through the defense was enhanced by the quality of the deliveries of Alonso or Gerrard.

The point where I’m coming is what I said to Badboy on another topic:

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

Against Leverkusen, it was very clear that Torres has shown the will to adapt to the playing style of Chelsea: he did not start a lot from behind the defenders but instead of that, played relays and made himself available on the width of the pitch. A huge contrast with the lower 4-5-1 of Liverpool and his numerous runs in the depth. I would end my point with the same thing that I said somewhere else:

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...)

Edited September 18, 2011 by SeB

[LDN Blue 7,903]

HAHAHHAHA 10 GOALS A SEASON HAHAHAH OH MY GOD 21 MORE GOALS THEN THAT.

now who's exaggerating!