Support Torres - Join me on the BOYCOTT..!

[dodojojo 510]

To be fair Lampard did say the team which played without Torres against Bolton was 'the finished article' and referred to the previous lack of goals taking the 'gloss' off some good performances, so I'm surprised the media hasn't made more of a song and dance about it. Post-match commentary definitely seems more favourable to Chelsea when he isn't playing (even in the Metro).

If so, will Lampard have an inquiry opened against his statements and have the manager give him a stern talking to? No? Will media harp on it? No? Just goes to show how much crap Torres has to put up with.

Newspapers do what they do to keep the money rolling in. With the boycott of the Sun, the Mirror must have the largest circulation of any tabloid in Merseyside so I'm sure they do the necessary to maintain this. Before he moved to Chelsea the attitude towards Torres was reasonably favourable, even when he was out of form. I think they even serialised his life story at one stage. That said I've never seen such a sustained media campaign against one player.

And Torres with his big money move from a popular sentimental favorite like Liverpool to Chelsea continues to make good copy. You can replace Torres with "Player X" in the circumstances and still likely get the same shit from the press. I agree the DEGREE of venom against Torres is upsetting and unfair. It comes down to him (or any other player) having the temerity to spurn good old Liverpool for Chelsea. It makes it jucier if said player is a foreigner who was beloved and popular. Easy target.

[DJ Nevin 24]

Lets face it the victory at Bolton was largely a victory for the so called 'old guard' ... and why not if this bring success ... but does that make Mata, Meireles and Torres obsolete before a quarter of the season is over? What are AVB's plans for the next few games and will they involve Torres et al. or the more traditional set up? Marcotti has written an interesting article which implies how costly the recent red card may prove for the development of the player's career at Chelsea.

[manpe 10,861]

but does that make Mata, Meireles and Torres obsolete before a quarter of the season is over?

Are you being serious? Does the "old guard" include Malouda, Kalou and Anelka? Starting line-up against Bolton included Meireles, Mata, Sturridge and Luiz who you can hardly call "old guard". Only one missing was Torres, and there is nothing to suggest we wouldn't have scored more or less with him playing against a poor Bolton side. Has this speculation risen only because Drogba played his first 90 minutes and suddenly we had a comfortable win? We had a comfortable win because their goalkeeper sucked and because of Sturridge's and Mata's brilliance (2 assists, 2 goals, key pass and fantastic movement by Mata to Sturridge, when Danny found Lamps... take them away, replace them with the "old guard benchies" and Lampard wouldn't have scored one goal and 2 goals would go missing).

You could speculate over Torres, but why name Mata and Meireles? They've been fantastic so far and played a chunk against Bolton, and Torres has looked sharper than Drogba did. Obsolete is too strong of a word, how dare anyone call Mata obsolete, the most creative player in the team so far.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Yeah i don't exactly get how it's a victory for the old guard.

[DJ Nevin 24]

Are you being serious? Does the "old guard" include Malouda, Kalou and Anelka? Starting line-up against Bolton included Meireles, Mata, Sturridge and Luiz who you can hardly call "old guard". Only one missing was Torres, and there is nothing to suggest we wouldn't have scored more or less with him playing against a poor Bolton side. Has this speculation risen only because Drogba played his first 90 minutes and suddenly we had a comfortable win? We had a comfortable win because their goalkeeper sucked and because of Sturridge's and Mata's brilliance (2 assists, 2 goals, key pass and fantastic movement by Mata to Sturridge, when Danny found Lamps... take them away, replace them with the "old guard benchies" and Lampard wouldn't have scored one goal and 2 goals would go missing).

You could speculate over Torres, but why name Mata and Meireles? They've been fantastic so far and played a chunk against Bolton, and Torres has looked sharper than Drogba did. Obsolete is too strong of a word, how dare anyone call Mata obsolete, the most creative player in the team so far.

I was over generalising and should reflect a bit before I post. Probably too influenced by the dramas created by the media myself!