🇪🇸 Fernando Torres

[nullabletype 987]

Yes yes. Blame the wingers. Blame the midfielders. Blame everyone else. Torres is the innocent one here as always...

It's fair though. Torres may well have seen his poorest footballing days here at Chelsea, and honestly, at this point I would take somebody else over him too (because he doesn't fit). That however doesn't change the fact that our style doesn't suit him. People seem to have this daft idea that because the excuse of "no service" is old that it some how becomes redundant. And no, simply naming names like, Hazard and Mata, which so many fans like to do, doesn't equal actual service provided but rather describes where we expect the service to come from.

As that Daily Mail article rightly pointed out, just over 2/3 - 56 of 81 - of his Liverpool goals were delivered via defense splitting passes. How often do we split defenses? Exactly. When you look at how many goals he's actually scored, allowing for the lack of defense splitting passes that he needs and that we don't provide, he's scored just about as many as you'd realistically expect him to.

The other thing people need to understand is that our squad really isn't much stronger than it was last season. We might well have bought plenty of players, but most of those players have yet to get any significant game time, if any at all, with Hazard as the obvious exception. So most of our new signings have yet to make their assumed impact, and as such, we're playing basically the same team as last year.

Lets not also forget that we're seeing players used in different roles than they're used to. Ramires - a player I love - being entirely wasted on the wing were he can't play. Lampard playing a more defensive role where he offers next to nothing.

To expect Torres to bang them in for fun - based on how we currently play - would be to expect him to carry the whole team. The complaints he gets after a game where the entire team is gash is ridiculous and completely disproportionate to the rest of the players (although so is much of his praise). Our problems aren't all about Torres, they're squad deep.

To end, I don't make any unnecessary excuses for him. He's one of a few players who our fans constantly whine about when it's really quite clear that the majority of the team and tactics are really the problem. What I suspect is going to disappoint a lot of folks on here - and I'll happily eat crow if I'm wrong - is if and when we buy a player, Falcao for example, he'll come along and probably not score either because we don't play football that's even close to that of Atletico.

[Kinol 337]

As the guy above me mentions, Torres doesnt and never had fitted into our style of play, and its not worth changing our tactics and squad just so it suits torres. I mean if we would have bought some1 like Messi, then ofcourse i would want us to do that but not for some1 like torres who isnt at his best and wont play for any top teams in a few years.

[DH1988 1,348]

Oh my GOD! One bad performance when he has had a good season and we all jump on the bandwagon and you think its a coincidence that the papers now release a story about Liverpool wanting him back last FEB!? No, use your brains, they waited until something happened to increase the pressure.

I agree he shouldn't have acted like that but at least he cares and wanted to stay on the pitch. Again, he shouldn't have done it but still, have some faith, there weren't many people who had a good game against QPR ffs.

[Kinol 337]

Oh my GOD! One bad performance when he has had a good season and we all jump on the bandwagon and you think its a coincidence that the papers now release a story about Liverpool wanting him back last FEB!? No, use your brains, they waited until something happened to increase the pressure.

I agree he shouldn't have acted like that but at least he cares and wanted to stay on the pitch. Again, he shouldn't have done it but still, have some faith, there weren't many people who had a good game against QPR ffs.

Most of us have had faith in Torres for 2 seasons. He hasent shown much to proove that he is a world class striker that should have a starting spot in a top club like Chelsea. I mean look at all the other top clubs in the world and what strikers they have and how many goals they score.

[warnie_666 1,081]

He has been taking one touch too many inside the box and he has been doing that for quite some time. When he was played that ball against QPR it was on his right and I was like SHOOT SHOOT but he stops and turns and takes a weak shot on his left straight at Julio Cesar's Chest.

[RamiCFC9 258]

We are playing piss poor football, look at the team against QPR .., who can realistically break defence and assist Torres...?Only Hazard and the fella is still young.

[Jase 43,479]

Yes, while Torres may not always get the best of service in games, think people should also really focus on him in terms what he does on the pitch. He doesn't offer much movement upfront especially when teams sit deep against us. He should look to move in and around the box, offer himself as a passing option and not just stay static in the central area being manhandled by the CBs all the time. Furthermore, he can't keep the ball longer than 2-3 seconds when he gets on it and most annoyingly of all, he always try to take on 2-3 players when he could and should have passed it to a nearby teammates so that it keep our attacks flowing and push the opposition back by bringing our team higher up the pitch. But no, he doesn't do that and it always contribute to us losing possession cheaply when we get to the final third. How can people expect us to mount any real sustain attacks if our striker can't even keep possession?!

[ja1 1,166]

Torres touched the ball 34 times in 80 minutes. Sturridge touched it 11 times in 10, a third of that in an eighth of the time. Why? He actually made himself available and didn't go hiding.

[Manuf 1,448]

Torres touched the ball 34 times in 80 minutes. Sturridge touched it 11 times in 10, a third of that in an eighth of the time. Why? He actually made himself available and didn't go hiding.

no, you must be wrong, team must've gave him more support than to our martyr Fernando

[nullabletype 987]

no, you must be wrong, team must've gave him more support than to our martyr Fernando

Yeah, it could be that we're just getting the tinfoil hats on in the face of the truth, or you know, people just don't put a whole lot on a single stat that has a mountain of variables to account for.

[November33rd 84]

Now the excuse is that Torres doesn't and has never fit into our style of play. Why is there always an excuse for him? He's just not good. Period. A striker who isn't any good doesn't fit into ANYBODY'S style of play.

Just stop the ridiculous excuses. Shit is super annoying. Again....it's always somebody else's fault with you people. Now our style of play is to blame. Ridiculous.

[couris 232]

Now the excuse is that Torres doesn't and has never fit into our style of play. Why is there always an excuse for him? He's just not good. Period. A striker who isn't any good doesn't fit into ANYBODY'S style of play.

Just stop the ridiculous excuses. Shit is super annoying. Again....it's always somebody else's fault with you people. Now our style of play is to blame. Ridiculous.

Do you even play football?

[ja1 1,166]

But I'm sure if those stats were in Torres' favour it would be an example of how good he was, and how the team isn't on the level he is? Probably some sort of arguement about how he's always making runs and the team doesn't pick them out so everyone hates Torres. Boohoo, poor Fernando, etc.

[nullabletype 987]

Now the excuse is that Torres doesn't and has never fit into our style of play. Why is there always an excuse for him? He's just not good. Period. A striker who isn't any good doesn't fit into ANYBODY'S style of play.

Just stop the ridiculous excuses. Shit is super annoying. Again....it's always somebody else's fault with you people. Now our style of play is to blame. Ridiculous.

Well by that logic any player in the world should fit in to any team and be successful so long as he's good. So explain the Shevchenko, Ibrahimovic and Robinho's of the world. How come Andy Carroll was a great player for Newcastle but then went to Liverpool and offered next to nothing?

Torres has never fit in here and if you think that's news fresh off the press then you'd do well to read back over this thread.

But I'm sure if those stats were in Torres' favour it would be an example of how good he was, and how the team isn't on the level he is? Probably some sort of arguement about how he's always making runs and the team doesn't pick them out so everyone hates Torres. Boohoo, poor Fernando, etc.

No. Don't go assuming that everybody on this forum jumps to shitty conclusions based on a single arbitrary stat just because you may be inclined to do so yurself. For example, when I offered a stat - the 2/3 of Torres Liverpool goals coming from defense slitting passes - it actually works. It makes for a nice little natural experiment, that is, put a player in one team and offer up a very specific kind of service. Now put him in another team which lacks that very service... see results.

The other ridiculous thing is how you people basically take from a post what you want from it. I write a perfectly objective post. I went as far as saying I'd happily take another striker over Torres (who works). But I go on to explain, fairly, why he doesn't work etc. I point out other weaknesses in our squad and discuss how they are probably as big a contributing factor as Torres. I also acknowledged before anything else that Torres has played his worst football here. But somehow then, when I mention that stat is useless, you come to the conclusion that I'd probably love that stat if it defended a player who I've already said I'd be happy enough to see go. You're just taking the the parts you want to hear, the defense, and ignoring the fact that I actually criticized him too. And probably worse, ignoring the bigger problem, our teams criticism.

Let me tell you. I watch every single one of our games. Last season for example, I missed one half of a Newcastle game, that was it. I also read plenty of stats about our team. And guess what? The vast majority of stats are useless without actually seeing the results. For example, Mikel - another Chelsea scapegoat - stats would have you believe that he is a world class passer and distributor of the ball. Well, he's not. I could complete most 5 yard backward passes. To that's not to say Mikel is bad because he's not. It's simply to say that those stats don't sum up what Mikel is all about or his role in the team.

So don't start accusing those who look at the bigger picture of being bias, when the best you can offer is, HUR HUR, YOU WOULD LOVE THAT STAT IF IT SAID TORRES WAS GREAT. BOO HOO FERNANDO LOL LOL LOL.

[Madmax 9,219]

^ Brilliant.

One thing that worries me about this ''OMG LET'S HAVE FALCAO IN JANUARY!!!" hoopla is he's not going to uproot trees with the way we're playing currently. The difference between him and Torres will be that he's likely to put away half chances more regularly but that shouldn't detract from the huge problem area in our midfield if we're indeed looking at signing him.

[nachikethas 1,154]

i dont think any player in recent times who split us all into two different gangs...

[rantdeville 195]

All reasons aside, it still infuriates me the number of times he loses the ball on the break or touches it into a defender and the attack falls apart.

But to be fair, we were all probably a bit spoiled with Drogba's beastly hold up play for so many years...and wrong to expect Torres to play the same way.

It would be nice if we stopped hucking the ball into box from 40 yards out tho...on every other possession. Drogba's not there, David Luiz, no ones going to get that ball.

[manpe 10,861]

All reasons aside, it still infuriates me the number of times he loses the ball on the break or touches it into a defender and the attack falls apart.

But to be fair, we were all probably a bit spoiled with Drogba's beastly hold up play for so many years...and wrong to expect Torres to play the same way.

It would be nice if we stopped hucking the ball into box from 40 yards out tho...on every other possession. Drogba's not there, David Luiz, no ones going to get that ball.

Exactly. Long hoof balls by Cech and others infuriate me, because as soon as I see it leavinig the boot, I know we will lose possession.

[Jase 43,479]

Exactly. Long hoof balls by Cech and others infuriate me, because as soon as I see it leavinig the boot, I know we will lose possession.

Can't be helped sometimes. Teams will press and force us to go long because they know none of our forward attacking players are good enough to win the ball.

[manpe 10,861]

Can't be helped sometimes. Teams will press and force us to go long because they know none of our forward attacking players are good enough to win the ball.

[OT] Yes, but it is something we should be addressing, but we don't seem to have an answer to that. We let our weaknesses be exploited too easily. We're fine as long as teams give us room, as soon as they don't we're trapped. [/OT]