🇪🇸 Fernando Torres

[dodojojo 510]

Soldado finished the season with 1 goal in 10 games. He was already on thin ice as Del Bosque has never fancied him. Don't know why but I have heard it's down to how Del Bosque balances his team on and off the pitch. In selecting Torres and Negredo, DB has taken one striker who plays fast and on the counter while the other has a good overall game and retains the ball well. Negredo is the latter and in choosing Torres, DB has gone with experience and team dynamics. Torres has been with the team for over 90 caps, is one of Spain's captains and whatever you say about him, he's part of the XIV that has won everything. Also Torres on form is better than Soldado on form. There is a class difference--and yes Soldado has been better than Torres the last 2 years but no on current form. Lastly, Torres is well-liked in the dressing room and has long term friendships/relationships with both Barca and RM players. Whereas I have heard Soldado can be prickly.

Lastly, I believed and was proven right that as long as Torres showed DECENT form, Del Bosque wasn't going to the Euros without both Villa and Torres. No way. Del Bosque is very much about familiarity and harmony.

I think Llorente or Negredo will start. If Del Bosque does start Torres, I hope he speeds up the Barca style a bit as methodical possession football is not really Torres' gig. I think DB really likes Negredo even though he may have had a meh season--he's pretty conservative at heart and likes Negredo's overall game and ability to hold up the ball. I know Torres' ball retention sometimes drives DB mad.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Looks like Hazard AND Hulk are both close to signing Chelsea.If this is true then I expect Torres to score plenty of goals for us.Lack of service should not be the excuse again.

[francozola 2,040]

lol

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

lol

Photoshop right?

[francozola 2,040]

Photoshop right?

I don't know.. seems real to me

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

I don't know.. seems real to me

Yeah maybe your right because Danny looks unfazed

[Ollie 4,400]

It's probably photoshopped but its brilliant nonetheless lmao.

[Madmax 9,219]

[Spike 12,049]

Oh wow. He looked really disturbed.

[coolhead23 1,147]

Looks to me someone is regaining his lost confidence back and is wanting to go out to give it all. Thats a real good sign for us. Chelsea should really use this momentum and if we dont screw up, we could very well see the vintage Torres in whom we have invested heavily or maybe even better one.

[Las7 951]

Looks to me someone is regaining his lost confidence back and is wanting to go out to give it all. Thats a real good sign for us. Chelsea should really use this momentum and if we dont screw up, we could very well see the vintage Torres in whom we have invested heavily or maybe even better one.

Why is it we are blamed if Torres doesn't work out? Ball is in his court, Chelsea has done absolutly everything to help him for over a year now - he has been played despite being unable to score in 700 minutes in the EPL, doesn't matter who was coach(Carlo; AVB; RDM) Torres always got the benifit of the doubt.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

He has the first half of the season to prove himself and reward the club with many goals.If he fails to score a minimum of 10-15 goals in the 6 months then we must sell him in January.

[TomCFC 357]

"I was left out of the squad and that was tough. I started to understand that things were serious, that I wasn't getting much playing time with my club and that if things carried on that way I wouldn't be going to Euro 2012. Vicente has put his faith in me and now I need to show him I am ready to play whenever he thinks it necessary. I hope to be able to give the team the best of me."

Wouldn't be surprised to see him start against Italy, to be honest.

[chealsist 23]

Definetly Torres will shine in Euro 2012 and next season will be Torres season.c'mon nando

[coolhead23 1,147]

Why is it we are blamed if Torres doesn't work out? Ball is in his court, Chelsea has done absolutly everything to help him for over a year now - he has been played despite being unable to score in 700 minutes in the EPL, doesn't matter who was coach(Carlo; AVB; RDM) Torres always got the benifit of the doubt.

Do u really want to get digging into the past as to what was done and what not. Yes he didnt play the way we expected him to, yes there is a lot of time spent to revive him, Yes he has been out of form for most of his Chelsea career but the thing is that after all this he is getting back his form, he's worked on the other aspects of his game. With a proper midfield (which we lacked atleast from the time Torres has come in) i believe he can really fire. And at this point of time if we are to get another striker so that he can play second fiddle to him, wouldnt that be a screw up? Yes we did everything to help him expect fill up the hole in our midfield which could and should had been done at the start of the last season or in the mid January window.

I m not saying he would come in and score 30 goals next season ( we all wish that happens) but the confidence is there so lets cash on that and importantly he also has the support of his team mates. Provide him with a good midfield setup and who knows ....

Form is temporary, Class is permanent.

[Las7 951]

Do u really want to get digging into the past as to what was done and what not. Yes he didnt play the way we expected him to, yes there is a lot of time spent to revive him, Yes he has been out of form for most of his Chelsea career but the thing is that after all this he is getting back his form, he's worked on the other aspects of his game. With a proper midfield (which we lacked atleast from the time Torres has come in) i believe he can really fire. And at this point of time if we are to get another striker so that he can play second fiddle to him, wouldnt that be a screw up? Yes we did everything to help him expect fill up the hole in our midfield which could and should had been done at the start of the last season or in the mid January window.

I m not saying he would come in and score 30 goals next season ( we all wish that happens) but the confidence is there so lets cash on that and importantly he also has the support of his team mates. Provide him with a good midfield setup and who knows ....

Form is temporary, Class is permanent.

The whole midfield excuse is getting really tiresome, we didn't have a proper width and midfield for a while now - but I struggle to comprehend anyone claiming that the likes of Gerrard; Kuyt; Lucas; etc are much superior to what Torres had to work with here. Also you always fail to mention him being out form for his National Team playing in front what has been the best Midfield in the last 2 decades at National Level.

In any case I'm tired of people blaming Chelsea FC over how Torres was handled, the fact is that he was 1st choice initially for 3 coaches - and overtime each one dropped him in favor of Drogba(despite his poor form under AVB and Carlo). There should be no revision of history, and laying blame on a Champions League winning squad is obviously moot and degrades what we have achieved this year.

[coolhead23 1,147]

Whether the likes of Gerrard, Lucas, Kuyt, etc in the Liverpool squad was better than ours can have a different thread altogether. But he excelled at Liverpool is the reason we got him plus he was decent enough for his national side too. He is among those who excelled for his clubs than his national team, it is as simple as that. There are lot of players who have not been good for their national side as compared to their clubs, so what?

The 50m tag was sufficient itself for the coaches/managers to make him a first choice whether u like it or not, however when he was not doing well he was kept on the bench as well. And now when he is getting into the groove, u think he is not good enough.

So what u suggest should be done?

[Las7 951]

Whether the likes of Gerrard, Lucas, Kuyt, etc in the Liverpool squad was better than ours can have a different thread altogether. But he excelled at Liverpool is the reason we got him plus he was decent enough for his national side too. He is among those who excelled for his clubs than his national team, it is as simple as that. There are lot of players who have not been good for their national side as compared to their clubs, so what?

The 50m tag was sufficient itself for the coaches/managers to make him a first choice whether u like it or not, however when he was not doing well he was kept on the bench as well. And now when he is getting into the groove, u think he is not good enough.

So what u suggest should be done?

Main thing is that if he doesn't score regularly bench him time rather than waste half a season hoping for him to find his groove back - it should be the same for all the players. Took coaches far too long to bench him, besides I don't really think he is getting his "groove" back he has been like this since he joined us one good game - we hope he is finally back and than 3 times in a row he would be mediocre. It got very frustrating for me personally since both Drogba and Torres were struggling mid season, yet AVB didn't have the balls to play Sturridge or Lukaku up top during that period. Going 700 minutes without a goal would mean he played a lot during this portion of the season instead of watching one of the youngsters from the bench and motivating himself to do better.

His mentality is also a problem, he seems to look at faults within the team rather than focusing on himself and wondering why in certain position he takes a touch too many or squares it to someone else instead of putting the ball in the back of the net.

Lastly it's his physical condition which will never recover the same explosive nature it had prior to his injuries.

[headhunter23 70]

I think it is fair to say we played like shit from beginning till end. We didnt really kill the smaller teams the way we used to, even stamford bridge wasnt as big of a fortress as per the usual, aside european nights. Our style was too direct and drogba was the man for that. Torres seems like he strives off of confidence just like any player, he had drogba breathing down his neck the entire year. Now he is going into camp knowing that the 9 role is his and lets not forget his professional pride has been battered, so he will have extra incentive to make a statement. Ive defended torres for a long time now, but if the rumors of hazard are true and it is mata/hazard feeding him balls, it doesnt even take a world class striker to bag goals. He has shown signs of recovery but I am hesitant to say he is BACK. I agree he cant be given a permanent excuse, few months its, something else. Now there is NOTHING he can say just play

[coolhead23 1,147]

Main thing is that if he doesn't score regularly bench him time rather than waste half a season hoping for him to find his groove back - it should be the same for all the players. Took coaches far too long to bench him, besides I don't really think he is getting his "groove" back he has been like this since he joined us one good game - we hope he is finally back and than 3 times in a row he would be mediocre. It got very frustrating for me personally since both Drogba and Torres were struggling mid season, yet AVB didn't have the balls to play Sturridge or Lukaku up top during that period. Going 700 minutes without a goal would mean he played a lot during this portion of the season instead of watching one of the youngsters from the bench and motivating himself to do better.

His mentality is also a problem, he seems to look at faults within the team rather than focusing on himself and wondering why in certain position he takes a touch too many or squares it to someone else instead of putting the ball in the back of the net.

Lastly it's his physical condition which will never recover the same explosive nature it had prior to his injuries.

I dont quite agree that he is not coming back to his groove, i believe he has improved a lot under RDM's tenure and has also worked on the other aspects of his game. And off late he has been showing signs of the old Torres. I agree that it took time for the coaches/managers to bench him but we need to understand that the owner has spend ridiculous amount of money to get a player so u cant just bench him after a game or 2. On the AVB thing, he really didnt handle Torres well (as a matter of fact he didnt handle quite a few players properly). Torres had started to play well in the initial part of the season if u remember until he got suspended after which he again went into his shell, i mean on the whole suspension thing, no one supported him. What do u expect the player is going to feel like, the morale of the player would just come down.

At Liverpool he was well fed with the passes and he didnt have to backtrack to get the ball. At Chelsea there were so many times u would find him in the box and the other player/players would come and shoot away to glory rather than passing the guy who is in a better position. These are things which would frustrate any player but having said that he has improved his game a lot. THe heavy touches are clear signs of a demotivated player and i believe the difference in the performance was so evident under AVB and under RDM

I m not a Torres fan but i do believe that he was not handled well at Chelsea, it would had been the same story with anyone else in his position. I hope this is a chance which he can take and prove his worth to the team, the coaches/managers, the owner and the fans.