Fernando Torres

[Hysteria 159]

I've always thought every mananger that we had with a millionaire sign have a big pressure on him...if you paid 50 million for one player its like, "you have to use it". Anyways, i still have faith in Torres, my main reason is our midfield without creativity, how many chances can you have with our midfield? =/ Also i think he needs a boost of confidence, he need a game with 3 goals or something...

[The Rising Sun 711]

The biggest problem with fernando is not only the 'lack of service' from our midfield. What he does not do, and indeed should be doing regardless of whether he is being passed the ball or not, is to 'MAKE SPECULATIVE RUNS'. The only reason he scored in pre-season was because he was making a speculative run, hoping to get the ball in his path, which it did, and he did score.

Many times our players manage to get forward but i always notice torres is not anywhere for a tap in, rather he is standing at the edge of the 18 yard box. That speculative run is very important and god knows why AVB etc are not telling him that. A miss hit, deflection, 'an unlikely pass' could find his foot for a tap in. Simple as that. And the Goals start coming from then on.

For me, i would love to give him as much time as possible, but i think this next(sunderland?) game will be a turning/stagnation point for nando. No drogba so he's the main man. Support from Mata and Sturridge. No excuses there. Hopefully we have modric by then. If then he doesnt score/hit post/have shots on target/trouble the keeper, then a good performance by him is not good enough. I mean come on, the lad needs to score once every 4 games in order to reach double figures for the season.

What do you guys think? I am not pessimistic or anything. I just watched both Manchester Clubs play yesterday.

[Beast 85]

He needs to pull his head out of his loving ass and realise that playing at Chelsea is not a joke, and he is dragging the club down. I agree with what the other posters said, why do we need to build a team around a 50M man? He needs to create chances on his own aswell. I support Torres but i'm on thin ice. Dzeko realised that the EPL is no fun and games so we whipped some ass by scoring 6 goals in 3 games. Torres is a liability to the club and personally I'm going to give him 5 games to see what he can do, by then we should of brought in a playmaker.

[termninja 5,290]

If he doesn't start playing well this season we should sell him and play Lukaku and Sturridge as strikers.

[J.F. 1,484]

Even Heskey scored more goal this season then Torres, wake up blondie!

[lionsden 4,689]

AVB should summon the courage to drop him to the bench and only introduce him in latter stages of games until he's able to justify being a starter.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I can't believe we paid 50M for a striker who needs the system AND squad built around him to score when 50M strikers should actually be creating chances for himself and others. People point to the lack of service, but he barely scores for Spain either. There are a lot of excuses being made for him, but there's clearly something wrong with him right now and I just hope he fixes it quickly. We need him.

Exactly. Killamanjaro makes this point often too and it's very valid.

Building a squad around 1 player can be disastrous on it's own, let alone building it around a 27-year old who's not performing.

[YVT 15]

Don't make excuses that it's 'the lack of service'. Have you seen him play with Spain in South-Africa? He was terrible despite being 'serviced' by Xavi, Iniesta, Silva, ..... Yes, he has no confidence, but that's going on for over 2 years. He puts pressure on coaches because he is 'worth 50m', Kaka cost 56m and he is on the bench. Come on AVB, if José can do it..

[lionsden 4,689]

Exactly. Killamanjaro makes this point often too and it's very valid.

Building a squad around 1 player can be disastrous on it's own, let alone building it around a 27-year old who's not performing.

Sometimes I suspect some of these Torres apologist are actually on the Spaniards payroll. The pathetic excuses has been that overwhelming.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Sometimes I suspect some of these Torres apologist are actually on the Spaniards payroll. The pathetic excuses has been that overwhelming.

I'm glad we have 2 more strikers waiting in the background when Villas-Boas gets fed up of Torres. Lukaku & Sturridge have both shown glimpses (more so, in the latter) that they're more than ready to step up.

Torres knows this and when Torres is dropped, he'll really realise he does need to fix up. He probably thinks Mata's been signed for his cause, so now it's time for him to, personally, show it was worth it. Otherwise, Danny's more than happy to fill in.

[Fulham Broadway 17,306]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but he's proving to be an expensive flop. Not the first Chelsea striker to fall into that category though.

Malagas £20 m bid is cheeky one, and should be ignored, but times running out.....

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but he's proving to be an expensive flop. Not the first Chelsea striker to fall into that category though.

Malagas £20 m bid is cheeky one, and should be ignored, but times running out.....

Yup, we're quite unlucky when it comes to these big money, forward signings. Sheva was unfortunate, because he actually was proper on form when we signed him, he just couldn't adapt. Torres was bought at a time where even his own performance hadn't been great.

I wouldn't say sell him yet though

[dodojojo 510]

Don't make excuses that it's 'the lack of service'. Have you seen him play with Spain in South-Africa? He was terrible despite being 'serviced' by Xavi, Iniesta, Silva, .....

You know he had knee surgery 8 weeks before the first game right? Take it up with Del Bosque why he played Torres.

[Fulham Broadway 17,306]

Yup, we're quite unlucky when it comes to these big money, forward signings. Sheva was unfortunate, because he actually was proper on form when we signed him, he just couldn't adapt. Torres was bought at a time where even his own performance hadn't been great.

I wouldn't say sell him yet though

Thats true -the hype was incredible -helicopters at Anfield etc hair gel trucks at Cobham etc -yet you're right his recent performances nationally and at club were waning. Chris Suttonesque...

[dodojojo 510]

Sometimes I suspect some of these Torres apologist are actually on the Spaniards payroll. The pathetic excuses has been that overwhelming.

I must ask for a raise...

Or maybe it's because we've seen him at this best and know what he can do? And hope that he can return to it?