Fernando Torres

[Spike 12,049]

Does anyone actually believe he will still be here next season?

If he doesn't start putting them away soon...well you know.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

He is probably going to have to wait until the ACN starts before he starts and has a run of game again. It seems AVB has his front three sorted it seems.

[Ezio 22]

Some of the replies in this thread are total bollocks.

Drogba had a fantastic game yesterday, fully deserved from him. It's not fair that this excellent Drogba performance overshadows Torres' excellent performances this season. Someone has to be the scapegoat when things are going wrong. And writing a player off has shown why you shouldn't (Terry, Lampard and Drogba).

Both strikers have had poor games this season, and that is not really down to them. I said in a previous post that it was the midfield that was the problem. Our more dynamic midfield of Romeu/Ramires/Meirieles has allowed Mata to get even more involved and with Sturridge, they are providing good options down the flanks allowing Drogba to benefit greatly. I would like to see how Torres fairs with this but It's good to keep with a winning team so Drogba should be starting.

Torres has been a sub for the last few games. I don't think it's fair to judge him as a substitute. He has still gotten himself in a decent position to receive a pass from Sturridge and Sturridge becomes greedy. How can you blame Torres for that? He could have had more goals this season if Sturridge, for all his good work, had not been so wasteful when he's gotten himself into excellent positions. Torres would thrive off Mata but his opportunities with him playing have been limited.

He deserves some criticism, but most of it is unjust. Everyone was crap in that Carling Cup game, we deserved to lose it. We should be thankful to have two of the world's greatest strikers on our team. The Drogba v Torres argument is ridiculous. Both offer something completely different up front, and both on their day contribute well to the team.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

André did back him. Torres started for a whole month or so this season, while Drogba bided his time on the bench. Torres continued to follow a trend of "1 step forward, 2 steps backwards". We've heard all the excuses, 'poor service', 'lack of faith', etc.

Well those are all void now. Look at Drogba's final goal last night, how he held the line and waited for Mata to thread that ball in for him. When has Torres demonstrated this desire on the pitch? I've had enough of him. I backed him all year & understood his frustrations. But there's no interest or passion from him at Chelsea. I personally feel, if he went back to Spain (to Leti) he'd find his happiness again & passion for the game.. Thus, doing well.

But it won't happen here, at Chelsea.

This. I'd give you +10 rep for that if possible.

[tmessy 139]

i can think of many matches where torres tore up the opposition, sunderland, swansea, man utd, valencia, genk, just to name a few, and with all the new signings and tactics, it was going to take awhile before everyone settled in, even when drogba was our CF some games it looked TERRIBLE (and dont say otherwise)...

now we have mata getting more and more used to the system and danny making those blistering runs, along with now our mostly settled starters in midfield that el nino never had then when everyone was trying to settle...

i still remember torres having like 15 minutes against newcastle and having an assist and could of had a goal if danny would pass which he only seems to do when didier is in...

i just dont get it...

has he performed like we all dreamt? no...

is he done for this club yet? no...

[Ollie 4,400]

Torres has completely wasted his chance, he's had almost a whole year here now as first choice, injury free and now Drogba is the main man again. Drogs may not produce for large spells but he's a beast and can hit u anytime. He has scored goals even when playing shit. Torres has to wait for the African Nations Cup now.

[manpe 10,861]

i can think of many matches where torres tore up the opposition, sunderland, swansea, man utd, valencia, genk, just to name a few

"to name a few"... few being the keyword, because these are the only games where he has managed to impress (not up to his old standards, but still impressed in his Chelsea standard, which isn't exactly high).. and we all know what happened in the Utd. game, he was doing well but he still managed the miss.. Hence the "1 step forward, 2 step backwards" analogy. And not to mention the Swansea game, that's probably even a better example of that analogy. When he's being good, he still manages to suck and fuck all up.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

He is probably going to have to wait until the ACN starts before he starts and has a run of game again. It seems AVB has his front three sorted it seems.

Indeed. I really hope he keeps this 3, consistently.. Bar the occasional change, to rest some of them.

It's the midfield he must now decide on, though rotation is doing Lampard well. It seems he's fully decided Luiz - Terry is working well.

[tmessy 139]

"to name a few"... few being the keyword, because these are the only games where he has managed to impress (not up to his old standards, but still impressed in his Chelsea standard, which isn't exactly high).. and we all know what happened in the Utd. game, he was doing well but he still managed the miss.. Hence the "1 step forward, 2 step backwards" analogy. And not to mention the Swansea game, that's probably even a better example of that analogy. When he's being good, he still manages to suck and fuck all up.

aside from his steps back, torres has had more games looking better than DD... maybe not consistant, but the team wasnt consistant...

[manpe 10,861]

aside from his steps back, torres has had more games looking better than DD... maybe not consistant, but the team wasnt consistant...

I'm counting last season as well.. I'm pretty sure over the year DD has been better, he most definitely has scored more goals (I won't bother searching for stats, it's not hard to top 5 goals in gadzillion games). But taking into consideration only this season, then neither have been consistent... Torres's good patch seemed to last only through August-September, after that it was all tits up for a while and now Drogba is starting to look good. Let it be Torres or Drogba, I just want one of them to be on form and firing regularly. Btw, Torres has been injury-free for the whole time with us, while Drogba at age 33 has suffered injuries and has taken out screws from his arm... In ideal world it should be no brainer that Torres would already be lightyears ahead of him.. go figure.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Your blatant cheering for a Chelsea player to fail is quite sickening honestly. Wise cracks and sarcasm to try and hide your hate don't help.

I backed Torres to the hilt. As I've previously said, when we signed him you would have been hard pressed to have found a more excited Chelsea fan than me, for years he had been one of my favourite non Chelsea players, I outright adored his style of play, his attitude, everything about him. When he started poorly I said it was down to the fact that the team was built around Drogba and not him and some adjustments were needed and a decent pre season. This season he got Mata, he got Meireles, he got a more attack minded coach and he got a full pre season and still he hasn't done it. I went to bat for Torres on here many times when others were calling for his head a lot earlier than me. However I've run out of excuses, he has had his full pre season, he has the stylistic change and none of it has helped. Not only that but his attitude isn't what you expect of a big money (let alone a 50 million pound) signing. The things that made him such a great player, his speed, his killer instinct in front of goal, seem to have entirely deserted him and what we are left with now is a player who is a vague shadow of his former self who we feel a requirement to play simply in the hope that he might justify some of his incredible fee and wages, it's a sad situation to be in.

And what has really gotten to me and has really sparked me up about this is the man who he is supposed to be replacing is showing all of the fight and characteristics we thought our 50 million pounds was buying us. Didier has nothing to play for, he is almost certain to leave at the end of the Summer, he has proven beyond all doubt what a great player he is and now he will end his career getting a big pay cheque somewhere else, he has seen it all and done it all at Chelsea, in theory he should be relaxing with Alex and Anelka training with the reserves. But that isn't Didier Drogba. It started with his game against Liverpool and he has gotten better and better with each passing game that he has played and the highlight came last night. The leadership of Drogba, the fighting spirit and the sheer will to win of Didier Drogba, the ability to perform at the highest level, leading a line single handedly at 33 years of age, it was nothing short of inspirational, and Im not afraid to admit that I shed a tear or two watching one of the finest strikers of his generation give one last great performance. You might call my attitude sickening but my standards are sky high and those standards are sky high because in Didier Drogba I have come to expect our star man to reach a certain standard, not only in terms of performance but in fighting spirit and in being a true leader, so if I am harsh on Torres it is because I have come to expect a lot from the club's main man and there are not many times where I've felt proud to call Torres our main man but last night Didier Drogba provided another moment, to a long Chelsea career of moments where I was as proud as could be to say that I am a Chelsea fan and that Didier Drogba is our striker. That is the standard that has been set.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Drogba seems to have this unique charm and ability to perform brilliantly in one match and make people completly forget that for the last 16 months he has either been under average or just complete crap.

[Rambo 1,729]

Drogba seems to have this unique charm and ability to perform brilliantly in one match and make people completly forget that for the last 16 months he has either been under average or just complete crap.

So what? We should slate him for that and not appreciate his effort and performances in the future? Stop looking at things negatively.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

I'll applaud him everytime he does well in a game. But its a bit hypocritical that we slate Torres 9even if rightly so) for every bad game but some seem to give Drogba a free pass for months of underperforming.

[Rambo 1,729]

I'll applaud him everytime he does well in a game. But its a bit hypocritical that we slate Torres 9even if rightly so) for every bad game but some seem to give Drogba a free pass for months of underperforming.

Fair enough, but Drogba HAS been receiving that sort of criticism the past couple months or so if I remember correctly. Many people wrote him off just like they did to Lampard and look how they've responded. If only Torres and Malouda could take a hint..