Demba Ba

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Decent game, good hold up play and strength but his finishing and decision-making is not worthy of a striker.

When he took the ball off Ruddy he passed it to Bassong instead of laying it back for lamps to shoot on an empty goal. This could have put the tie to bed after 20 mins and we would have been spared a lot of nuisance.

[The_Flash 1,144]

The assist was all he really did, he COULD have had a hat trick. However that is our problem in a nut shell, our strikers just ARE NOT actually getting the goals that matter. Each game it is a worry, at 1-1, i really wondered where another goal was coming from.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Bar Torre's second half performance vs Spurs I'd say Ba has been our best striker so far in one appearance....

Tbf, Jose built the game plan around him yesterday so he was bound to appear as the most important man on the pitch, just like what happened with Schurrle vs Steaua. I'm not taking anything away from either player who both did the job brilliantly, I'm just saying that it's not fair to compare this performance of his to the performance of other strikers in other matches since our game plan played to his strengths.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The assist was all he really did, he COULD have had a hat trick. However that is our problem in a nut shell, our strikers just ARE NOT actually getting the goals that matter. Each game it is a worry, at 1-1, i really wondered where another goal was coming from.

Tbf there's been a lot of luck involved. Like yesterday when Ba won the aerial duel with Rudy and got the shot away, he was incredibly unlucky that Bassong was in the exact same spot that the shot was aimed at; half a yard left or right and it's a goal.

Then there's the purely terrible finishing like the one right at the start of the second half.

[The_Flash 1,144]

Tbf there's been a lot of luck involved. Like yesterday when Ba won the aerial duel with Rudy and got the shot away, he was incredibly unlucky that Bassong was in the exact same spot that the shot was aimed at; half a yard left or right and it's a goal.

Then there's the purely terrible finishing like the one right at the start of the second half.

You can only blame luck so much, and no matter who plays they don't look there are going to score, and you can try all you want, if we are to really compete, we need goals. Demba i guess was better than Eto'o but its all worrying.

[didierforever 7,349]

i would take ba and etoo's poor finishing than torres' well... anything. the fact that these 2 our missing chances means they are getting at the end of things. they are taking their shots, getting at the end of crosses and moving well. i can guarantee that torres would not have even tried to get at the end of the ramires' low cross that ba embarassingly missed.he has barely been involved but given a real go, he will start converting them and then we ll be fine. same goes for etoo. also ba gives us the option of retaining possession exponentially when we hoof the ball from gk when luiz is being pressed by opposition strikers. also it gives us a directness in our play for JT and lamps to find a striker with a long ball.

now dont get me wrong. torres this season has been decent but i am not going to fall for "he is back" stuff.

[The_Flash 1,144]

i would take ba and etoo's poor finishing than torres' well... anything. the fact that these 2 our missing chances means they are getting at the end of things. they are taking their shots, getting at the end of crosses and moving well. i can guarantee that torres would not have even tried to get at the end of the ramires' low cross that ba embarassingly missed.he has barely been involved but given a real go, he will start converting them and then we ll be fine. same goes for etoo. also ba gives us the option of retaining possession exponentially when we hoof the ball from gk when luiz is being pressed by opposition strikers. also it gives us a directness in our play for JT and lamps to find a striker with a long ball.

now dont get me wrong. torres this season has been decent but i am not going to fall for "he is back" stuff.

What? Torres yes can be variable, but there is a chance of a goal on a good day, these two don't look like getting a goal between them. I would rather have Torres than either of them, not because I fancy him or any other stupid reason. If he could continue the promise he showed at the start of the season, he could finally starting actually getting some goals.

[didierforever 7,349]

What? Torres yes can be variable, but there is a chance of a goal on a good day, these two don't look like getting a goal between them. I would rather have Torres than either of them, not because I fancy him or any other stupid reason. If he could continue the promise he showed at the start of the season, he could finally starting actually getting some goals.

a good day? when does that come? or rather when will that come.

with ba and etoo, the law of averages has to catch up soon. i mean , the everton game, etoo could have had 2, ba yesterday could have had a hat-trick, and soon they WILL start taking their chances. and the statement "these two don't look like getting a goal between them" is so wrong. they do look like getting a goal. after 20-25 minutes in the norwich game, u definitely would have predicted ba scoring a goal, rather than not scoring one. but he had no luck. even from 4 yards out somehow it just dint go in and sometimes u need that luck and like i said, it will happen.

[bushman 2,043]

a good day? when does that come? or rather when will that come.

with ba and etoo, the law of averages has to catch up soon. i mean , the everton game, etoo could have had 2, ba yesterday could have had a hat-trick, and soon they WILL start taking their chances. and the statement "these two don't look like getting a goal between them" is so wrong. they do look like getting a goal. after 20-25 minutes in the norwich game, u definitely would have predicted ba scoring a goal, rather than not scoring one. but he had no luck. even from 4 yards out somehow it just dint go in and sometimes u need that luck and like i said, it will happen.

May I point out, as you posted it ?

...would have predicted BA scoring....the result he did not. One can not rely on him, I feel.

As I was looking at falcao as the top goal scorer with 7 goals in 9 games, my mind is going on a wild tour. Suddenly, I see Falcao at Chelsea, BA sold, Willian not bought, & Eto´o freezing in Russia. What you say to that ?

[didierforever 7,349]

May I point out, as you posted it ?

...would have predicted BA scoring....the result he did not. One can not rely on him, I feel.

As I was looking at falcao as the top goal scorer with 7 goals in 9 games, my mind is going on a wild tour. Suddenly, I see Falcao at Chelsea, BA sold, Willian not bought, & Eto´o freezing in Russia. What you say to that ?

who would not have wanted that? falcao/cavani in the blue shirt. the perfect targetmen. i feel cavani would have been perfect. strong, workman-like player, proper jose player. also their names would have preceded them. i feel the opposition defenders are no longer scared of our strikers the way DD used to make them or the way, rvp and rooney make them. they are more worried about our AMs. these guys could have done us wonders and would have taken so much pressure off our AMs.

but since it dint happen,we have to make do with what we have. i feel ba suits us most against organized defences especialy away from home (like norwich, cardiff, stoke,wba etc). etoo suits us when teams come at the bridge to park the bus so as to break down the defences. and torres when he gets space and chances to run at the defenders (like tottenham, and other big games). my take on things. we have to make do with what we have.

[robsblubot 3,595]

When in doubt, let the transfer marker speak...

We paid 50m for Torres, so we could indeed expect world class performances from him, but we all know they did not come. He shows flashes of quality here and there, but only hits any sort of form for short periods of time. He does better against weak opposition, but has trouble finding the net against tougher sides.

Then we have our 7m 27yo (now 28) "bargain" buy. Was he the deal of the century or just an average striker who is prob not Chelsea quality? I'll go with the more likely. We lost quality by replacing Daniel with Ba, but suspect other factors were at play.

Eto'o was a free transfer, so in itself a huge bet. He was a striker who relied a lot on his fantastic pace, which at 32 might not be the same.

So, yes, we still have a striker problem esp when comparing our options to the ones of the other top sides out there.

[bushman 2,043]

who would not have wanted that? falcao/cavani in the blue shirt. the perfect targetmen. i feel cavani would have been perfect. strong, workman-like player, proper jose player. also their names would have preceded them. i feel the opposition defenders are no longer scared of our strikers the way DD used to make them or the way, rvp and rooney make them. they are more worried about our AMs. these guys could have done us wonders and would have taken so much pressure off our AMs.

but since it dint happen,we have to make do with what we have. i feel ba suits us most against organized defences especialy away from home (like norwich, cardiff, stoke,wba etc). etoo suits us when teams come at the bridge to park the bus so as to break down the defences. and torres when he gets space and chances to run at the defenders (like tottenham, and other big games). my take on things. we have to make do with what we have.

Yes, we have to do with the 3 stooges.

[The_Flash 1,144]

May I point out, as you posted it ?

...would have predicted BA scoring....the result he did not. One can not rely on him, I feel.

As I was looking at falcao as the top goal scorer with 7 goals in 9 games, my mind is going on a wild tour. Suddenly, I see Falcao at Chelsea, BA sold, Willian not bought, & Eto´o freezing in Russia. What you say to that ?

I agree we CAN'T rely on him or Eto'o, it's a worry, god the rest of the team is so strong, I think back to Drogba couldn't stop scoring

a good day? when does that come? or rather when will that come.

with ba and etoo, the law of averages has to catch up soon. i mean , the everton game, etoo could have had 2, ba yesterday could have had a hat-trick, and soon they WILL start taking their chances. and the statement "these two don't look like getting a goal between them" is so wrong. they do look like getting a goal. after 20-25 minutes in the norwich game, u definitely would have predicted ba scoring a goal, rather than not scoring one. but he had no luck. even from 4 yards out somehow it just dint go in and sometimes u need that luck and like i said, it will happen.

There has been plenty of good days for Torres and the start of this season he looks sharp again. As I said yes they could have had many goals Ba and Eto'o but they haven't and if 'almost' scoring doesn't win leagues. We can't rely on luck, we need talent and fast.

[didierforever 7,349]

I agree we CAN'T rely on him or Eto'o, it's a worry, god the rest of the team is so strong, I think back to Drogba couldn't stop scoring

There has been plenty of good days for Torres and the start of this season he looks sharp again. As I said yes they could have had many goals Ba and Eto'o but they haven't and if 'almost' scoring doesn't win leagues. We can't rely on luck, we need talent and fast.

in that case, tell me how many goals has torres scored in PL? u r talking as if torres playing would mean a definite goal over ba and etoo. sorry to disappoint u but that is far-far-far from the truth.infact, most of the games, playing torres becomes a liability.

we have 3 strikers who have different strengths. and as i mentioned to bushman, i expect mourinho to play them according to their strengths and the oppostion's weakness.

[The_Flash 1,144]

I am not saying that about Torres if you read more of my posts you would see I actually think they are all pretty terrible but if I HAD TO PICK one of the three, Torres is the best of a bad bunch, and even then he could still be terrible but I think Jose could get him back, whereas I think Demba never had it .