Demba Ba

[bushman 2,043]

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.

Oh, I know how many, fuck all.

[The_Flash 1,144]

What strengths? Sadly they are all lacking ? It's so disappointing I wish SO MUCH it was different but it's not. Perhaps Luiz could start blessing Torres again, perhaps do it to all three?

People keep acting as I don't like them, I do actually and I REALLY REALLY want to be brilliant and we all talk about what wonderful hat tricks they have got which helped us win the league but deep down do you think any of them will be up there with like RVP, 30 goals?

[bushman 2,043]

What strengths? Sadly they are all lacking ? It's so disappointing I wish SO MUCH it was different but it's not. Perhaps Luiz could start blessing Torres again, perhaps do it to all three?

People keep acting as I don't like them, I do actually and I REALLY REALLY want to be brilliant and we all talk about what wonderful hat tricks they have got which helped us win the league but deep down do you think any of them will be up there with like RVP, 30 goals?

You can´t stop now to see them being brilliant, you wanna know when they start scoring...take your time though, you might wait till Christmas.

Show me Torres, BA or Eto´o some goals.

[chelseathebest 150]

I thought Ba worked really hard, but still it is clear he is an average player at his best. He tends to be clumsy, he is slow, his link-up play is terrible and with all that he ain't something of a finisher.

So I'd rather play Eto'o. He hasn't been brilliant so far, but I think he could start performing better with time.

[Blue Armour 4,436]

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.

Well, Torres has had more "good days" than Ba, after the latter arrived here. Ba did play fewer matches, but an in-form Torres offers more than targetman Ba, which is why he'll be likely to start most of the coming matches (as long as he maintains form of course)

[didierforever 7,349]

Well, Torres has had more "good days" than Ba, after the latter arrived here. Ba did play fewer matches, but an in-form Torres offers more than targetman Ba, which is why he'll be likely to start most of the coming matches (as long as he maintains form of course)

those "good days" were against pub sides in europa, while ba was playing in the PL.

an "in-form" torres is a myth which after 2 and a half years i refuse to believe in.

[Blue Armour 4,436]

those "good days" were against pub sides in europa, while ba was playing in the PL.

an "in-form" torres is a myth which after 2 and a half years i refuse to believe in.

Well he has had his good showings against teams like Arsenal and Bayern.

Irregardless of the Torres myth, I refuse to believe that Ba is a better option than Torres. He's a better targetman maybe, but that's about it.

[didierforever 7,349]

Well he has had his good showings against teams like Arsenal and Bayern.

Irregardless of the Torres myth, I refuse to believe that Ba is a better option than Torres. He's a better targetman maybe, but that's about it.

arsenal (away) thats it. 2 and a half years and that is one match in which you can say he was a 50 million striker.

against bayern he did score a goal but was not even in our top 5 performers on the day - hazard, oscar, schurlle, cole, cech.

i dont think that is a good stat in anyway.

ba is a better targetman and a better option for us specially when playing away against organized and physical defences (which is almost all PL teams). torres is a better option when playing against teams like tottenham and bayern because they will give him space and he will be better suited in a counter-attacking situation.

[bushman 2,043]

Today, I read Chelsea are keen on Burak Yilmaz & are ready to offer BA in part exchange.

I´d say, the sooner, the better.

[robsblubot 3,595]

arsenal (away) thats it. 2 and a half years and that is one match in which you can say he was a 50 million striker.

against bayern he did score a goal but was not even in our top 5 performers on the day - hazard, oscar, schurlle, cole, cech.

i dont think that is a good stat in anyway.

ba is a better targetman and a better option for us specially when playing away against organized and physical defences (which is almost all PL teams). torres is a better option when playing against teams like tottenham and bayern because they will give him space and he will be better suited in a counter-attacking situation.

Ba is not good enough. Yes, he is a target man, just not a very good one. He's a target man who is not that great in the air (can't remember him heading the ball in the back of the net actually). He also goes to the ground very often and has a history of injuries, if not mistaken, had problems with his knees.

I really don't think Roman wants us playing target man - quotes from AVB time - so Ba will be a rotation player at most, prob a backup when all strikers are available.

[didierforever 7,349]

Ba is not good enough. Yes, he is a target man, just not a very good one. He's a target man who is not that great in the air (can't remember him heading the ball in the back of the net actually). He also goes to the ground very often and has a history of injuries, if not mistaken, had problems with his knees.

I really don't think Roman wants us playing target man - quotes from AVB time - so Ba will be a rotation player at most, prob a backup when all strikers are available.

no one needs to be told that ba is not good enough. he was a stop gap that we bought to plug a hole. we wanted to loan him out and that speaks a lot.

but let us look at our options.

is torres good enough? hell no. why is he still here - because roman and the board are unwilling to accept the 50 mil pounds shambles he was.

is etoo good enought? definitely no. why is he here - because we could not get falcao, cavani and rooney and he was the only one close to good enough, ex WC player that we was available in the market, that too for free.

looking at our options, while accepting that ba is not good enough, i would still say ba is the best of our options. so far he has not had any problems with his knees for us, and even if he does, we would not moan twice about it. going to the ground or not, he wins us balls in the air. luiz canot play out of the defence all the time. watch how van wolveswinkel kept biting at his ankle, because teams know we dont have a way out except for luiz. so their is not much of ball retention for us without ba.

as for roman - he can want what he wants, but right now the the manager is JOSE and even for a second i wont believe that jose would have made it completely clear to roman that he would want total control of this team.

[robsblubot 3,595]

no one needs to be told that ba is not good enough. he was a stop gap that we bought to plug a hole. we wanted to loan him out and that speaks a lot.

but let us look at our options.

is torres good enough? hell no. why is he still here - because roman and the board are unwilling to accept the 50 mil pounds shambles he was.

is etoo good enought? definitely no. why is he here - because we could not get falcao, cavani and rooney and he was the only one close to good enough, ex WC player that we was available in the market, that too for free.

looking at our options, while accepting that ba is not good enough, i would still say ba is the best of our options. so far he has not had any problems with his knees for us, and even if he does, we would not moan twice about it. going to the ground or not, he wins us balls in the air. luiz canot play out of the defence all the time. watch how van wolveswinkel kept biting at his ankle, because teams know we dont have a way out except for luiz. so their is not much of ball retention for us without ba.

as for roman - he can want what he wants, but right now the the manager is JOSE and even for a second i wont believe that jose would have made it completely clear to roman that he would want total control of this team.

Sure, Jose is the manager now. However, Roman as the owner sets the long-term vision for the club and if Jose does not deliver, he will find someone who can. Jose himself said that there will be a transition period a couple of weeks ago; that he cannot deliver the change of style because we've been playing the same way for so long - according to him, since he last left.

yeah definitely a valid strategy in certain occasions. The irony of it though is that it did not work! We've managed to still only scored one goal missing a number of chances some with Ba himself. We won the game with Eto and a bunch of mobile players on the pitch applying pressure in every corner and playing short quick passes.

As a target man, I see Lukaku (for example) win far more headers and actually scoring with a header than Ba ever did.

[didierforever 7,349]

Sure, Jose is the manager now. However, Roman as the owner sets the long-term vision for the club and if Jose does not deliver, he will find someone who can. Jose himself said that there will be a transition period a couple of weeks ago; that he cannot deliver the change of style because we've been playing the same way for so long - according to him, since he last left.

yeah definitely a valid strategy in certain occasions. The irony of it though is that it did not work! We've managed to still only scored one goal missing a number of chances some with Ba himself. We won the game with Eto and a bunch of mobile players on the pitch applying pressure in every corner and playing short quick passes.

As a target man, I see Lukaku (for example) win far more headers and actually scoring with a header than Ba ever did.

so roman will fire jose if he plays long ball? i dont get the point u r trying to make. jose is using the players we have which (which have changed for the strong and bullish of the likes of ballack to mazacar). he is accomadating them the best he feels. and yes, that will take some time. but in the meantime he has to deliver the right results. because i dont think a trophy less year, but good football year would guarantee jose's job next year. but the vice-versa almost certainly does.

there was not much irony. ba was our biggest threat when norwich were defending deep. the 2 chances he had when he hustles ruddy, the mata thru ball that he could not convert, the rambo low cross. u cant say it dint work because in the end, even our first goal came from a long ball, which ba won and put it in the path of oscar.

as for the goal no.2 and 3, i can see why jose did that. norwich were no longer the defendors, in fact they were the aggresors. the game had become very open and more sutied to etoo/torres' style of play than ba's. so it was not much of a suprise with what happened.

again, i am in no longer saying that ba is good enough. i would have preferred lukaku myself. i mean watch his hold-up play for everton, its just brilliant. but with the options we have, ba is the best for it.

[robsblubot 3,595]

so roman will fire jose if he plays long ball? i dont get the point u r trying to make. jose is using the players we have which (which have changed for the strong and bullish of the likes of ballack to mazacar). he is accomadating them the best he feels. and yes, that will take some time. but in the meantime he has to deliver the right results. because i dont think a trophy less year, but good football year would guarantee jose's job next year. but the vice-versa almost certainly does.

there was not much irony. ba was our biggest threat when norwich were defending deep. the 2 chances he had when he hustles ruddy, the mata thru ball that he could not convert, the rambo low cross. u cant say it dint work because in the end, even our first goal came from a long ball, which ba won and put it in the path of oscar.

as for the goal no.2 and 3, i can see why jose did that. norwich were no longer the defendors, in fact they were the aggresors. the game had become very open and more sutied to etoo/torres' style of play than ba's. so it was not much of a suprise with what happened.

again, i am in no longer saying that ba is good enough. i would have preferred lukaku myself. i mean watch his hold-up play for everton, its just brilliant. but with the options we have, ba is the best for it.

The game had not become very open, Jose made the game very open with the changes. I stand with my opinion the strategy did not work in the first half. in

Yes, if we are playing like Stoke a year from now Jose will be replaced as he should.

[Special Juan 28,107]

Ba maybe not good enough but he's here and we have to utilise him, simple as that. I didn't think he was bad at all on Saturday, he held it up and did a lot of good things. Again, we need to give him credit, he has been patient and he took his opputunity to lay his card on the table well on Saturday.