Demba Ba

[CHOULO19 24,332]

We, as fans, have a tendency to over-react to everything, so here's an attempt at a level-headed evaluation of him today:

I thought he had a good game; excellent if you consider that it was his first with the team after only 1 training session. He did nothing extraordinary. He just did the basics right which compared to Torres is a HUGE improvement. He moved well and showed his striker's instinct in both his goals. Needs a bit more time to connect better with three behind him.

And, btw, don't get your hopes up, Torres is still going to start against Swansea.

[Jase 43,479]

We, as fans, have a tendency to over-react to everything, so here's an attempt at a level-headed evaluation of him today:

I thought he had a good game; excellent if you consider that it was his first with the team after only 1 training session. He did nothing extraordinary. He just did the basics right which compared to Torres is a HUGE improvement. He moved well and showed his striker's instinct in both his goals. Needs a bit more time to connect better with three behind him.

I think the overreaction, if you want to call it that way, is because we have not seen our ST do(you know who I'm talking about) what Ba did today upfront. The link up play, the movement and finishing, it all just felt so surreal.

[Ollie 4,400]

That header too was unlucky, usually they go through the keepers legs, again from great first class striker movement. Let Torres start the next game, i don't mind now because if he's playing shit, we can now drop him. He needs to up it. I defended Torres for so long and i will still try but Demba Ba today must've made Torres nervous and GOOD!

[magicrico 175]

Quality start, how many points may we have gained had we had a striker with movement and a finish? basics. Steven fletcher is better than Torres. Fact.

Welcome Ba. What an introduction...didn't it take Torres 30 odd games to get 2 goals? wow. nuff said.

[Laylabelle 9,395]

Woo we have a player in the top 4 of the Premier League top scorers

I think as well the price tag has helped.50m Torres was always gana be watched and every wrong move slated etc whereas Ba not so much.And we brought Ba while he was doing well at Newcastle and got Torres when he was a bit shite

[SinineUltra 1,170]

He has to start against Stoke. He got a great hat trick there last season and Stoke were the team that rejected him so he tries maybe a bit harder against them and they couldn't handle him. That 2nd goal today was something i was desperate to see. Brilliant movement and a brilliant clever finish, Torres would not have done that, he'd be 15 yards further back or by the fucking corner flag.

I don't want to keep bashing Torres but Demba Ba has just given me hundreds more ammo for it. He showed us today what we've been missing for so long. How long did it take Torres to score for us? Demba Ba.... Thank you!

Oh and yeah, he didn't kiss the pitch. Maybe there's worms at St Mary's..

We shouldn't expect him to kiss the badge but respect it.. no need for fake emotions just for the sake of it for cheap popularity, in my opinion he is more than capable of earning our complete respect for what he does on the pitch.

[Ollie 4,400]

We shouldn't expect him to kiss the badge but respect it.. no need for fake emotions just for the sake of it for cheap popularity, in my opinion he is more than capable of earning our complete respect for what he does on the pitch.

I wouldn't want him to kiss the badge. At least not yet. i said PITCH. Well if he did kiss the pitch, i didn't see it.

[GermanBlue 82]

Glad he scored, haven't seen the game yet, but I've seen the second goal, which was just pure striker instinct. Something Torres would've never scored. Can't judge anything more about him until I've watched the game tomorrow though. On the score sheet, it didn't seem obvious that he's only trained one time with the team, did it?

[SinineUltra 1,170]

I wouldn't want him to kiss the badge. At least not yet. i said PITCH. Well if he did kiss the pitch, i didn't see it.

Sorry mate, misread - thanks for correcting. You're right , he didnt kiss the PITCH

[Sheva. 5,373]

We have so many games coming up so Ba can't start all of them, and we'll see Torres at some point.

But i do not believe Ba is "2nd choice" he is the better striker and has had the better season, he will start a lot of games, i'm sure of that.

On his performance today - he deserved a hat-trick. His movement was quality, you wouldn't even know he just joined the team and unlike Torres, the ball didn't bounce back to the opposition when played long to him. Very good start, good things to build on.

Just a question, there is no release clause in his contract with us right??

I would guess not, it's not our style.

[Kinol 337]

Demba Ba didnt always do the praying celebration when he scored for Newcastle. I dont understand why ppl are discussing this. Im sure he will do it soon for us though.

[termninja 5,290]

A proper striker's performance. Don't overdo, run in space, wait for deflections, ask for the ball when in good situation, use your chances. Seems to me like he's been our player since summer, not from yesterday And after a while, I actually expect something when we cross the ball into the box

I'm really liking him already.

Keep it up DemBa!

[Hutcho 8,443]

Extremely happy about our signing... He didn't have to score today to prove that he can work here, as after a shaky 25 (for the whole team) we got into it, he linked up well with mata hazard moses. Was very rarely wandering down the wing and when he did he whipped in a great low cross. Instead whenever we got the ball wide he ran to the space and dragged defenders with him and was in and around the box. He made his prescense felt and gives us another player with a arial prescense instead of just ivan terry and cahill. Was in the right place at the right time for the first goal which was probably going in anyway but better to be safe to sorry and it is good he was right on it. But the second one was EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE MISSING. It wasn't that special with someone doing 4 players, cutting back chipping it up for an overhead, it was just a simple situation where he made a run, there was a precision pass from hazard and he calmly slotted it into the goal. Exactly what we need from a striker. He also seems like a big team player genuinely happy for his new team mates to score and has a good work rate. He will still his bad games to go along with the good ones as all players do. But for 7 mil, i don't think you could want much more. And, importanly he looks super cool in blue and gold.

[DH1988 1,319]

Looked lost in the first half but vastly improved in the 2nd half, as did the team in fairness.

So happy that we finally have a striker, Torres would never be in the positions to score those goals and thats what we were missing.

[klopfzeichen 78]

To the tune of Bad by Michael Jackson:

Cause he's Ba, he's Ba, you know it ah.

And the whole world has to answer right now just to tell you once again, who's Ba.

[DH1988 1,319]

Oh Ah Demba Ba! Oh Ah Demba Ba!

Did anyone catch his interview on ITV tonight? He mentions Fernando and such. Very humble guy.

[diskoviolente 425]

What a good occasion this was to introduce Ba to the squad. Other than Torres' first game against Liverpool. Goodness me, how much madness there has been at Chelsea over these last seasons.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Judging from what I could hear, there were already 3 different types of chants for Demba Ba. And not one using Ba ba black sheep!