Demba Ba

[Manuf 1,448]

our team learned how to by-pass the striker, Ba looked annoyed but he should take his chances.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

He had the Torres flu yesterday.I am sure his finishing will be better next time.

[robsblubot 3,237]

We are making life for Ba way too easy by comparing him to Torres.

So let's forget Torres for a second here.

Honestly, I think Ba is very far from the world class striker Chelsea need to compete at the highest level. Can you really compare Ba to RVP, Dzeko, Aguero, Suzrez, even Giroud (consider potential there as he is very young). I like having a towering striker like Ba as an option, but I'd rather not have him start against Real Madrid next year when we play for the CL... straight from my crystal ball.

[Jype 6,398]

We are making life for Ba way too easy by comparing him to Torres.

So let's forget Torres for a second here.

Honestly, I think Ba is very far from the world class striker Chelsea need to compete at the highest level. Can you really compare Ba to RVP, Dzeko, Aguero, Suzrez, even Giroud (consider potential there as he is very young). I like having a towering striker like Ba as an option, but I'd rather not have him start against Real Madrid next year when we play for the CL... straight from my crystal ball.

Actually Demba Ba is only a year older than Olivier Giroud, the soon to be 27-year-old 'youngster'.

From the players you mentioned I would say Ba is right up there with Dzeko / Giroud and while he may not exactly be at the level of Robin Van Persie, the best striker in the world, that doesn't mean he is a bad player and people are overreacting to his wastefulness against West Ham. Sure, he should have scored a couple of goals from the chances he got but other than that his performance was top class and with a little more concentration in his finishing people would be creaming over how good he is. I really don't mind having a striker who, despite occasionally being wasteful in front of goal, always gets in those goalscoring positions because of his great movement and everyone else around him get more space too because the opponent are really scared of him.

[Leif 6,006]

Hasn't Van Pussy failed to score in like, his last 6 or 7 games or something? I doubt you'll see people on the United forum going "OMGZ LETZ NOT PLAY WITH HIM ANYMORE, WOT A FLOP. LETZ PUT A RESERVE TEAM STRIKER UP INSTEAD" lol. He's just having a rough patch!

He creates space, tries hard (remember that out-stretched leg within the first few minutes of the game? You know, risking his body's health just to score us a goal? Passion. Desire.)

He also made quite a few key passes yesterday and had brilliant awareness despite his lack of finishing-prowess on the day. I personally believe that it's no coincidence his 2 worst games for us (in my opinion) have happened against both his former clubs. Perhaps he just has this mental barrier after he's connected with fans which he's finding hard to break? He seems like a really respectful guy, but who knows.

He adds lots to the team. Hazard plays better with him. Mata plays better with him. He's a focal point. He's someone Cech can actually kick the ball up to when under pressure and not lose possession from it every time. Someone who can out-muscle and shrug off defenders before laying the ball off to Mata who'll make a splitting pass to Moses to grab onto before crossing in. Oh and Ba is back in the box by the time that cross comes in!

He's a hard worker. You can't berate him for having an off-day. It's incredibly unfair.

[Shaan 263]

Honestly I'd rather see ba miss those chances than see through balls and crosses passed to thin air , while torres the most weak-willed player I have ever had the misfortune to watch is busy day dreaming ...

[Styles 9,790]

Hasn't Van Pussy failed to score in like, his last 6 or 7 games or something? I doubt you'll see people on the United forum going "OMGZ LETZ NOT PLAY WITH HIM ANYMORE, WOT A FLOP. LETZ PUT A RESERVE TEAM STRIKER UP INSTEAD" lol. He's just having a rough patch!

He creates space, tries hard (remember that out-stretched leg within the first few minutes of the game? You know, risking his body's health just to score us a goal? Passion. Desire.)

He also made quite a few key passes yesterday and had brilliant awareness despite his lack of finishing-prowess on the day. I personally believe that it's no coincidence his 2 worst games for us (in my opinion) have happened against both his former clubs. Perhaps he just has this mental barrier after he's connected with fans which he's finding hard to break? He seems like a really respectful guy, but who knows.

He adds lots to the team. Hazard plays better with him. Mata plays better with him. He's a focal point. He's someone Cech can actually kick the ball up to when under pressure and not lose possession from it every time. Someone who can out-muscle and shrug off defenders before laying the ball off to Mata who'll make a splitting pass to Moses to grab onto before crossing in. Oh and Ba is back in the box by the time that cross comes in!

He's a hard worker. You can't berate him for having an off-day. It's incredibly unfair.

He didn't even have a bad game against Newcastle. But good post overall.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Thought Ba played well yesterday - yes, he should have scored at least one of the opportunities he had, but he dropped deep at times and it was like we were effectively playing with Hazard and Mata exchanging roles as a false number 9. That's the difference between he and Torres; Demba is actually quite a visionary player and makes some very incisive passing and movement.

I'd be more concerned if he wasn't getting into the goalscoring positions than by him missing them.

[robsblubot 3,237]

Actually Demba Ba is only a year older than Olivier Giroud, the soon to be 27-year-old 'youngster'.

From the players you mentioned I would say Ba is right up there with Dzeko / Giroud and while he may not exactly be at the level of Robin Van Persie, the best striker in the world, that doesn't mean he is a bad player and people are overreacting to his wastefulness against West Ham. Sure, he should have scored a couple of goals from the chances he got but other than that his performance was top class and with a little more concentration in his finishing people would be creaming over how good he is. I really don't mind having a striker who, despite occasionally being wasteful in front of goal, always gets in those goalscoring positions because of his great movement and everyone else around him get more space too because the opponent are really scared of him.

granted on Giroud.

Disagree with everything else you wrote though. Dzeko is twice the player in my book and there are at least 20 strikers better than Ba.

IMO strikers need more than just tap in goals, which Ba can certainly do. Especially when we are talking world class and I just don't see enough skill there to even consider him close to being world class.

Good tap in striker, nothing more for me.

BTW, not talking about last match alone... and a lot of championship players have a lot of passion too, and yet I don't see them playing for Chelsea.

Can we all agree that Ba is, at this time, a lot better than Torres? But Is being better than Torres the only requirement to play for Chelsea these days?

[juko 19]

what a change when you are demba instead Torres

[juko 19]

i made 2 mistakes oh no sorry my english must improve

[The only place to be 11,313]

Hasn't Van Pussy failed to score in like, his last 6 or 7 games or something? I doubt you'll see people on the United forum going "OMGZ LETZ NOT PLAY WITH HIM ANYMORE, WOT A FLOP. LETZ PUT A RESERVE TEAM STRIKER UP INSTEAD" lol. He's just having a rough patch!

He creates space, tries hard (remember that out-stretched leg within the first few minutes of the game? You know, risking his body's health just to score us a goal? Passion. Desire.)

He also made quite a few key passes yesterday and had brilliant awareness despite his lack of finishing-prowess on the day. I personally believe that it's no coincidence his 2 worst games for us (in my opinion) have happened against both his former clubs. Perhaps he just has this mental barrier after he's connected with fans which he's finding hard to break? He seems like a really respectful guy, but who knows.

He adds lots to the team. Hazard plays better with him. Mata plays better with him. He's a focal point. He's someone Cech can actually kick the ball up to when under pressure and not lose possession from it every time. Someone who can out-muscle and shrug off defenders before laying the ball off to Mata who'll make a splitting pass to Moses to grab onto before crossing in. Oh and Ba is back in the box by the time that cross comes in!

He's a hard worker. You can't berate him for having an off-day. It's incredibly unfair.

If you look at Hazard's goal, Ba creates space for him by sticking on the last two defenders. Too often Torres would be playing off them or simply not offering a threat. Ba actually uses his body to shield one of the defenders, and throughout the game he just kept the West Ham defenders honest.

He had an off-day with the finishing but that happens to all strikers (Van Persie for instance). Unlike Torres, his bad day in front of goal didn't make the team worse like Torres often does.

[juko 19]

he pushes defenders yes lol

[Ollie 4,400]

He missed those chances because he didn't wanna score against his old team and get coined in the head. I went to a League Cup game in 04/05 between Chelsea and West Ham when Kezman scored his first Chelsea goal and even he got coined in the head, we were left in the ground for over half an hour, scum shit heads. Ba knew we would win anyway, he was just practising his runs and movement. I mean, scoring 3 against an old team isn't exactly fair.

[Thomas Williams 166]

If Ba would have put away his chances, he would have rivaled Hazard for MofM.

His movement was phenomenal, he was causing all sorts of disruption in the defense, not to mention tiring them out. When you do that to a defense, they can no longer pressure Mata and Hazard closely, and well, you've seen what they're capable of with a little space.

I'll take a performance like he did against West Ham any day of week, and don't worry, his striking was unlucky, not a true reflection of him. He was never the most clinical finisher, but on even an average day he'll put one or two of those away easily.

His character on the pitch, which he showed in the derby sunday, that's won't change game to game and that's I'm not upset if he fails on a few shots. Not saying he had a great game, but I'm not going to be upset. I still believe he was an excellent 7 million pound signing.

I wouldn't have complained with a Torres start, it would be great if we could get him into some kind of form before we sell him summer, and if we get his confidence up, who knows, we could trick some people into thinking he's a good striker.

Seriously, I think Torres would shine in a league with easier defenses (e.g. Russia, China, even Spain), because dribbling past mediocre defenders would boost his confidence on a regular basis. But for Chelsea I would always prefer Ba, no matter what his current shooting form is like.

[Thomas Williams 166]

Also, do you guys think Ba would be Ok with being a 3rd striker who hardly, if ever, gets to play?

I wouldn't mind getting an older, finished product stiker like Tevez or maybe Villa who could deliver a lot of goals, and then also give Lukaku a lot of playing time as an older striker needs a lot of rest, and just have Ba on the bench as a verryyy reliable 3rd option if we ever needed him.

That way Lukaku would grow, we'd have two great strikers, and we'd have money to buy a truly world class player for the pivot, and maybe even a great centre back as well.

Just a thought.

[mnmontero 78]

watch Ba's movement, blocks the defender and the second Hazard shoots he turns around looking for the rebound. Haven't seen Torres do this to be honest. Probably if Torres was playing the other defender would have closed on Hazard.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

As a striker Ba had terrible game. But as a player, not a bad one actualy. Apart from those misses, he was doing well in team play.

However Chelsea needs to play more on striker. Yes, Ba had few clear chances, but striker should be our key player in attack. More balls to him, less misses. Because Mata, Hazard, Oscar can be pretty wastefull despite many goals. This will change eventualy but striker in team is to score goals and he should get the service.

Ba was joint top striker at nufc, 13 goals or so and only 2 here. Could be player, but we realy lack those passes like Gerrard does in Lpool to Suarez. Kevin should do this next year at Chelsea.