If Ba fails......

[Peace. 4,352]

Yes, Ba will fail. He will fail into our eyes because he won't live up to fans' expectations. We have misinterpreted the reasons for which he was brought in. When at first we signed him we were over the moon because we had finally in our hands a capable striker. We thought that finally the ladyboy will be benched. As a mater of fact, because of the relief, we have overrated him and his role for our team.

But the board did not bring him for what we thought. He is, as some members have already mentioned, a stop gap, nothing more, nothing less. This winter Danny was on the go and we were looking to sell him. Because of that, we would have been striker-less (if you know what I mean). The Club did not buy Ba so he could replace the wonder-horse ; the club did buy him so we could have a replacement for the ladyboy in case of injury, and to give some rest, from time to time, to this donkey (because yes, wandering on the pitch is actually tiresome). He was more or less available, he was not expensive, he was prolific — the perfect candidate for the stop-gap job.

In that regard, Ba will accomplish his job just perfectly.

I might sound harsh, but, look at how he is sparsely used. That just goes to confirm what I am saying.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Ba won't fail, I'm quite sure of that. He will do a good job for us just like Anelka used to.

[zolayes 14,489]

don't worry if Ba fails we still have Torres

[Korea 734]

Torres never was a prolific goal scorer cept one.year in Liverpool.....

[Jack Uzzi 54]

Falcao would normally be an absolute fantastic signing. But Chelsea needs to look at other options too: Jovetic, Cavani, maybe Benzema. But all of this, I assume, depends whether Torres stays of course.

But that hasn't anything to do with Ba. He will stay another year for the depth of the squad and so Lukaku can stay on loan for another season. Maybe also loan KDB out to WBA in that regard.

[Yeboii 1,844]

Have we even lost a game where Ba played? Im not including Newcastle since he went soon out with injury

[Ollie 4,400]

if you give Ba a run of 15 straight games, he'll guarantee to bang a few in. He won't miss the chances that Torres has over the past couple of years. If Ba fails, it's probably because he hasn't been playing. I think he's a dead cert to start and score today.

See, the difference in confidence the fans i.e me, have in the strikers. Bingo.

[Blue Armour 4,289]

Have we even lost a game where Ba played? Im not including Newcastle since he went soon out with injury

The City game?

[captainjt26 106]

I like Demba Ba he is that in the box scrappy striker that annoys teams.

[Santiago. 1,500]

Torres never was a prolific goal scorer cept one.year in Liverpool.....

He was an absolute gem at Atletico and captained them at such a young age.

Though for his prime, would say about two years

2007-2009 On Par with Eto'o as the greatest finishers on the planet.

[English Freak 456]

He was an absolute gem at Atletico and captained them at such a young age.

Though for his prime, would say about two years

2007-2009 On Par with Eto'o as the greatest finishers on the planet.

Yea and we had a 28 million bid rejected for a young Torres back in 2004.

Hopefully he moves back to Spain at the end of this season. He might still be able to finish his career on a high..

[Backstreet09 499]

Torres never was a prolific goal scorer cept one.year in Liverpool.....

DO YOU EVEN FOOTBALL >.< ?

[Beepu 1,714]

DO YOU EVEN FOOTBALL >.< ?

That does not even make sense. Ive realised after reading some of your posts that the way you write are often hard to understand.

[Backstreet09 499]

That does not even make sense. Ive realised after reading some of your posts that the way you write are often hard to understand.

You need a certain amount of swag to understand me :dude:

Lol JK , I don't really have a vast vocabulary knowledge to express my views here . So i use slang often (:

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Depends how you quantify 'failing'.

'Failing' for Torres. ergo a supposed £50 million striker, is his current consistent toiling in front of goal, where anything less than decent performances and fewer than 25 goals a season fails to justify even a third of that price tag.

For Ba, a player valued at less than 20% of that pricetag (in my opinion an unfair valuation; we were lucky signing him for such a fee - in reality Ba would have commanded a £12-15 million sum), 'failing' is an altogether different beast. He can perform an Anelka-like role as the second-main goalscorer in the team and consistently net 15-20 goals a season and that would be a good return for our investment. Even in a system that doesn't suit him and with players he barely knows, Ba has netted four goals in six starts and created space and opportunities for the midfielders in behind him, as yesterday shows. On another day Oscar nets a couple and both goals are down to Ba creating the space and causing trouble.

Torres, on the other hand, as I have already said, has failed whichever way you look at it. His performances are not even at Ba's standard, which is the performance of an £8 million striker. His goalscoring record this season is distinctly average, but when you consider Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie have both more than double the number of league goals (in fact, Suarez has 21 to Torres' 7), you question his true value both financially to the team.

The bottom line is at £8 million, Ba is a better, more-complete player with a better goalscoring record this season. Going by the law of averages of what he has achieved at Newcastle and what opportunities he will get in the future (it is obvious he will be rotated with Falcao/Lewandowski/Cavani, etc. as our main striker next season but playing in a secondary capacity, as Anelka did to Drogba in 2009/10 especially) he will do a basic goal of getting 15-20 goals a season guaranteed. That is a prudent investment.

Torres has failed, but Ba won't. Because he is a quality striker. You can judge their performances and say Torres was the bargain buy and Ba the big-money acquisition. The sooner Torres goes and we have Lukaku, Ba and a new number 9 leading the line the better. Because when Torres has a shit game, we are effectively playing with ten. With Ba playing poorly, he'll still probably get on the scoresheet.

As for Torres, he is the worst signing in the history of this football club. Ergo:

Ba @ £8 million (realistic value of £12-15m) should be getting you 15-20 goals a season, á la Olivier Giroud.

Torres @ £50 million (realistic value of 50p) should be getting you 40 goals a season, á la van Persie.

Ba will achieve those targets, justifying his pricetag. Torres won't. Simple.

[Korea 734]

He was an absolute gem at Atletico and captained them at such a young age.

Though for his prime, would say about two years

2007-2009 On Par with Eto'o as the greatest finishers on the planet.

DO YOU EVEN FOOTBALL >.< ?

OMG mate, I one of Torres biggest fans, I started to watch Chelsea again cause of him last season........

Anyways, I remember when Liverpool was signing him years ago, I think it was Piers Morgan that said something like Fernando Torres is a person that scores fantastic goals, rather than being a fantastic goal scorer. I didn't watch him at Athletico, however, I did see a fair amount of games for Liverpool.....

[Santiago. 1,500]

To be honest, I'll always remember Torres as how he was, not this fucking joke.