Samuel Eto'o

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Good performance, in the second-half in particular. All that is missing is the killer instinct in front of goal. We can focus on his assist and his good movement, but there were many instances where he wastefully shot from 25+ yards instead of making a simple pass - one such instance nearly saw us succumb to a 4v4 counter, and Lampard had to foul his man and pick up a yellow card. Just needs to work on his decision-making.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I doubt he was worse than Torres, that would literally mean putting the ball in his own net on 3 occasions.

Torres last week against Tottenham lost the ball which lead to their goal and got send off - yet that performance was about as good as we've seen Torres play in a blue shirt.

And I used to think that the ridiculous love that Torres used to get while playing shit was annoying, but now the ridiculous hate while he's playing okay is even worse. Let's ignore the fact that Torres was our MOTM against Spurs and that he should not have been sent off and that he fouled on the edge of their box but the ref played on and that the goal came about 30 seconds later after a mistake from Iva. Torres in that match showed real intent. He beat players, created chances and looked dangerous every time he got the ball. More importantly, he was completely in sync with the midfield. Eto'o didn't show any of that and against a defense that wouldn't be good enough for League 2!

I realize that after suffering with Torres for two and a half years, people are desperate, but excuses that people are making up to say that he had a good performance are getting as bad as the ones that were being made during one of Torres's many goal-droughts. I mean FFS Steaua's RB has more goals for us than Eto'o this season!

[Steve 10,227]

Eto'o + Torres = Drogba

It's that simple.

But Didier can score goals?

No honestly Eto'o has been playing decent imo.

[Tomo 21,733]

And I used to think that the ridiculous love that Torres used to get while playing shit was annoying, but now the ridiculous hate while he's playing okay is even worse. Let's ignore the fact that Torres was our MOTM against Spurs and that he should not have been sent off and that he fouled on the edge of their box but the ref played on and that the goal came about 30 seconds later after a mistake from Iva. Torres in that match showed real intent. He beat players, created chances and looked dangerous every time he got the ball. More importantly, he was completely in sync with the midfield. Eto'o didn't show any of that and against a defense that wouldn't be good enough for League 2!

I realize that after suffering with Torres for two and a half years, people are desperate, but excuses that people are making up to say that he had a good performance are getting as bad as the ones that were being made during one of Torres's many goal-droughts. I mean FFS Steaua's RB has more goals for us than Eto'o this season!

Torres get's praised to the hilt for any half decent performance, the fact there is the "he's back" after that performance says a lot in itself, if we got what we paid for the display at WHL would have been one of his quieter performances.

As since Torres got huge backing during a tough start, it's only fair Eto'o gets the same, and Eto'o looks like Henry if you compare his first 4 games to Nando's when he joined against Liverpool, Fulham, Copenhagen and United.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Let's look at some statistics from last night since I didn't watch the game

90% successful passes

21 passes total

5 key passes

1 assist

These figures lead me to believe his passing was very effective, because he had the most key passes with the least amount of passes attempted and he mostly found his target(Torres usually has 70% passing accuracy and around the same amount of passes per match)

5 shots

3 shots on target

He wasn't particularly wasteful considering one of those shots lead to a goal apparently - Oscar had 3 shots and none on target so he holds that accolite.

34 touches

4 Dispossession

2 Turnovers

1 Successful Dribble

0 Offsides

The dispossession stat is worrying, that's what you'd expect from Torres, rest looks alright

Overall it was Steaua and I would not read too much into the performance but saying it's extremely bad is just funny. Obviously his shooting let him down but his passing was spot on - so a so/so performance. Anyhow as I've said in the past I prefer a striker who shoots often than one who doesnt.

You call that an assist?

I'd say its just a terrible second touch, otherwise it would've been his goal.

Also none of his shots-on-target looked threatening.

Sorry to say, he doesn't look like the first team striker of a team that looks to win the PL.

[bushman 2,043]

Even though, I saw a hint of good performance by Eto´o, I still think he has got to perform even better.

Sad for Torres, but now Eto´o has got his chance to show what´s still in him. Him & BA must start to convert on those clear chances.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Torres get's praised to the hilt for any half decent performance, the fact there is the "he's back" after that performance says a lot in itself, if we got what we paid for the display at WHL would have been one of his quieter performances.

As since Torres got huge backing during a tough start, it's only fair Eto'o gets the same, and Eto'o looks like Henry if you compare his first 4 games to Nando's when he joined against Liverpool, Fulham, Copenhagen and United.

That's not really the point. The point is that Torres is currently playing much better than Eto'o. There is no two ways about.

And the huge backing Torres got while playing shit when he first came was incredibly annoying as is the backing that Eto'o is currently getting while playing shit.

I hate how we're all currently divided into camps as Chelsea fans. You're either with Oscar or Mata, with Torres or Eto'o, KDB or Willian..etc You can't praise one without being perceived as criticizing the otehr and you can't criticize someone without being perceived as praising the other. You can't express an objective middle-ground opinion about anything. It's gotten just ridiculous.

[Las7 951]

And I used to think that the ridiculous love that Torres used to get while playing shit was annoying, but now the ridiculous hate while he's playing okay is even worse. Let's ignore the fact that Torres was our MOTM against Spurs and that he should not have been sent off and that he fouled on the edge of their box but the ref played on and that the goal came about 30 seconds later after a mistake from Iva. Torres in that match showed real intent. He beat players, created chances and looked dangerous every time he got the ball. More importantly, he was completely in sync with the midfield. Eto'o didn't show any of that and against a defense that wouldn't be good enough for League 2!

I realize that after suffering with Torres for two and a half years, people are desperate, but excuses that people are making up to say that he had a good performance are getting as bad as the ones that were being made during one of Torres's many goal-droughts. I mean FFS Steaua's RB has more goals for us than Eto'o this season!

Torres was MOTM against Spurs prove what undeserved praise he gets, as well as he played and I said he did play well. He scored ZERO goals; had ZERO assists; received a RED card and loosing the ball lead to Tottenhams goal. He was not fouled he fell wanting a foul and nothing was given which is often the case for Torres because he is soft. He went on to clap at the linesman a bookable offense while Tottenham counter attacked and scored a goal.

Let me remind you how long it took Torres to open his account at CFC - 14 matches.

You'd like to point out that Steaua's right back statistics what about the fact that Mikel has as many goals in the EPL in less minutes that Torres in 2013?

[Las7 951]

You call that an assist?

I'd say its just a terrible second touch, otherwise it would've been his goal.

Also none of his shots-on-target looked threatening.

Sorry to say, he doesn't look like the first team striker of a team that looks to win the PL.

And Torres with his 15 goals in 87 matches looks like a striker that can win us the PL - let me remind you last season when he was #1 and how that worked out.

Eto'o is not the answer but saying his performance was "very bad" against Steaua is as much hyperbole as saying Torres can lead us to win the PL.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Torres was MOTM against Spurs prove what undeserved praise he gets, as well as he played and I said he did play well. He scored ZERO goals; had ZERO assists; received a RED card and loosing the ball lead to Tottenhams goal. He was not fouled he fell wanting a foul and nothing was given which is often the case for Torres because he is soft. He went on to clap at the linesman a bookable offense while Tottenham counter attacked and scored a goal.

Let me remind you how long it took Torres to open his account at CFC - 14 matches.

You'd like to point out that Steaua's right back statistics what about the fact that Mikel has as many goals in the EPL in less minutes that Torres in 2013?

And this just proves that you just hate Torres whatever he does. There is no reason to even continue discussing if that is how you assess his performance against Spurs.

Like I said, it's only been a month for Samuel and we should give him more time. But till now he's no where near Torres.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

And Torres with his 15 goals in 87 matches looks like a striker that can win us the PL - let me remind you last season when he was #1 and how that worked out.

Eto'o is not the answer but saying his performance was "very bad" against Steaua is as much hyperbole as saying Torres can lead us to win the PL.

You putting up some pointless stats will make difference to my opinions.

Moreover i never even mentioned Torres in my earlier post. No, he doesn't look like a striker that'll get us the Premiership, but he's the best we have( if you don't want to count Lukaku.But Torres is so much better than Eto'o right.

Agree to disagree

[zyzz 711]

He hasn't played on this level for 2 years. Give this guy some time

[bushman 2,043]

Since this topic is about Eto´o I would like to get back to it. Leave poor Torres out of it. He played well in recent games.

Now, my question:

Will Eto´o rise to the occasion & start performing as we all are looking for ?

Is he capable to be even remotely duplicate what he used to be ?

Last night, I saw some traces of it though.

[Tomo 21,733]

That's not really the point. The point is that Torres is currently playing much better than Eto'o. There is no two ways about.

And the huge backing Torres got while playing shit when he first came was incredibly annoying as is the backing that Eto'o is currently getting while playing shit.

I hate how we're all currently divided into camps as Chelsea fans. You're either with Oscar or Mata, with Torres or Eto'o, KDB or Willian..etc You can't praise one without being perceived as criticizing the otehr and you can't criticize someone without being perceived as praising the other. You can't express an objective middle-ground opinion about anything. It's gotten just ridiculous.

While that may be true, i just find it incredibly annoying that Eto'o is getting wrote off already by the same people who stuck by Torres during a 24 hour goal drought, it wasn't just with Eto'o, it was the same with Sturridge, Danny was getting slated for missing easy chances while Torres was getting praised for any little decent thing while not even getting in the position's to miss the "easy chances" Danny was getting.

The highlighted bit of your post on the other hand can't be more true.

[Las7 951]

I never rated Eto'o at this stage of his career as a first choice striker and I wanted us to keep Lukaku who is miles better than all the striker we have. That doesn't mean I won't defend him against people who say he played a bad game last night considering it was a decent game we won comfortably and he had the most key passes and an assist.

Torres was given ample time to prove he is useless beyond any doubt - Eto'o should be given at least 14 matches before being written off.

[didi007 69]

And Torres is currently play much better than Eto'o blah blah..so what? And how long has Torres being playing in the premiership compared to Eto'o? Give Eto'o a break ffs! He needs time to adjust to playing in a new league and a new team.

[The_Flash 1,144]

I agree with @The_Flash here. I thought he was bad, very bad. Way too slow and had absolutely no coherence with the team. Every time he got the ball, he took 2-3 touches before realizing he can't dribble past his marker and then gave a backward pass. Too selfish in taking shots from outside the area when he had much better options around him.

And please drop the excuses about his "involvement" in the goals. He should have scored the first but fluffed the shot, and in the second he should have been through on goal but was too slow and allowed the defender back then he should have passed because we were 3 on 2 but instead took the shot from a very difficult angle and were lucky that the defender put it in his own net. These excuses are worse than the "Torres won the corner" crap.

It's only been a month, so we should give him more time, but atm...well let's just say we need Torres back ASAP. Torres may not be anywhere near what he used to be, but if he had not got injured, he would have scored , I'm sure of it.

Thank you, finally someone was watching the same game. Eto'o was very poor.

[Hamon 103]

Well, I've been following Eto'o since many years and I can tell that now he is far from being at even the 50% of his full potential.

Anyway, even if Eto'o at his peak has been the best striker of the world while now, close to his 33, he isn't close to that level, it doesn't mean he can't be useful: indeed, yesterday he played a good game and you can still see the quality of his movements and game.

With time he'll suit even more the new team and I feel he will still be extremely important for Chelsea.