Las7

Torres doesn't get service

Torres "trying" to win a peno, or is he just incapable of remaining upright

Apparently Fernando Torres has reached 10 hours without a goal.... again He is breaking all the records in his time here

Torres with a shot!

Expect Fulham to dominate us in possession and for Rafa's boys to hit em on the counter attack - it's what Roman has always wanted

Making cakes for the waiter

Sturridge is not as depended on service, he creates his own chances most of the time. Seeing as he can actually beat players - whether it's with his better first touch, pace or dribbling. That's what Davey is obviously implying, if Torres was capable of creating one chance for himself per game without over relying on service - he would be a more dangerous player. Sturridge has a better goal to minute ratio than Torres in the last 3 years, outscored Torres two previous years, has two goals in less than 400 minutes on the field this season. He doesn't get dispossessed as easily and is more threatening than Torres to opposition defences, he also doesn't hide away behind opposition defenders expecting the ball at his feet - he actually is making runs inside the box. The fact that some people here feel that Torres is actually offering anything to the side that a Championship striker wouldn't is further proof how much perception plays apart of football. It's a crime we started this season with Torres as an automatic first choice striker; Sturridge without any minutes and no other striker in the squad. You can blame the midfield all you want but if Torres had scored a few of the fantastic chances that were provided to him earlier in the season - we could have taken Mata;Oscar; Hazard off earlier in games providing adequate rest to them so they are not ran into the ground by Christmas. How about we agree that Sturridge has played 2 games from the start and has done "ok" considering he is obviously lacking match fitness, while Torres's performance trajectory has been a downward spiral since the Arsenal game.

OptaJoe ‏@OptaJoe 44% - Chelsea's PL win percentage with Fernando Torres starting since he joined, compared to 63% without him. Peg. I think it's a coincidence - problem with the whole statistics is that players "up" their games knowing that a player of Torres's calibre isn't in the team to bail them out

Decent Article: http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/pjcjiaavo0enqv2tuyloog/Show/Player-Focus-Fernando-Torres

Even though I have low opinion of Rafa, I very much doubt he would persist with Torres if he feels it might cost him. Rafa is looking to enhance his CV not to win any fans over or win Roman over it's clear to him he is a stop gap with a nice fat contract within touching distance of the League Leaders and a squad good enough to be challenging for honours this season. There might be some sentiment regarding Torres but I never felt like their relationship was anything special. Rafa is a pragmatic figure first and foremost, he is only diverting some attention from Torres at the moment because he hasn't seen enough of him in action before the inevitable realization how sh*te he has become actually hits him. Once he realizes this expect him to come up with an interview about how we cannot win without a in form striker placing further pressure on Torres - Rafa is a cynical coach, he knows Torres all too well and I guess he will do his best to turn things around for him. He might be making excuses right now because he has just arrived but it won't take long before the heat is on and he will either need to face the music or make the same decision as his three predecessors .

The thing about Berbatov is that Purple Nose never favoured him over another player. He pretty much was always in contention with Rooney, and at United it's difficult to displace Rooney especially if you are not performing to the level that a guy like Ronaldo is capable of doing(pushing Rooney to the wing). In his first season Berbatov had 14 goals and 9 assists, which is a good return for a guy who didn't have a side build around him. Second season Berbatov had 13 goals and 6 assists, but did not feature as heavily in the side. Third season he ended up being United's top scorer but only featured heavily while Rooney's future was in doubt - later he was dropped in favour of Hernandez/Rooney combination. It's worth noting that he had minutes per goal in the League behind RvP. Last year he was barely used but still had 9 goals overall from 1006 minutes on the field - compare that Torres and his 1600 minutes where he has 8 goals. So although he never really became an automatic first choice at United, it had very little to do with his end product - just a matter of Purple Nose favouring other players over him. Also keep in mind that Berbatov is much more involved in the build up of play - capable of keeping the ball without getting dispossessed and has constantly been one of the most creative strikers in the league. Even this season he is averaging about as many key passes as Mata/Hazard provide for us, already has 3 assists in the League and 5 goals for Fulham in 9 matches.

Benitez: "Torres was trying very hard, he had a good chance, but the team has to create chances for him to score goals. The team has to help Fernando. All of us have to help Fernando." He needs a Foundation - "The Buy a Nando A Goal Foundation", Berba had one he ended up top scorer in United

English Premier League Lukaku - 416 minutes - 101.5 minutes per goal Torres - 1014 minutes - 276 minute per goal We should have send Ferda to West Brom he could have been a good impact player for them.

I don't know a squad in the EPL who has a worse first choice striker - only West Ham with Carroll? Worse of all Hazard and Mata were poor and we have Marin and Moses as possible options one has played only a few minutes the other is lacking in terms of quality. Mata - 2 key passes; 3 times dispossessed; 0 shots Hazard - 2 key passes; one time dispossessed; 3 turnovers; 0 shots Torres - 0 key passes; 4 times dispossessed; 2 turnovers; 1 shot

Forgot to mention - Moses was shocking when he came on - hardly a surprise when he has played around 400 minutes this season lacks match practice

I don't know who was worse tonight Hazard, Mata or Torres ? Surprise, surprise those three are the three attacking players who have played the most minutes this season in Europe.

After this game we are now officially in 4th place behind WBA

BRING ON DROGBA!

How the f**k is that not a corner ?

Torres... jesus just shoot

f**king Balotelli coming on... and we got Ferreira on the bench

Romeu's chances of scoring are far higher - so this is surely a very attacking sub

Romeu looks absolutely dismayed at Rafa's talk

Today we aint got no clue how to create a chance

Cesar again doing brilliantly - Moses with a poor "pass"?