dodojojo

Nothing.

Wow, can't stand the guy...because he's so bloody good and a bit of twit but that's class. Torres and Rooney have a mutual admiration society going on. Torres has said great things about Rooney. And you can also tell whenever they play, there's a strikers respect between the two. They always have a word before or after the game. Rooney's English isn't that great but I'm sure Torres gets the gist of the conversation.

More camp than a row of tents.

Sturridge is immensely talented but still very young in many ways. Let's not burden him as Chelsea's greatest hope just yet. Inflated expectations may haunt him through little fault of his own. I think sometimes as fans we take our disappointment out on players because they don't always live up to the media hype or our own expectations. What is Sturridge, 21 or 22? At that same age, Torres was captain of Atletico, Mata was starring along with Villa and Silva but we have to remember Sturridge's first team experience is still fairly limited. He's shown he deserves to be first team but let's not unsee when he's made some fundamental mistakes. AVB made the right call to take him off. I think a regular rotation of starting Sturridge with high energy and then bringing in the skill/experience of Anelka as a sub is very good idea. That's a great luxury many teams do not have. Anelka as a seasoned pro can help Chelsea chase games or protect leads and at his age, can focus his energy in 20-30 minute increments.

On his wages, he just pays for someone else to have his dribbly sh*tes. True story. No investigation needed.

LOL, yes, haven't you gotten the memo? Everything is Torres. But I do think he has been guilty of placing or guiding his shots. I think when he's back in the saddle he can start being a little more elaborate, but for now, I wish he would just whack the ball towards goal. Get that sweet instinctive swing back into play and worry about everything else later.

Damn, we both suck at this!

Sorry, was trying to be dry and witty...obviously I'm a failure. Listening to a game in Spanish beats having to listening to the garbage by the British or American broadcast. And even if I can only understand a few words in Spanish, the commentary is more fun to listen to anyway as they really go with their emotions. Their expressions and reactions can be hilarious. Plus they usually refer to Fernando as El Nino Torres which makes the familiarity rather quaint.

I usually catch the games online. I usually find a Spanish language feed. I don't understand Spanish. What does that tell you?

That's how he was for a lot of Liverpool games. People always go on about how great he was...and he was. But for 90 minutes, he would cover the spectrum of the ridiculous to the sublime. Terrible passes, touch of an elephant and then it would a great run, fantastic goal, trickery, etc. The payoff for a player like Torres is that his sublime bits are usually worth the awful bits. Benetiz usually just let him be for 80-90 minutes.

The problem with Torres in the dressing room doesn't really have anything to do with his character or personality. If you know anything about him, you'll know he's one of the quietest guys around. It's basically Player X came in on the biggest transfer fee ever and is plonked into a dressing room with established superstars. And oh btw, Player X plays a totally different way from the established players. From day one, there's the push/pull dynamics of past, present and future. Of course noses will go out of joint. Torres just happened to be Player X.

That's all I ask....and not just "if he doesn't score in this one game, he's dead to me" way either. Let's give this core of players some games to see what they can do. What's the other choice? Because father time isn't going to allow Chelsea to start Drogba, Lampard, Anelka and Malouda forever. Why not invest in the younger guys? And that take games, not some 15 minute period when 2 or 3 of those players are on the pitch.

Exactly. And people go on and on about why he doesn't score for Spain when they have all those wonderful midfielders. And no doubt they do, but they also play a very patient brand of football. On form they do it extraordinarily well. Torres isn't quite the best center forward for it. They've shoehorned him into it because of his talent and they have done enough to win everything but it was never a perfect fit. His position was always in question. Inevitably with his poor form now, he's lost his place. Watch him in the 2006 WC where Spain played faster. He was the star of that tournament, remember all the buzz he generated and how AC Milan, United, maybe even Chelsea wanted him? That speed suited him better. He is what he is.

I read the entire interview, it didn't sound like he was moaning to me. Would it have been far more discreet to not say anything at all? Sure. He was obviously trying to explain Chelsea changing the way it plays under AVB, evolution rather revolution...and it came out a little awkwardly. Again, it's pretty much stuff we all know anyway. AVB saying he's in charge and dealing with it privately doesn't undermine his authority. He's just telling the media to pack their circus act away and that Chelsea will deal with Torres. Again, shut it down. But talking about it, leaving in the possibility that Chelsea have an investigation to conduct and thereby having a conclusion that will be talked about at the next press conference...Just tell them Torres will be dealt with if needed, case closed. Let's talk football now.

Exactly. AVB should have just said Chelsea is dealing with this internally and the player will be addressed. We will not have any further public comment. Shut it down. Instead now there's a running story, a day before the CL game because everyone is waiting for the conclusion of an "investigation." Torres should have gotten his tabloid money's worth and shot someone instead.

Ah, maybe he should have made the comments before August 31st then? Or maybe he made those comments because they actually represent the reality of Chelsea's play? And he followed up by basically saying that as soon as the team catches on to what AVB wants, Chelsea will be awesome? It was a pretty long indepth interview, read it all for context. Nowhere does he sound like he wants out.

Why keep playing Torres with Malouda? I just don't get it. Sometimes I wonder if it's to punish Torres. Or is forcing Malouda to support Torres punishment for Florent? It's really weird because they bring out the worst in each other and seem to play better without the other. So, why keep playing them together? I wouldn't be surprised if Torres starts against Leverkusen with Malouda and Kalou in support. It will not be pretty. Since the game is on Tuesday, it would make sense to rest many of the starters from today. Which is a pity because I'd love to see Torres with Mata, Meireles and Sturridge. What's going in practice where both Ancelotti and AVB have decided to not play Torres with the players most would think he would be most simpatico with? Before it was Benayoun, now he can't get minutes with Mata.

The entire interview is on his official site, I'd read it for context. Plus, keep in mind that he gave the interview in Spanish, some nuances may have been lost in the translation. His general point remains though.

I think it's 90% the media loves to kick someone when they're down. That sells papers, bring eyeballs to the TV, etc. And nothing is more dramatic than a fallen hero. How compelling would a story be about bad behavior from Joey Barton? It's like saying the sun came up this morning. So I don't think it's Torres personally, it's just the circumstances of the story. World class striker, once beloved, good looking fella, mega-rich, record signing for Liverpool and Chelsea...there are bitter people out there who enjoy bringing someone like that down a peg or two. It's the same story for Abramovich--billionaire owner can't 'buy' the Champions League. They'll run that story into the ground until Chelsea wins it of course. Same with Torres, they'll feast on his misery until he gets back on form. That'll shut them up for a bit but they'll be back with knives if he has a bad game or two. The other 10% is the Liverpool love-in. Many in the media are ex-LFC players and coaches or grew up as fans in the 70's and 80's. There's also the big fanbase who will lap up the stories.

He can be arrogant, he's just quieter about it than others. I just think it's hard for him to have a swagger at Chelsea when there are so many long-standing successful players, he may feel a bit inhibited. Also he's not had much to be arrogant about lately...

How awful has Torres been for the national team? Since the WC, he scores a goal every 98 minutes. That's how bad he's been. Ok, I'm being a bit facetious but I do feel it's a bit unfair because out of the 14 games since the WC Spain has played, Torres has started a grand total of 2 games. One of which he left after 15 minutes because of injury. Otherwise he gets minutes here and there as a sub and if he doesn't score, then gosh, why is he so awful. Villa, Spain's greatest striker, for the past 14 games, started 12 of them and scores every 116 minutes. Llorente has scored every 119 minutes and started 3 games. Negredo scores every 56 minutes but he only joined the team this summer but started 3 of the 5 games. http://www.sportyou.es/blog/futbol/2011/09/07/la-encrucijada-de-torres-2-362970.html Again, I understand Torres' overall form deserves criticism but I don't think the argument is so black and white. And Del Bosque's argument that players should do well for their clubs before being selected for the national team--Arbeloa and Albiol don't even start for Real Madrid, nevermind do well. And they're terrible for Spain whenever they have started. My biggest gripe with DB isn't even about Torres, it's about the fact that he's totally bypassed the two year opportunity to blood in young defenders in time for Euro 2012. Spain are screwed in defense if either Pique or Puyol are injured. That's what happened against Chile and Arbeloa and Albiol were terrible. Would DB send a Barca or RM player to the stands like he did to Torres?

Picking in form players is the right way to go, though I agree that your option would have been a good one too. But Del Bosque is using a little bit more stick than carrot now. He has been very patient with Torres. It may not be about talent solely. If Negredo or Llorente or Soldado are better fits for the team, I can see it being very difficult for Torres to regain his place. Raul was dropped while he was still a good player but Spain didn't want to build around him anymore.

Okay, hasty call there. Is there an edit option? The Fail took it from a Reuters article. Notice how the Fail took an article where the news is reported and then added in all the nasty bits. http://es.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idESMAE7860HI20110907

Good point. People should remember that even Torres was at his peak, he never really clicked for the national team. Obviously with his current form, he looks even worse. But I think he's always been selected because of his clear talent and the hope that he provides a Plan B should Spain's usual game plan doesn't work. The usual plan is take advantage of Torres' presence and have other players like Villa exploit the space opened and defenders preoccupied by him. And every once in awhile, he'll chip in a goal. Germany/Spain 2008 Euro Final was Plan B in perfect execution. Villa was injured so for once Spain focused on Torres as the sole striker and he delivered. It says something about Torres that even though he looks like an alien on the Spanish team, he's been called up for close to 90 games. At this point, Del Bosque may have decided Spain may no longer need to mash Torres into the national team and will go with a more natural fitting and in form CF. Honestly, even if Torres smashes in 40 goals for Chelsea this season, he'll still stand out like a sore thumb with Spain. Always has. Of course, if he's in form, he'll get picked regardless.

Exactly. Go ahead and report both positive and negative things about a player but the Fail's gleeful nastiness is really dispiriting. Why do the English put up with such awful print media? And that supposed quote from Del Bosque sounds very fishy to me. I've checked out Marca and AS and granted I may well have missed it but if DB really said that, I'd be shocked the Spanish media didn't have that as a headline. At the moment anything related to Torres is. And yet, I haven't seen it anywhere. Not even in an Atletico forum where they are debating Torres being dropped.