I started watching last nights match with all the belief that Torres was going to break his duck. I think he has improved greatly over the last few games. It might of just been me but nobody seemed to pass to him. He was in space and would of had a good chance on goal but everyone else wanted to make it hard and go through about 3-4 defenders when Torres at one point only had evra marking him.

I know he needs to get used to our system, but it is a two way street and the rest of our players on the pitch should try to play how Torres likes, other wise he will become a flop like Shevchenko did a few seasons ago.

The problem he had last night is that he had to fill a Drogba-sized hole in the team, which he can't do because he's an entirely different (and less good, I must still maintain) player than Drogba. He's not going to bully the opposition defence or hold the ball up in the way we're used to and it's going to be very difficult for us to adjust to it.

I can see what you are saying about Drogba, but when Drogba came on last night, it just seemed that he was more interested in doing everyrthing himself and not wanting to get Torress involved. If both parties are willing we could have one of the best strike partnerships in the world.

Not saying that it is necessarily the case, but maybe some of the players resent him a little bit for the way that he has come in and been keeping Drogba out of the starting lineup when Drogs has been here for ages and put in some very good performances over the years. No doubt that the players will have stronger friendships with Drogba than with Torres (purely based on how long he's been here) and if they feel that Drogba has been hard done by they might be trying, on some level, to make life harder for Torres.

Old players making their way to the exit naturally resent the younger players.

Torres was creating havoc in the mancs defence without scoring a goal. This in turn created space.

Zhirkov is a very welcome return with his pace and directness.

Luiz is quality just like Ramires.

The guard is changing and this is a difficult moment.

Hate to admit it but maybe Rio was slightly right. A mid-season move is always going to be more challenging than a summer move.

Any short-term positive result would be great. The long-term result is what I'm looking forward too. A summer off, the first in many years, and a pre-season training combined with half a season now, and hopefully we'll see the results next season.

Torres, even on his sh*ttiest days, has to be accounted for. He'll make something happen out of nothing or look for his teammates. Plus, anytime he gets the ball in an attacking position expect him to be fouled. Hopefully Chelsea can capitalize on those opportunities.

Really good post TrueBlue.

It's a matter of acclimatisation. Some incidents in the first half come to mind.

1) Torres stands up Vidic, beats him to the byline and crosses to the back post- a common assist for him at Liverpool, but no one made a run to the back post in our team. Ordinarily, that would be the left-sided player (Cole/Malouda).

2) Torres wins the ball in midfield, turns his marker and plays it to Anelka. He streaks down a massive hole in the centre, but Anelka uses him as a decoy and fires a cross-shot which no one is there to tap home at the far post.

My biggest fear is not that he will become another Shevchenko but another Hernan Crespo- a player that oozed quality but was never really used to his full potential by Ranieri's or Mourinho's teams.

I think he has done well so far, no need to worry about the goals, when they do come, it will come in pack of 6. There were a number of times he became the decoy runner of our attack, either he didn't quite understand our play or the passer ignored him. For instance, the first chance Malouda had in the first hald, he charged into the 6 yeard box and the cross went for the unmarked late runner Malouda. When Drogba came on, there was a couple of knock down from the header, but Torress was no where near it. There were a awful lot of high cross into the box in the match, and that was not his couple of tea, and never will be. I think he just needs time on and off the field, maybe once in a while Luiz can punt a long ball down the field for him to chase , instead of 5 passes through Essien, lampard, Malouda.

The other thing to remember is that Torres was a fairly streaky player at Liverpool. He'd go two or three games without a goal, but tended to score a lot of braces.

The other thing to remember is that Torres was a fairly streaky player at Liverpool. He'd go two or three games without a goal, but tended to score a lot of braces.

His 2007/08 season where he'd go a game or two without a goal and then score in 2 or 3 consecutive games.

Here's the link for Torres. Interesting when you look at his goalless streaks.

10/11 Season - 6 game goalless streak then he scored 4 in his next 3.

09/10 Season - 3 game goalless streak was the longest and this is the season some ex-fans call his worst (not including the World Cup which he probably shouldn't have been playing in because of his injuries)

08/09 Season - 6 game goalless streak, 5 game goalless streak, 4 game goalless streak

07/08 Season - 3 game goalless streak, he was a beast this season

http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=31990&season_id=140

Torres hasn't been getting great service so far I think but it will improve as he blends in with the team.

The best thing I like about having Torres is the way he is involved in the build up play. When he has the ball at his feet, he attracts a few defenders and then creates space in a tight area by taking a lovely turn or a fake pass. He almost never loses the ball and is quite intelligent in his passing...the reverse passes to Malouda, link up with Anelka etc. Its so refreshing because we haven't had this kind of player for a very long time.

Torres is very good with the ball and instead of our players supplying high balls , I think they should give the ball to Torres and let him go for his chances ..