Because I don't know and am most likely to get a good answer here, how many strikers are on CFC's books? Any in the reserves or coming up through the youth setup?

Of the top of my head

Torres

Eto

Ba

Faruz

Lukaku

Bamford

I'm sure there are others out on loan but have lost touch with it a bit

I would rather stick with Eto'o, i'm not ready for Torres to return based on one performance. When he get's his chance in the first team again i would rather it be for a run of very good games for the club, not just a cup game against Swindon.

 

But it's not just one game. He finished well last season with goals against Everton and Benfica in the EC Final and has started this season well enough and did well and scored against Munich and looked better than Eto when he came on against Fulham.

 

Because I don't know and am most likely to get a good answer here, how many strikers are on CFC's books? Any in the reserves or coming up through the youth setup?

 

Not really. We have Feruz who we got from Celtic and does okay for the youth / reserves but is only about 4ft 5 and will struggle to make it to be honest. We have Patrick Bamford who we got from Forest but is out on loan at MK Dons. Looks okay but way too early for him in the first 11. We also have young Brown who we nicked of West Brom who again looks good but is far too young to be considered for first 11.

 

Unfortunately, just like the first team, all the younger players who look ready to step in are all midfielders. We have enough midfielders to put avbout three sides out!!

I would rather stick with Eto'o, i'm not ready for Torres to return based on one performance. When he get's his chance in the first team again i would rather it be for a run of very good games for the club, not just a cup game against Swindon.

 

But how is he supposed to have a run of good games for the club if he's always on the bench and dropped after the best striking performance we've seen from all of our 3 all season?

Edited September 26, 201312 yr by timetowaste

Didn't you guys know praising Torres in this forum is prohibited? If found guilty the fine is 2 pages of sh*tstorm in your general direction.

Guide: if you need to say positive things about Torres use the following works; ok, positive, promising or finally. However if you use these positive words please include his transfer fee in the same paragraph to make it easier to digest for the most hesitant writers.

Of the top of my head

Torres

Eto

Ba

Faruz

Lukaku

Bamford

I'm sure there are others out on loan but have lost touch with it a bit

as a Milton Keynes lad i get to see a lot of Patrick Bamford. unfortunately he looks like League 1 is his level, and will probably be his level for his whole career. definitely nowhere near Chelsea standard

I want to see Torres have a stormer against a top side in the league. If he plays against Spurs and bangs a goal or two in, with general brilliant overall play, I will start to believe he is getting back to his best. I have to discount a cup game against Swindon Town, and pretty much any other game he's been fantastic in, because, that goal against Bayern Munich aside, the other games were lower league teams in the cups and European lower teams.

 

I'm not saying he hasn't played extremely well against them, he HAS. But the opposition he had excellent games against haven't really been of the world's best, have they? Like I said, if he gets goals against City, Spurs, Arsenal and United this season, then I think maybe we can start talking about a rejuvenation.

I don't know guys Mikel is tied on goals with Torres in the League for 2013.

He might be our best choice up top because he holds up the ball better and doesn't get dispossessed as much, also keep in mind if he plays up top his sideway passing is going to be far more effective 

But how is he supposed to have a run of good games for the club if he's always on the bench and dropped after the best striking performance we've seen from all of our 3 all season?

 

What i mean is that when he does play he keeps it up in the next game he plays. He's had 2 good games, if he keeps making the most of his chances then pick him. He has proved all to often in his time here that when he has 1 or 2 good games he is sure to disappoint in the next game.

If I remember right Torres started well last season as well, then he had a quiet patch and last 10-12 games he was good again.

He's earned a start against Spurs IMO but we'll see...

I'm in the camp that Eto'o has looked rusty, but with promise since coming into the team. 

 

That said, this is Spurs - got to go with the 'in form' striker (as 'in form' as goals in the Super Cup and Swindon can count).

For those wondering, I'm talking about shots taken statistics because they correlate really well with opportunities given to a particular player. A play who is able to get into goalscoring positions will take a lot of shots.

Hogwash, by one lousy kick at goal.

I think you're misunderstanding that I am talking about averages. A difference of 1 is significant, over the course of the season that amounts to 38 more shots which for most strikers could be as many as 10 more goals.

In aggregate terms, Eto'o has managed 9 shots to Torres's 6 in virtually the same amount of playing time (~150 min).

Now I could probably argue that 6 games is hardly a robust sample and therefore is little difference between the two. That's where historical evidence comes into play. Torres struggled to average 2 shots per game in the League last season (in contrast to his top-class 4/game in the Europa League). For me, therefore, both current and past trends seem to indicate this is the norm for Torres rather than the exception. He is not magically going to become a goal hungry forward overnight.

The truth is you don't need an interest in advanced statistics to understand this. Statistics are just a way of quantifying what we see with our eyes, and anyone with a decent understanding of the sport can see that Eto'o in his movement and instinct gets into more and better goalscoring chances than Torres.

Mikel is tied on goals with Torres in the League for 2013.

 

Is that true?

Is that true?

 

No it isn't. He may be level THIS SEASON and on that basis he has scored more than Eto and a number of other players.

Edited September 27, 201312 yr by Nibs

No it isn't. He may be level THIS SEASON and on that basis he has scored more than Eto and a number of other players.

 

He's talking league goals, Nibs.

For those wondering, I'm talking about shots taken statistics because they correlate really well with opportunities given to a particular player. A play who is able to get into goalscoring positions will take a lot of shots.

I think you're misunderstanding that I am talking about averages. A difference of 1 is significant, over the course of the season that amounts to 38 more shots which for most strikers could be as many as 10 more goals.

In aggregate terms, Eto'o has managed 9 shots to Torres's 6 in virtually the same amount of playing time (~150 min).

Now I could probably argue that 6 games is hardly a robust sample and therefore is little difference between the two. That's where historical evidence comes into play. Torres struggled to average 2 shots per game in the League last season (in contrast to his top-class 4/game in the Europa League). For me, therefore, both current and past trends seem to indicate this is the norm for Torres rather than the exception. He is not magically going to become a goal hungry forward overnight.

The truth is you don't need an interest in advanced statistics to understand this. Statistics are just a way of quantifying what we see with our eyes, and anyone with a decent understanding of the sport can see that Eto'o in his movement and instinct gets into more and better goalscoring chances than Torres.

 

But then we can move the statistics on again and ask how many of Eto'os shots have been on target compared to Torres.

 

TBH statistics are a load of old fanny, I'll go with what I'm watching, so far in games played this season Torres has looked the best of the 3 available.

He's talking league goals, Nibs.

 

Ah, fair enough.

 

In that case it's yet another statistic to have a dig at Torres with. I'm sure folk can come up with a whole load more if they try hard enough.

Bit of light humour

Well, I was surprised Jose plumped for him, but I'll always bow to Jose's better knowledge.

 

Torres was woeful first-half, on the rare occasions we got out wide, he was never in the box. We were simply playing without a centre-forward. 

 

Second-half he was fantastic. Aggressive, determined, strong, direct. You hardly recognised him.

 

I thought he was a red card waiting to happen, because he had a lot of fire in his belly, and he could have been a bit more careful, as his sending-off probably denied us three points, as we had them on the rack at that point.

 

However it was good seeing him so pumped up. Long may it continue.

I thought he put in a good performance today. Mourinho should have really taken him off as there he was fired up and a sending off waiting to happen once but the second yellow was complete rubbish, it was more a foul on Torres than anything else.

 

Even AVB made it pretty clear he thought it was a rubbish decision.

All the discussion has been about Mata, meaning there is far less focus on Torres than there ever has been during his Chelsea career. It occurred to me this may be part of Jose's thinking, to take a bit of pressure off Torres. You never know with Jose, what he's up to.

I bet there were a fair few of the usual Torres bashers breathing a huge sigh of relief when he got shown that red card. That may seem harsh but there are folk on this forum who it seems would rather see Torres fail than the team win. It really has got as pitiful as that.

 

Be nice to know what Mourinho was saying to Torres as he was led off. As pissed off as he may have been that we went down to 10 men, I reckon he will have been pleased that Torres showed a lot of fight and aggression today as well as putting in the best striker performance we have seen from a Chelsea forward for some time. Long may it continue and Mourinho will deserve a lot of credit too if it does.

He was good last season when he wore the mask. He was aggressive and always close on getting a card. We need this Torres although he needs to get smart not to get these red cards. How many red cards does he already have for us? 3?

To be honest, Mourinho could have easily subbed him, Think majority of us knew he was getting involved in too much whilst already on a yellow.

 

His performance was superb in the 2nd half, Hopefully he carries on like this, He will do really well if he does.

bravo 9

Easily his best performance in a Chelsea shirt and one that fully vindicated everyone who said he should be starting. Yes, he was on the edge throughout the game but the supposed "offence" for which he received the 2nd yellow and was sent off was a disgrace.

 

I am starting to believe Torres has to work himself into a "I'm being persecuted" mental state, where he feels the whole world is against him, to galvanize his fire. To make him angry and pumped. He whinged to the match officials throughout. He niggled, tripped, tugged and left a sly foot in whenever he could. The Tottenham fans reacted to him. The Tottenham bench reacted to him. The Tottenham players reacted to him......................... and he reacted right back. At last. f**kin good on him I say. If that's what it takes to stoke his fire and make him play like that I hope to see a lot more of the nasty side of Torres.