Stoke fall in to the category of creating little and converting few of the little and yet still put 3 past us. 

 

Though given the amount of late winners we have gotten against them I guess they were due a luck reversal. 

Stoke fall in to the category of creating little and converting few of the little and yet still put 3 past us. 

 

and we're in the category of letting in anything that comes cechs way

Now it would be interesting to see the defensive/goals conceded version of the graph you put up.

Better then the lethargy under FSW last year. Its a good thing so many are this passionate imo

agreed.

 

along with tottenham we're the worst finishers in the top half of the table

 

 

Damn it, where's the chart from? I've been meaning to make a similar one for ages :( 

First time in a long time he actually followed the ball instead of watching the GK makes the save. If he doesn't play tomorrow, he will start against Arsenal ( unless injury)

"Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has continued his recent habit of talking down the strengths of his strikers by claiming Fernando Torres lacks skill and the killer instinct to score 25 goals in a season.

Torres has struggled to find his goal-scoring form for Chelsea since moving from Liverpool for £50 million, with the 29-year-old scoring just 17 Premier League goals in nearly three years at Stamford Bridge.

And Mourinho has admitted that, along with Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba, the Spain international is not prolific in front of goal.

“We are not saying 25 or 30 because our strikers are not these kind of killers, but two goals for each one of them is too short,” he said after the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

“They have to come - and they will - for different numbers.”

However, the Portuguese tactician was quick to praise Torres for his overall contribution after the Spaniard scored the opener in Saturday’s clash to make it six goals in 17 appearances in all competitions this season.

“When he has the ball on his feet with the back to the goal, he's not a very skilful player, we know that,” Mourinho added.

“In their goal, he lost the ball when he dropped back to the midfield. He lost the ball and they made a counter-attack on that. He's not that player.

“He was the Torres that we know, giving a hard time to the opponents. Without the ball he presses a lot and he's not a comfortable opponent. When the team has the ball he's the kind of guy that makes movements and tries to open space.

“He does his contribution and it's the kind of goal we demand from him. Goalkeeper saves the ball, he's there, pow, goal. And this is the kind of goal we expect from him.”

- Evening Standard

So he knew this all the while and decided to keep him and infact all 3, most fans could have pointed this out to him on day 1.

Who says Jose had a say if Torres stayed or not last summer?

No one has a say but Roman

Pretty damning stuff from Jose about Torres but he's not wrong.

 

Once again though Jose is being critical of his striking options, this is about the third time in a week I have read something.

 

Pushing for the board to invest in a new striker come January perhaps? 

I don't believe Jose would have come back if he wasn't given some sort of say over who would be in the first team squad.  Ultimately Roman signs the cheques but still Jose had all the cards on his return.

I don't believe Jose would have come back if he wasn't given some sort of say over who would be in the first team squad. Ultimately Roman signs the cheques but still Jose had all the cards on his return.

Whilst I think you are right, I have a feeling he was probably encouraged to work with him and was promised a big transfer later if it didnt work out.

IF we do bring in a January striker though, who do you suggest?

I think Jose is trying to force the board into making a signing. Not sure if it will happen or not though.

Nah its mind games. Hes trying to get Torres fired up.

He's nearly 30.

 

He's not the type of player that gets better with age, he's like Michael Owen. Started his career very young, blistering pace and a world beater. Injuries and a big money move and that burst of pace has gone. So he's now become a team player.

 

It's not going to get better, he will run down the contract and leave.

 

It's just how it is. He's starting right now because of his effort not his ability. 

I agree with this. He will wait out his deal with us because he knows he wont get another one like it. The only thing we could do is try and loan him out and pick up most of his wages like we did with Crespo, Sheva and Veron. Not ideal but better than him wasting a squad space and holding us back signing another top striker or even giving Lukaku a shot at a first team spot (if his attitude improves)

Despite the overall disappointments I think Torres still has credit in the bank with Roman etc because of the Champions League and Europa runs.

He only seems to come alive in Europe, cant hack the league anymore really.

The goal he scored last weekend sums it up, he seemingly can only score from scraps `

Hey a game where he gets no blame, mind you he was in the bench. ;-)

Probably did himself more favours being on the bench tonight than being on that pitch. A certain starter for monday now

Jose needs to fire him up, there's nothing to lose anyway. I remember Jose tried to be nice and supportive, Torres played a couple of good games, got injured, followed up by a number of crap games. The sad thing is, despite how ineffective he was, he looks like our best option (again). Game tonight was for Etto to shine and regain form, he let it go badly.

IF we do bring in a January striker though, who do you suggest?

 

Exactly who is there to buy?

If anything the way Ba and Eto'o played last night has helped Torres because they were both absolutely pants.

Eto'o wasted gifted opportunities and Ba seemed more concerned with giving the grass a cuddle then actually playing football.

Exactly who is there to buy?

Giuseppe Rossi!

Eto'o and Ba are a couple of journeymen and are obviously not good enough to be starters for Chelsea.

 

However, I'll cut them some slack simply because they were given only a fraction of opportunities compared to what Torres had at CFC. It's much harder to get it going for a player when he gets to play once every four-five matches. I thought, for instance, Eto'o started to improve before he got injured.

 

It's quite difficult for any player to get in form and play consistently well unless he plays regularly. That's why I'm much more critical of Torres and his embarrassing return, considering how much playing time and consistent starts he was given over the last three years.