ZO did you watch the game?, or was it just to crucify Torres, he did well last night, agreed he fell over, but he showed for the ball pulled defenders wide, held up the ball, laid it off simply, everything bA didnt do, apart from scoring pretty good, and he should of been played in at least twice..

Only a friendly but he looked sharp. Had a lot of space to run in behind though and made good use of it. Could of had a couple of goals if mata and moses had picked him out in good positions. As jose said he isn't on the fitness levels of the players who were not at the confed cup but promising signs.

Before anyone jumps down my throat, the above was a stupid parody.

No, I am not dumb enough to think the situations of the two players are alike. Rooney has alot more to give at his age (if he is willing) while Torres has tried and failed, for several years now, with apparently nothing to give anymore. We all know Rooney still has the talent while its debatable if Torres still has anything.

 

But if the manager is gonna big up a player in the press, lets have some consistency. You cant say on the one hand "oh, he will stroke this players ego and get him back to his best" in the case of a motivation problem. Yet in the case of another (partly mental) impediment to being a decent squad member its "OH sh*t, he said something positive about him....run for the lifeboats! We're screwed."

 

There are no guarantees about anything for the future. No guarantees Rooney is signed up. No guarantees Torres is still here (though its pretty damn likely at this point) in September. No guarantees Jose is going to get anyone to their best. For me, its not black and white like that. But I feel confident if anyone can get a player performing with confidence and (more importantly for Jose) for the betterment of the team, its him.

Edited August 5, 201312 yr by TheWestwayWonder

Look at the effect he has had in the past. Zlatan would kill for him. Drogba would run through walls for him.

they are also both rather good at football

Only a friendly but he looked sharp. Had a lot of space to run in behind though and made good use of it. Could of had a couple of goals if mata and moses had picked him out in good positions. As jose said he isn't on the fitness levels of the players who were not at the confed cup but promising signs.

maybe i blinked for too long but i can't remember torres putting himself into any form of a decent position for moses. if i recall correctly he was shying away 5 yards behind moses and leaning on his heels

maybe i blinked for too long but i can't remember torres putting himself into any form of a decent position for moses. if i recall correctly he was shying away 5 yards behind moses and leaning on his heels

 

he positioned himself perfectly for moses to cut it back to him, but moses opted for shooting from an impossible angle

he positioned himself perfectly for moses to cut it back to him, but moses opted for shooting from an impossible angle

nope. i'm sticking with my original thought. he should be about 5 yards further forward to the top left of the screen and attacking the space to give moses an option, instead what he does is drift BACKWARDS and blocks of the path of hazard, effectively breaking down the whole move, as usual

skip to 50 seconds

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntBfT1XIss

Edited August 5, 201312 yr by onebelo

nope. i'm sticking with my original thought. he should be about 5 yards further forward to the top left of the screen and attacking the space to give moses an option, instead what he does is drift BACKWARDS and blocks of the path of hazard, effectively breaking down the whole move, as usual

skip to 50 seconds

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntBfT1XIss

 

What, so he was supposed to be in a space where Moses had no chance of passing to him? He moved back because that's where the space was.

What, so he was supposed to be in a space where Moses had no chance of passing to him? He moved back because that's where the space was.

my god. the open space between moses and torres is so damn large you'd have to be covering your eyes not to see it

nope. i'm sticking with my original thought. he should be about 5 yards further forward to the top left of the screen and attacking the space to give moses an option, instead what he does is drift BACKWARDS and blocks of the path of hazard, effectively breaking down the whole move, as usual

skip to 50 seconds

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntBfT1XIss

Nope sorry mate way I see it is torres goes any further forward and the defender cuts him off. He dropped into a nice position for the cut back.

my god. the open space between moses and torres is so damn large you'd have to be covering your eyes not to see it

 

I disagree there, this is definitely nit picking.

 

 

What about here, at about 1:55. Was Torres in a good enough place to get a return pass?

The reason strikers make runs is because it's difficult for defenders to intervene if there is someone breathing down their neck - when Torres moves back he removes the pressure off the central defenders. This is an act he does quite often waiting for the perfect pass into his feet instead of actually giving whoever is on the wing more options. The position he usually moves back into is a position which naturally a guy like Hazard; Lampard; Oscar; or Mata would run into but due to Torres falling back into that position it actually lessens the options which our wingers have. Fact is that the Milan defender who was shadowing Hazard was in a good position to cut out any pass into the area Torres backed into, while if he had remained forward close to the goalkeeper and central defenders he would put pressure on them and they might make a mistake and he would have an easy tap in to make.

Sorry, I can fault Torres here, Moses done well to get to the byline but Torres has made space for himself in the middle of the box where he isn't limiting himself to aiming at just the near post.

 

Had Moses laid it off Torres was in a much better scoring position than Moses, it's finding fault where there isn't any to criticise him there. 

Great goal at the end

Only a friendly but he looked sharp. Had a lot of space to run in behind though and made good use of it. Could of had a couple of goals if mata and moses had picked him out in good positions. As jose said he isn't on the fitness levels of the players who were not at the confed cup but promising signs.

This is Torres we are talking about. Even if he was picked out doesnt mean he would score. More likely he would have pulled the ball back to pass to another player or taken one too many touches and given the ball away.

Can we name that falling down move the Torres?

This is Torres we are talking about. Even if he was picked out doesnt mean he would score. More likely he would have pulled the ball back to pass to another player or taken one too many touches and given the ball away.

Bet your glad you got that of your chest......

Edited August 5, 201312 yr by Bluehatter

The season aint even started yet, and the crucifying has begun, watch the game in real time, and if you have played up front you'll know the play was to pull back for Torres, if he aint there then thats the strikers fault, moses should of done it simple!!

Nope sorry mate way I see it is torres goes any further forward and the defender cuts him off. He dropped into a nice position for the cut back.

Have to say, when I saw it live I was saying he should have attacked the space too. In a situation like that, it's best to attack the space. Any striker that's aware of his surroundings would have attacked the space. The defender only gets a head start on Torres because he's already decided he's going to drop back and wait for a pass, if he had started to run the to space he would have got ahead of that defender and would have got a first time shot off or at least drawn a foul. Even if he had got the ball by dropping back, he had a player right behind him ready to tackle him/intercept the ball and another in front that would have had a chance of blocking his shot/putting him off so it really wasn't the best of choices. 

 

Not that it's a big deal but yeah, that's just what I think anyway. 

Edited August 5, 201312 yr by Remodez

Nope sorry mate way I see it is torres goes any further forward and the defender cuts him off. He dropped into a nice position for the cut back.

in my opinion, he should have made that run to the back post. the defender (number 17) was clearly worried about him as he was constantly looking over his shoulder for torres... until torres dropped back into the ever decreasing 'space'. ask any defender and they will tell you they want the striker in front of them where they can see them. had torres run off the back of 17, he would have been far more concerned and torres would be more likely to escape his attentions and score. 

however, i do agree that it is only pre-season, and much as i dont think torres is good enough, i dont think we should be sticking the knife in at every available opportunity. just thought id throw my thoughts into the discussion

they are also both rather good at football

 

You missed the point, entirely.

in my opinion, he should have made that run to the back post. the defender (number 17) was clearly worried about him as he was constantly looking over his shoulder for torres... until torres dropped back into the ever decreasing 'space'. ask any defender and they will tell you they want the striker in front of them where they can see them. had torres run off the back of 17, he would have been far more concerned and torres would be more likely to escape his attentions and score. 

however, i do agree that it is only pre-season, and much as i dont think torres is good enough, i dont think we should be sticking the knife in at every available opportunity. just thought id throw my thoughts into the discussion

If he makes a run to the back post it makes it harder for moses to find him. Although it may panic the defender some more I bet if you asked moses where he would prefer torres to be he would want him to pull into a space where he can pick him out with a simple pass instead of a chipped ball with his weaker foot that would have to be spot on to find torres.

Edited August 5, 201312 yr by Bluehatter

He was good last night. 

 

I'm ok with justified criticism but people here are way OTT as far as Torres goes and it's sad to see.

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2013/8/5/4589998/chelsea-shirt-sales

 

While his playing skills aren't what they used to be he certainly still sells a lot of shirts.

 

Edit: Why the hell is Oxlade-Chamberlain there?!

Edited August 5, 201312 yr by timetowaste

http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2013/8/5/4589998/chelsea-shirt-sales

 

While his playing skills aren't what they used to be he certainly still sells a lot of shirts.

 

When did he start working in the megastore?