2 well taken 'strikers' goals, both showed that instinct that has been sadly lacking from him in a blue shirt.

 

Although the stunning strikes are nice to see, these are the type of goals I would rather see from Torres (or any of our strikers).

 

If Jose and the backroom team can keep him playing like this then I don't see the need for to much rotation, time will tell.

He did very well last night, delighted for him. Hope he can keep it going.

Edited October 23, 201312 yr by Zola

I think our strikers are picked depending on who we are playing and how they play not if our striker has scored in the last game. Not being a football manager myself i dont know who Jose will think can do the best job on Sunday. Who ever gets the nod i hope they work hard and help us get the three points.

The game on Sunday is huge. I am quite nervous about it. One thing i will say is I dont want Luiz in the back 4.

Good performance from Torres last night, no doubt about that.  But for me the most pleasing thing watching him last night was that he looked pleased when he scored.  At other times he's run away with a look that says; "at last, please let that be the one......"  Last night his look said; "get in there" nothing more and nothing less, exactly as it should be for a striker.

2012-13 Torres - after an injury or bad performance he'd take a few games to get into any kind of form

2013-14 Torres - picked up right where left off before the injury setback. Something different about him this year. It's good for him. And for the team.

Well this is 12 goals in 17 starts (I think) including a European final and an excellent performance away to the spuds and last night. I would say they it is pretty good form for any striker.

 

I am hesitant to say he is a 50M super striker but he is playing well and long may it continue.

Yes, he was superb. He IS in Europe. That was my point. He's decent in the league, but no better than Ba and Eto'o. Incidentally, Eto'o is the only striker to have scored for us in the league so far.

 

 

 

Eto could & should have scored a easier goal earlier but screwed up, Hazard saved his & our bacon, so yes lets pick our leading league goal scorer with the grand total of 1 goal over the inform striker.

Argument could be made for him being the MOTM against Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Swindon and Shalke so far this season. 

 

Was also very good in the opening game against Hull too in my opinion. 

 

In very good form at the moment and nice to see that the injury hasn't affected that. I would definitely give him the nod against City. 

I wrote a match report for the game if anyone is interested, any feedback welcome! http://linesjosh.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/torres-marks-100th-chelsea-appearance-with-a-brace/

I can see no logic behind not starting Torres against City.

He has easily been our most effective striker this season and he is looking as sharp as he ever has done in a Chelsea shirt in my opinion.

Now, his job is to prove it is not another false dawn and that he can be consistent for a prolonged period of games, scoring regularly in the process against all levels of opposition- something he hasn't done since arriving.

 

Just to clarify, I am not suggesting he is 'back' or anything along those lines.

 

In fairness, Ba & Eto'o have both given a good account of themselves against Norwich & cardiff respectively and we seemingly have some credible options in terms of which striker we should select however, for me, Torres has been quite comfortably the standout striker for us this season.

I can see no logic behind not starting Torres against City.

He has easily been our most effective striker this season and he is looking as sharp as he ever has done in a Chelsea shirt in my opinion.

Now, his job is to prove it is not another false dawn and that he can be consistent for a prolonged period of games, scoring regularly in the process against all levels of opposition- something he hasn't done since arriving.

 

Just to clarify, I am not suggesting he is 'back' or anything along those lines.

 

In fairness, Ba & Eto'o have both given a good account of themselves against Norwich & cardiff respectively and we seemingly have some credible options in terms of which striker we should select however, for me, Torres has been quite comfortably the standout striker for us this season.

 

Agreed with every word. Very happy to see Torres starting to perform at a decent level, but it's just (yet another) start. I can't ever see him getting back his Liverpool levels but if he can maintain this current goalscoring form and overall play then we'll have a chance in all competitions.

Yes, he was superb. He IS in Europe. That was my point. He's decent in the league, but no better than Ba and Eto'o. Incidentally, Eto'o is the only striker to have scored for us in the league so far.

 

My point is, surely one game break isn't going to halt Torres's form. An injury hasn't even done that, so I'm guessing he will still be on fire when he plays again should he miss the City game.

 

Of course it makes sense to play an in form striker, but how are Eto'o and Ba going to find form if they're forever being dropped in favour of Torres? What happens if Torres has a stinker and Ba and Eto'o are rusty from not enough game time?

I don't see your logic? Are you saying we should just rotate for the sake of rotating? You have admitted torres is our most in form striker but you wouldn't start him in the fear of him having a bad game and eto and ba getting rusty. Look at it in another way. As you say ba and eto haven't exactly performed miles better in the league so what if you play them and they have a bad game and in the process the guy who is on the bench who has been scoring goals becomes frustrated and you end up rotating him out of form.

 

Play torres sunday it's his kind of game. City aren't going to come and sit back like 80% of the teams in the league do. He is going to get space in behind so let's see what he can do. 

2012-13 Torres - after an injury or bad performance he'd take a few games to get into any kind of form

2013-14 Torres - picked up right where left off before the injury setback. Something different about him this year. It's good for him. And for the team.

He's never really been injured for us before though, has he? He's had suspensions, but never injury before this month.  Our training methods must be different to Liverpool's cos he was injured for weeks at a time there.

 

If anyone watched the interview with Mourinho after the game last night, he wasn't quick to single out Torres's performance, even though he did mention he has faith in him and was very happy with him, which goes without saying. But he also said that he is happy that all three of our strikers look to be coming into form and they will all get to play.

 

I have this feeling he will start Torres against City. I just hope he can finally take that European form into the Premier League because like I said before, the Spurs game aside, his domestic form is nothing like his European form. He looks absolutely unplayable against European sides. The game against Spurs was the best I've seen him play for us in the league. He's usually quite indifferent, or plays decent but tends to disappear when there's a scoring opportunity.

I don't see your logic? Are you saying we should just rotate for the sake of rotating? You have admitted torres is our most in form striker but you wouldn't start him in the fear of him having a bad game and eto and ba getting rusty. Look at it in another way. As you say ba and eto haven't exactly performed miles better in the league so what if you play them and they have a bad game and in the process the guy who is on the bench who has been scoring goals becomes frustrated and you end up rotating him out of form.

 

Play torres sunday it's his kind of game. City aren't going to come and sit back like 80% of the teams in the league do. He is going to get space in behind so let's see what he can do. 

My logic was that yes, Torres is playing well but if he keeps getting played in every game whilst Ba and Eto'o sit on the bench then a) Ba and Eto'o will both get frustrated b) neither will have the opportunity for gaining some better form and c) Torres may actually burn out. He is in excellent form at the moment but for how long? It does appear to look like he's returning to his old self now but how many times have we all said this after he's gone on a s**t hot run?

 

Personally, I would start Ba or Eto'o against City, and bring Torres on after an hour if we are in need of a goal. For the reason being that Torres seems to thrive more in Europe than in the league. If you don't count that brilliant performance against Spurs, of course.

 

It would be unfair to say that Ba and Eto'o aren't promising strikers at the moment, too. Ba did everything but score a goal against Norwich and Eto'o scored a belter against Cardiff and is looking threatening again.

 

Or, why not do what Jose has tried before, and start TWO upfront?

 

I would have no problems with that, providing he doesn't put David Luiz in the back 4 cos that man is not a defender. He's stronger in midfield.

My logic was that yes, Torres is playing well but if he keeps getting played in every game whilst Ba and Eto'o sit on the bench then a) Ba and Eto'o will both get frustrated b) neither will have the opportunity for gaining some better form and c) Torres may actually burn out. He is in excellent form at the moment but for how long? It does appear to look like he's returning to his old self now but how many times have we all said this after he's gone on a s**t hot run?

 

Personally, I would start Ba or Eto'o against City, and bring Torres on after an hour if we are in need of a goal. For the reason being that Torres seems to thrive more in Europe than in the league. If you don't count that brilliant performance against Spurs, of course.

 

It would be unfair to say that Ba and Eto'o aren't promising strikers at the moment, too. Ba did everything but score a goal against Norwich and Eto'o scored a belter against Cardiff and is looking threatening again.

 

Or, why not do what Jose has tried before, and start TWO upfront?

 

I would have no problems with that, providing he doesn't put David Luiz in the back 4 cos that man is not a defender. He's stronger in midfield.

I can't believe on current form you would rather have ba than torres but each to there own. 

 

Just because one of them starts a game it doesn't mean the other 2 won't get a chance. I'm not saying play torres for the next 10 games straight I'm saying I would go with him in a big game such as sunday. I keep hearing the thing about poor form in the league but has he really been given many starts so far this year? 2 of the top of my head hull and spurs and against spurs he terrorized them. 

 

I can't see jose going with 2 strikers from the start against city as it's been proven that against other rivals it leaves to much space in midfield. Jose won't be afraid to do it if we are losing though and against weaker opposition I actually would like to see him do it from the start.

What will help Torres is more ball retention in midfield, not sure who the main culprit is, but we need the player who can hold onto it, and pass accurately, without giving up possession more regularly, and ultimately more chances will be made, and Torres will thrive, he looks faster stronger, and confident, i want to also see that kneeslide and sheer exhuberation when he scores...

No i'm not saying I would prefer Ba in general over Torres, at all.

 

But Saturday is not a Euorpean game, it's a league game. We could very well have a brilliant Torres up front, but how often has he replicated his European form domestically?

 

If he starts, fair play, he deserves it. He may very well impress us again. But I would start Eto'o or Ba, and bring Torres on later on.

It's not like Ba/Etto are in blistering form, they have scored how many together? 1 if my memory is right. I know the fear that if he fails to have a good game, if will affect his confidence etc. However, not selecting him when he's in good form, then give him 20 minutes to chase the game will probably do him more harm.

Torres deserves to start against Citeh IMO and this will be a real test for him. If he can perform as well on Sunday, and have the influence he had against Tottenham and Schalke, then I will begin to really believe he is turning the corner and showing some consistent form. As G3.7 is rightly pointing out in the Luiz thread, consistency is the hallmark of all top class players.

 

 

I really do see Sunday as a battle of the strikers. Aguero is in blistering form ATM can our defenders shut him out? Can Torres get the better of Kompany and Co?

No i'm not saying I would prefer Ba in general over Torres, at all.

 

But Saturday is not a Euorpean game, it's a league game. We could very well have a brilliant Torres up front, but how often has he replicated his European form domestically?

 

If he starts, fair play, he deserves it. He may very well impress us again. But I would start Eto'o or Ba, and bring Torres on later on.

 

In his last Premier League start when he was our best player against Spurs?

 

Played very well in the opening game of the season against Hull, helped open things up when he came on against Fulham and before that scored against Everton on the last day of the season last season. 

 

I know some will be reluctant to admit it but he has looked one of our sharpest and most in form players this season and more than deserves to start against City at the weekend. 

Torres has earned the start, I have always doubted Torres could ever get back to anything like his best but have been impressed with him since Jose has been back and if any striker anywhere had the sort of game he had Tuesday night he'd be expecting to start, the last thing we should be doing is having players work their nuts off to earn their place and then reward them with a place on the bench.

 

It's difficult as Eto'o had his best game last time out as well but Torres is looking strong as well as getting back to having movement in the right places where Eto'o to me still isn't as used to the physical contest of the premiership, right now I'd definitely be going with Torres.

 

We've all got our hopes up before with him and been let down but my main confidence boost this time is the Manager and the difference he's making to him.

He score's when he wants.

I agree torres is playing well, but I have been encouraged by eto'o too...he has been getting better and better with each game, makes very good runs in the area and his link-up play is good with his team-mates...will be happy to see either start on Sunday...mind you wasn't ba's last goal for us that great finish in the semi-final?!!

Jose makes the difference and based on current form I can't see him choosing anyone different for the nod against Citeh than Torres at the mo..

I think Eto'o will start.