He had no room today against two central defenders until Ba came on, unfortunate in the first half with a great save by the keeper. Our forwards, no matter who it is, still don't get enough service from the midfielders in my opinion, because they want to score also...

Our midfielders have zero intent in what they do. They pass the ball around hoping for something to happen rather than forcing the issue. To compensate the strikers drop ever deeper or wider to get the ball- which means they are away from the strike zone- which means the midfielders have no runners to aim for and so the cycle of pointlessness is perpetuated.

He had no room today against two central defenders until Ba came on, unfortunate in the first half with a great save by the keeper. Our forwards, no matter who it is, still don't get enough service from the midfielders in my opinion, because they want to score also...

Our midfielders have zero intent in what they do. They pass the ball around hoping for something to happen rather than forcing the issue. To compensate the strikers drop ever deeper or wider to get the ball- which means they are away from the strike zone- which means the midfielders have no runners to aim for and so the cycle of pointlessness is perpetuated.

I'm not going to lie, when Jose was re-appointed, I expected the sale of Fernando to be imminent, though I'm more than happy to admit I was wrong. He seemed to have faith in Torres right from the get go, which can only mean that Torres has been showing signs of hunger and determination. He hasn't been poor at all this season. There were times (City, Spurs and goal of the season contender against Bayern,- notice how they're all against top opposition) when he was absolutely terrifying and played like he was on steroids,and other times like today, where he put in a shift and generally worked hard, without being spectacular.

 

My biggest criticism of Torres the entire time was that he was mentally fragile. It seemed every little thing had affected him in the the worst way possible and he seemed to have lost that sense of belief in himself, bar a few glimpses every now and again. There was one thing that happened this season however, that assured me he was no longer THAT Fernando Torres that aggravated us all so much. It was when he missed a sitter against City. Not only did it not affect his game negatively, (which surely it would've done prior to this season), it completely rejuvenated him. Missing that sitter made him stronger. Where was that mentality  when he signed for us? For ten minutes straight against City he was wreaking havoc and they were absolutely clueless on how to stop him. They simply couldn't deal with him. Where did that pace come from, I wonder.

 

There's no point in comparing him to the Torres of old anymore. We should just be thankful he is beginning to consistently look like a striker who's good enough to start for Chelsea. In fact, all three of our strikers aren't looking half bad at the minute and I've no doubt they will continue to improve under the best manager in the world.

Edited December 2, 201312 yr by Amputechture

Btw lads and ladettes; look at Spurs. They bought Roberto Soldado for whopping €30m he's scored one goal from open play(3 from spotkicks), Spurs implement 4-2-3-1, play similar style to ours. Soldado is 28 and a classic Spanish forward like our Nando. Any similarities? Admittedly his first season in England. My point is I wouldn't worry too much our strikers not scoring most of our goals as we have a lot of firepower behind them, the whole squad from centerbacks to midfielders. Chelsea's scored 24 goals in the prem opposed to Spurs' 11.

Not saying we wouldn't benefit from a world class striker just saying to look at Spurs and laugh at them.

Thats a nice point but we arent worried about Spurs challenging us for the league title.

Right now you look at City and i hate to say it even Loserpool and their strike force put ours to shame. Whats even more disappointing is we could have had Aguero and let Sturridge go.

Liverpool's scored 25 goals, Chelsea 24. They have Suarez who is one of the best strikers in the league with RVP and Aguero. It would be easier with a true world class player but we are doing okay with the current setup.

City is head and shoulders above us in that dept and I have a feeling they'll take the league. Even without Kompany and some questionable play from Hart they look like winning.

Liverpool's scored 25 goals, Chelsea 24. They have Suarez who is one of the best strikers in the league with RVP and Aguero. It would be easier with a true world class player but we are doing okay with the current setup.

City is head and shoulders above us in that dept and I have a feeling they'll take the league. Even without Kompany and some questionable play from Hart they look like winning.

 

Between Sturridge and Suarez they have scored 18 of Liverpool's 25 goals.

 

First game Sturridge misses, they lose and Rodger's bemoans their lack of squad depth.

 

Personally I think it's good that we aren't relying on one player to come up with the goods. 

Thought Torres was lively and played well yesterday. He was certainly helped by the introduction of Bemba Da who was a right old handful for the Soton defenders. Hope to see them paired up again soon as some of their movement and inter-play really stretched the back four and allowed our midfielders to move into holes that weren't there in the 1st half.

I really believe the "Mourinho factor" is the primary reason for Torres' rejuvenation and whilst he may not be banging them in for fun, I am really pleased with him at the moment and I never thought I would see myself saying that given his performances for the past two and half years.

Well done Nando, keep it up son.

Thats a nice point but we arent worried about Spurs challenging us for the league title.

Right now you look at City and i hate to say it even Loserpool and their strike force put ours to shame. Whats even more disappointing is we could have had Aguero and let Sturridge go.

 

Really? I thought that was the reason why we bought Willian because we were so scared of Spurs this season

 

Lmao at Spurs fans.

Torres played well, he always shows determination, effort and energy to do the right things which is all we can ask for.

Him and Demba were a threat together and gave the defenders little time on the ball which produced chances so would like to see them again.

Safe to say he won't be back to his scintillating liverpool form

Liverpool's scored 25 goals, Chelsea 24. They have Suarez who is one of the best strikers in the league with RVP and Aguero. It would be easier with a true world class player but we are doing okay with the current setup.

City is head and shoulders above us in that dept and I have a feeling they'll take the league. Even without Kompany and some questionable play from Hart they look like winning.

defence's win titles, as the old saying goes. every great team is built from the back. defensively we are better than city, im backing us to win the title still. that game against arsenal on the 23rd will be a huge, huge game

It will be huge!

Their DM/CM because of Toure is better than us, strikeforce is better and when Kompany is back their defence is on par with us. We have Jose though...he has the experience to win it.

City's defence is an absolute shambles, even when Kompany plays. No idea what's happened but they are all over the place making errors you would expect from inexperience youth players rather than experienced internationals. No way is it on par with ours this season. We've made individual mistakes, they are just sh*t. 

City are bizarre this season. They will absolutely annihilate teams at home, then as soon as they go away it's like they're a completely different team who have no idea how to play football. Have they even won an away game yet?

 

City are bizarre this season. They will absolutely annihilate teams at home, then as soon as they go away it's like they're a completely different team who have no idea how to play football. Have they even won an away game yet?

 

They beat West Ham 3-0 away but other than that I dont think they have.

How is that different to us then..? We've struggled away but not lost at home.

City's away form wont be bad for long, they are picking up..

Edited December 4, 201312 yr by Zola

City's away form wont be bad for long, they are picking up..

 

And so are we!!

Would love to see Torres and Ba given a few games together.

Shocking.

Ba or eto please

Totally diabolical, ive laid off him for a while and put faith in jose getting the best out of him but now i think its clear to see that he will always miss more than he will score for us.

I think he has improved under Jose and although he was woeful tonight I don't think he deserves a rehash of the same old things that have been said about him in this thread by pretty near most of us.

 

He's one of three strikers we have who can all flatter to decieve, I'll be happy enough as long as all three get their chances and we don't watch bad performance after bad performance, I think he was decent at West Ham and has looked sharper on the whole and I can't say my faith in the two alternatives is anything but up and down.

 

I bet hes gutted enough looking at the way Hazard performed and wishing he could have hit some form at the same time, it must be painful knowing what he could do at his best.

Edited December 4, 201312 yr by Chippy

Still popped up with an assist.

 

Deservedly subbed on the hour, but still think he's the best of our striking options at the moment.

I'm still amazed that Jose rates him ahead of Lukaku

Had a poor game really. Would have expected a goal from tonight and I'm sure he would himself. This season his performances have been good, tonight was unfortunately a glimpse of previous poor performances which had us all despairing.

 

As long as he keeps working hard and trying for the team he gets my support.

 

Would I like him to be knocking them in like Suarez ? You bet I would , but to repeat myself

 

How many medals has Suarez got ?

There is no 'I' in team but there is a 'U' in c**t. 

 

I'll keep Torres over Ratboy , regardless of how many goals he scores.