Can we stop acting like children and stay on topic?

You people are ruining my wonderful thread.

Are you going to sign Falcao in January? Please tell us, Mr Abramovic

60 pages soon of the same sh*t, anyone else not getting tired of this?

This is a decent, healthy thread that continues to run because feelings and views on the player remain so varied. Just because many of the views do not correspond with your own i dont think its fair to just calling it boring (or for it to be closed!)

f**k off, it's your fault for buying the donkey in the first place.

How I lol'd post of the year.

Im very intrested to see the basis on which people feel sturridge is not good enough? is it from extensively seeing him play up front?

Sorry dreads, i love your mazacar but at the same time if you have been watching Sturridge closely you have been watching him picking splinters out of his ass, thats it

Torres is still a great footballer, just missing that killer instinct which is pretty important as a striker.

60 pages soon of the same sh*t, anyone else not getting tired of this?

Count me in....trouble is we all keep getting drawn into the same old sh*te with no resolution.....maybe we should have austerity measures...one post then out!

f**k off, it's your fault for buying the donkey in the first place.

I was swayed by that pretty face and beautiful blonde wavy hair.....

Who knew a donkey could look that good.

Why does it need closing - if you don't want to read it don't come in to it.

Dont know if this got posted. Sadly it actually makes some sense. Not normal for the press.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/abramovich-must-splash-out-on-new-striker-for-chelsea-after-fernando-torres-flops-again-8306647.html

Edited November 12, 201213 yr by smileysmiles

It's easy saying Falcao but after spending a near £70 million in the summer do we have the cash to bring him in?

I reckon a fee of around £8 million could land Huntelaar and he could be the answer short term.

Clearly Torres would have to go, and with the likes of Cole/Lamps been touted as going there are some hefty wages right there.

Clearly Torres would have to go, and with the likes of Cole/Lamps been touted as going there are some hefty wages right there.

Could all that happen in Jan though?

I hope not as it would unsettle us so much, the summer would be better but then you have Madrid, Barca, City, PSG who have all spoke about Falcao in the past few months.

Could all that happen in Jan though?

I hope not as it would unsettle us so much, the summer would be better but then you have Madrid, Barca, City, PSG who have all spoke about Falcao in the past few months.

Well we bought Torres when we should have bought aguero, so if he is what we want we should strike while the iron is hot before city and the likes hike the price or poach him.

Well we bought Torres when we should have bought aguero, so if he is what we want we should strike while the iron is hot before city and the likes hike the price or poach him.

Yeah but we all know prices are mental in January because clubs dont need to sell.

Plus if we sold Torres and bought falcao that would only leave Danny to play as ST in the CL would it not?

Hopefully if it is to be done we can tie it up in jan and bring him in during the summer?

Yeah but we all know prices are mental in January because clubs dont need to sell.

Plus if we sold Torres and bought falcao that would only leave Danny to play as ST in the CL would it not?

Hopefully if it is to be done we can tie it up in jan and bring him in during the summer?

No doubt its difficult, and I can see Danny going more than torres. Will we brink Lukaku back is the other question, I would bring him back tomorrow but who knows that's why we pay lots of money to scouts.

I think its January or not at all, in the summer the likes of City or Madrid will sign him up.

Lukaku is a strange one.

He was tipped to be the next big thing and was playing fantastic football with Anderlect before joining us but then it all went a bit quiet.

He was good enough to play for Belgium and them 2 years ago so I would like to think he could do a job for us very soon.

Sturridge is getting a very bad press on this thread.

He has only started one game this season as I recall, and even if I'm wrong, he's only started one game as our centre-forward, which is his preferred position. He has come on 2 or 3 times at the end of games and been given a chance, maybe for ten minutes, against Shakhtar he came on after 89 minutes. That's right folks, Torres, inexplicably, got 89 minutes.

Let's look at that game that Sturridge got. His one and only game to date, against Utd. Sure, they were fielding a weakened team but it still included Hernandez, Wellbeck, Anderson, Fletcher, Giggs, Rafael, Lindegaard and Nani. Be very clear, Utd came here to win, and they very nearly did, and we needed to field a relatively strong side to eventually put them to the sword, albeit a side lacking Ivan, Terry and Cole (our 3 best defenders), and including Moses, Sturridge, Romeu, Bertrand, Piazon and Azpilicueta. That game was by no means a gimme, as anyone that was there will testify. Utd have a huge amount of appetite, which is precisely why they win so many games.

In that context, and given it was Sturridge's one and only start, he did remarkably well, far better than any of you are giving him credit for. Some of you are so tolerant towards Torres yet so scathing towards Danny even though he has hardly been given a fair crack. He has 2 goals in little more than 2 hours of play, and he will carry on getting goals for whoever he turns out for, he has already proven that.

Against Utd, he had two chances in the first half. The first, he slipped over, the second he got his shot away and it was blocked and there can be no blame attached to him. The difference between him and Torres is that chances fall at his feet. He is looking to score, he's not afraid to miss. My biggest criticism of Torres since he joined us is that he hides, he does not go looking for goals, his movement is atrocious, and he gives his teammates precious little opportunity to create chances for him. Not so with Sturridge, he may have missed a couple of chances against Utd but he kept coming back for more, he kept trying to prove himself and he kept sniffing out danger. Sure, in that first half, there were a couple of opportunities where he was outrageously greedy, shooting instead of passing, I am not denying that. He is an individualist, an egoist and not nceccessarily my type of player, but to be fair to him, he is desperate to impress because he gets so little chance, and he may be too eager at times. If he were more secure he may not try to show off quite so often. Having said that, I am fully aware of his flaws, it's just that he is far less flawed than Torres.

As the game progressed Sturridge came into his own. He turned, tricked the defender, ran towards the goal and almost scored, were it not for a last-ditch challange by Rafael. He cut inside and struck a fierce shot just over the bar. He set up Moses for a great chance brilliantly, and when the chance came in extra-time, he kept his composure, he didn't let his previous misses bother him, he rounded the keeper and he scored, putting us in the lead (something Torres has done only once since we bought him).

Had Torres put in that performance, Fernando's Fangirling Fratelli would have been screaming from the rooftops. The bottom line is, despite his flaws, despite his poor decision-making, despite his selfishness, Sturridge is a danger and he gives defenders headaches.

He has pace to burn whereas Torres cannot run. It's like watching someone trudging through treacle. It's painful. Sturridge is bright and breezy. Torres just looks hunched.

Some numpty (I think it was Yorkley) said Sturridge didn't track back half as much as Wellbeck. I can only presume Yorkley was drunk. They were playing different positions. Sturridge was playing up top, it was not his job to run back to his own corner flag. Sturridge chased and chased all night but did what Torres singularly fails to do, he kept his position, he stayed on the shoulder of the last man, he kept pulling them this way and that. They could not relax.

He may not be the answer but he's a hell of lot better than Torres, who is simply an awful joke, and has been in 90% of his games for us, as everybody can see except for the most deluded Chelsea fan. Torres is no longer regarded as a top player because he's not and I don't care if we sell him to Tottenham because he ain't ever getting it back.

Agianst Shakhtar (as against Swansea) we saw the archetypal Torres performance, i.e. he did nothing. Sure, he chased down the ball and got a goal but that does not make it a good performance, on the contrary, he was abysmal, as usual. That goal should have given him confidence, it could have provided a springboard, instead, after a bright start, he did what he does best, which is not very much. You can still criticise the performance despite the goal. The goal was a freak and can happen from time to time but that does not excuse what was to follow. We are very lucky to still be in contention in the CL and I don't think we'll win anything until we sort the striker situation out.

Torres has the best attacking and creative players behind him, far more than any other team can boast, yet they still can't provide him with chances. I wonder why? As I've always said since he joined us, the reason chances don't fall at his feet is Torres himself. Imagine if you will the chance Sturridge scored from against Utd. Imagine that chance falling to Torres. Ask yourself, how confident would you be that he would score? I'd have far more confidence in Sturridge in that position, not least because Sturridge has far more confidence in himself.

Torres has it all on a plate for him. He's got the teammates, he plays every minute, Drogba has gone, the team is all geared up for him. He even has the unwavering support of the fans but it's still not enough and the odd goal here and there cannot mask his deficiencies. He must be the easiest striker in the Prem to mark. He is slow, cumbersome on the ball, and he doesn't move. He runs up blind alleys, tries bits of skill that don't come off, loses the ball, falls over and snarls at the ref. It's a tired old routine and every time he is on the park I expect nothing. I would have more hope if we signed Grant Holt, and I mean that. I would take Lukaku over him in a heartbeat. Lukaku isn't scared, he drives at defences, with power and pace and he's always looking to score. Rough around the edges, yes, but far more of a threat. People will disagree, but they're deluded by the name and the fee, they're not watching the player.

I've supported Chelsea a long time, far longer than I care to remember. Torres ranks alongside my least favourite players in a blue shirt. I see no heart, no character. He doesn't strike me as a Chelsea player. He waits for things to happen rather than makes it happen himself. His mentality is all wrong. He feels sorry for himself and he has done ever since he made the move.

Last thing ..

I'm sick of hearing about how he loved Liverpool, how the truth will come out about his reasons for leaving, about how Gerrard was the best player he's played alongside. I'm sick of hearing about how he didn't care if we won or lost, how he needed convincing to stay at the club, how we haven't utilised him in the right way, how we play too fast how we play too slow. I want a player that does his talking on the pitch. I'm sick of seeing his sulking reaction on the pitch and I'm sick of seeing his sense of entitlement at playing every minute even though he never produces the goods.

It's obvious that he is a pale shadow of the player Abramovich thought he was buying and it's time to play Sturridge up top, because despite his flaws, Sturridge is simply the better option, and if any of you were defenders, you'd know which one you'd least like to face.

I read this thread after the Swansea game and saw that even the Fangirling Fratelli were beginning to ask questions. Why? That was the typical Torres performance, barely offering a threat barely offering an outlet. It makes you wonder what these guys have been watching all this time? He scores against Arsenal and they're all on here praising him to the hilt. Strikers are there to score goals. Strikers are there to strike fear into the hearts of defenders. That's what strikers do. There are better goals scored by Jelavic at Everton every week, far better goals. That's what you pay strikers to do. If we had a half-decent striker in the team, Mata Hazard and Oscar would suddenly look a whole lot better, because they'd be creating goals for fun, because they have the creativity, they just need someone to link with, they need someone with an instinct, and I'm afraid Torres is shot to pieces. People say he gets a hard time because he cost 50 million quid. On the contrary, if he had cost 2 million quid, and we'd signed him from Rochdale, not only would he have got far less games, he'd have been sold by now. I'd rather have Franco Di Santo any day of the week. We have a sub-par player on our hands. I'm just afraid some people are seduced by the fee and the name, unlike our opponents who aren't the least bit bothered when they see Torres lining up against them. Do you think he worries them? I can think of a lot of strikers who worry defenders, Suarez being one. Sadly Torres is not one of them, and he never will be. Those days are gone, and the odd good performance here and there makes no difference. Even Shevchenko had good days. The best players perform consistently. The best players can be depended upon to turn up.

Torres would feel awfully sorry for himself if he had to fight his place. We all know that. He would sulk. I say drop him and get rid. Bring back Lukaku next season and if Danny fails to prove himself this term, bring in someone to replace him, but he should certainly get the chance to prove himself, because the fact that Torres is keeping him out is absurd.

End of the day Roman calls the shots so it matters little what anyone says on here.

I don't think it is particularly fair to judge Torres and Sturridge equally at the moment due to lack of opportunity for Sturridge to prove himself (or otherwise).

Sturridge may well turn out to be not good enough (and my suspicions are he won't) but Torres's ongoing inconsistency and lack of goal threat surely means Sturridge merits a decent run. Giving him the odd 20 minutes here and there is not a fair crack aof the whip. Before the Liverpool game yesterday Sudge had played 235 minutes of first team football this season whereas Torres had played an incredible 1,485 - what makes that even more incredible is that 1,485 minutes is more than any other player in the squad.

Whether or not you feel Torres is simply not good enough, or that he isn't being supported properly by the system and team mates, one thing we can surely agree on is that things aren't working just now. Given that it seems bizarre that he has been on the pitch more than any other player and RDM is persevering with something that isn't really working and has not taken the opportunity to try something different.

I have gone on record as saying we need to replace Torres however I do accept the point that letting him go in January gives us a problem in terms of CL games as any 'big' money replacement we might bring in is likely to be cup tied. The other problem could be that if we bring in someone in January and it is blindingly obvious to Torres that he is only getting a game because he needs to play in the CL games then it is unlikely that he will be motivated to perform and improve.

As for all the other stuff on here about plastic fans etc etc, there really is no need for it. Opinions are like arseholes, we all have one and they are actually quite useful! (especially on a forum)

Sturridge is getting a very bad press on this thread.

He has only started one game this season as I recall, and even if I'm wrong, he's only started one game as our centre-forward, which is his preferred position. He has come on 2 or 3 times at the end of games and been given a chance, maybe for ten minutes, against Shakhtar he came on after 89 minutes. That's right folks, Torres, inexplicably, got 89 minutes.

Let's look at that game that Sturridge got. His one and only game to date, against Utd. Sure, they were fielding a weakened team but it still included Hernandez, Wellbeck, Anderson, Fletcher, Giggs, Rafael, Lindegaard and Nani. Be very clear, Utd came here to win, and they very nearly did, and we needed to field a relatively strong side to eventually put them to the sword, albeit a side lacking Ivan, Terry and Cole (our 3 best defenders), and including Moses, Sturridge, Romeu, Bertrand, Piazon and Azpilicueta. That game was by no means a gimme, as anyone that was there will testify. Utd have a huge amount of appetite, which is precisely why they win so many games.

In that context, and given it was Sturridge's one and only start, he did remarkably well, far better than any of you are giving him credit for. Some of you are so tolerant towards Torres yet so scathing towards Danny even though he has hardly been given a fair crack. He has 2 goals in little more than 2 hours of play, and he will carry on getting goals for whoever he turns out for, he has already proven that.

Against Utd, he had two chances in the first half. The first, he slipped over, the second he got his shot away and it was blocked and there can be no blame attached to him. The difference between him and Torres is that chances fall at his feet. He is looking to score, he's not afraid to miss. My biggest criticism of Torres since he joined us is that he hides, he does not go looking for goals, his movement is atrocious, and he gives his teammates precious little opportunity to create chances for him. Not so with Sturridge, he may have missed a couple of chances against Utd but he kept coming back for more, he kept trying to prove himself and he kept sniffing out danger. Sure, in that first half, there were a couple of opportunities where he was outrageously greedy, shooting instead of passing, I am not denying that. He is an individualist, an egoist and not nceccessarily my type of player, but to be fair to him, he is desperate to impress because he gets so little chance, and he may be too eager at times. If he were more secure he may not try to show off quite so often. Having said that, I am fully aware of his flaws, it's just that he is far less flawed than Torres.

As the game progressed Sturridge came into his own. He turned, tricked the defender, ran towards the goal and almost scored, were it not for a last-ditch challange by Rafael. He cut inside and struck a fierce shot just over the bar. He set up Moses for a great chance brilliantly, and when the chance came in extra-time, he kept his composure, he didn't let his previous misses bother him, he rounded the keeper and he scored, putting us in the lead (something Torres has done only once since we bought him).

Had Torres put in that performance, Fernando's Fangirling Fratelli would have been screaming from the rooftops. The bottom line is, despite his flaws, despite his poor decision-making, despite his selfishness, Sturridge is a danger and he gives defenders headaches.

He has pace to burn whereas Torres cannot run. It's like watching someone trudging through treacle. It's painful. Sturridge is bright and breezy. Torres just looks hunched.

Some numpty (I think it was Yorkley) said Sturridge didn't track back half as much as Wellbeck. I can only presume Yorkley was drunk. They were playing different positions. Sturridge was playing up top, it was not his job to run back to his own corner flag. Sturridge chased and chased all night but did what Torres singularly fails to do, he kept his position, he stayed on the shoulder of the last man, he kept pulling them this way and that. They could not relax.

He may not be the answer but he's a hell of lot better than Torres, who is simply an awful joke, and has been in 90% of his games for us, as everybody can see except for the most deluded Chelsea fan. Torres is no longer regarded as a top player because he's not and I don't care if we sell him to Tottenham because he ain't ever getting it back.

Agianst Shakhtar (as against Swansea) we saw the archetypal Torres performance, i.e. he did nothing. Sure, he chased down the ball and got a goal but that does not make it a good performance, on the contrary, he was abysmal, as usual. That goal should have given him confidence, it could have provided a springboard, instead, after a bright start, he did what he does best, which is not very much. You can still criticise the performance despite the goal. The goal was a freak and can happen from time to time but that does not excuse what was to follow. We are very lucky to still be in contention in the CL and I don't think we'll win anything until we sort the striker situation out.

Torres has the best attacking and creative players behind him, far more than any other team can boast, yet they still can't provide him with chances. I wonder why? As I've always said since he joined us, the reason chances don't fall at his feet is Torres himself. Imagine if you will the chance Sturridge scored from against Utd. Imagine that chance falling to Torres. Ask yourself, how confident would you be that he would score? I'd have far more confidence in Sturridge in that position, not least because Sturridge has far more confidence in himself.

Torres has it all on a plate for him. He's got the teammates, he plays every minute, Drogba has gone, the team is all geared up for him. He even has the unwavering support of the fans but it's still not enough and the odd goal here and there cannot mask his deficiencies. He must be the easiest striker in the Prem to mark. He is slow, cumbersome on the ball, and he doesn't move. He runs up blind alleys, tries bits of skill that don't come off, loses the ball, falls over and snarls at the ref. It's a tired old routine and every time he is on the park I expect nothing. I would have more hope if we signed Grant Holt, and I mean that. I would take Lukaku over him in a heartbeat. Lukaku isn't scared, he drives at defences, with power and pace and he's always looking to score. Rough around the edges, yes, but far more of a threat. People will disagree, but they're deluded by the name and the fee, they're not watching the player.

I've supported Chelsea a long time, far longer than I care to remember. Torres ranks alongside my least favourite players in a blue shirt. I see no heart, no character. He doesn't strike me as a Chelsea player. He waits for things to happen rather than makes it happen himself. His mentality is all wrong. He feels sorry for himself and he has done ever since he made the move.

Last thing ..

I'm sick of hearing about how he loved Liverpool, how the truth will come out about his reasons for leaving, about how Gerrard was the best player he's played alongside. I'm sick of hearing about how he didn't care if we won or lost, how he needed convincing to stay at the club, how we haven't utilised him in the right way, how we play too fast how we play too slow. I want a player that does his talking on the pitch. I'm sick of seeing his sulking reaction on the pitch and I'm sick of seeing his sense of entitlement at playing every minute even though he never produces the goods.

It's obvious that he is a pale shadow of the player Abramovich thought he was buying and it's time to play Sturridge up top, because despite his flaws, Sturridge is simply the better option, and if any of you were defenders, you'd know which one you'd least like to face.

I read this thread after the Swansea game and saw that even the Fangirling Fratelli were beginning to ask questions. Why? That was the typical Torres performance, barely offering a threat barely offering an outlet. It makes you wonder what these guys have been watching all this time? He scores against Arsenal and they're all on here praising him to the hilt. Strikers are there to score goals. Strikers are there to strike fear into the hearts of defenders. That's what strikers do. There are better goals scored by Jelavic at Everton every week, far better goals. That's what you pay strikers to do. If we had a half-decent striker in the team, Mata Hazard and Oscar would suddenly look a whole lot better, because they'd be creating goals for fun, because they have the creativity, they just need someone to link with, they need someone with an instinct, and I'm afraid Torres is shot to pieces. People say he gets a hard time because he cost 50 million quid. On the contrary, if he had cost 2 million quid, and we'd signed him from Rochdale, not only would he have got far less games, he'd have been sold by now. I'd rather have Franco Di Santo any day of the week. We have a sub-par player on our hands. I'm just afraid some people are seduced by the fee and the name, unlike our opponents who aren't the least bit bothered when they see Torres lining up against them. Do you think he worries them? I can think of a lot of strikers who worry defenders, Suarez being one. Sadly Torres is not one of them, and he never will be. Those days are gone, and the odd good performance here and there makes no difference. Even Shevchenko had good days. The best players perform consistently. The best players can be depended upon to turn up.

Torres would feel awfully sorry for himself if he had to fight his place. We all know that. He would sulk. I say drop him and get rid. Bring back Lukaku next season and if Danny fails to prove himself this term, bring in someone to replace him, but he should certainly get the chance to prove himself, because the fact that Torres is keeping him out is absurd.

Great post, and here's an example. Look at Studge's goal against Tottenham. Yeah it was in the last minutes, and a counter, but he was there to finish it off from 2 yards. Sturridge scored around 10 goals like that past season, playing as a winger. While Torres has scored 0 like that, and it's a strikers sort of basic way to score. Torres just doesn't know how to move...

We shot ourselves in the foot over this one.

Torres will continue to play because Roman promised him he was no 1 regardless of this Studge talk, we all know it so it's pointless saying otherwise.

There is no clear solution as to what to do, Roman might well say no to another big money striker after seeing 2 of them (£80 million worth not including wages) flop big time.

I say Huntelaar as it will be 7 figure sum for him as he can leave for nothing in 6 months time while he offers goals and more goals, not really another value for money one out there in Jan.

Edited November 12, 201213 yr by RFC_CFC

great post davey baby

Sturridge has had chances. For years Kalou came on with 10-20 minutes to go and changed games was he good enough for a starting spot. No neither is Danny, he was always going to get few chances and those he has had he has failed to take. The worst part about the chances he has been given is the fact he looked worse than Torres, and that's a damning conclusion right now.

Danny looked good under AVB on that right wing, Im not going to deny that but having watched him since at Chelsea and at the Olympics he has shown nothing that suggests he will be anything but worse than Toress up front.

Is pathetic that strong a word to you? There are 100s of other words and combinations I can use to describe a player that are far worse than pathetic. You guys are now putting me down as if Torres reads this forum, its laughable.

I don't hate Torres, I told you already, I'm a member and attend most of our matches, I don't show any hate towards him, only support. This forum allows me to vent my frustrations but you guys are becoming all sensitive shooting me down for slating Torres as if this wlll upset him and damage his confidence further.

Newsflash! He most likley doesn't read this forum and is playing and smiling with his family in his luxurious mansion and excellent lifestyle.

I don't hate any player. Calling someone pathetic does not mean you hate them (to me anyway), that word just highlights my frustration at a player under contract at the club I support who is not doing his job properly, especially considering his wages!

Now we have it in a nutshell, you do not hate him because of his football, but oh boy, does it get up you nose that he is earning vast sums of money, well sorry, that is what todays situation is like in football, you will just have to learn to live with that, because it is not going to change just because you do not like it or the money Torres is paid.