Which riles me even more than when he throws his arms up in the air and glares at a team-mate when the ball is not played within a millimetre of his feet.

Which is very similar to a previous Chelsea striker - the only difference is he put the ball in the net on a regular basis.

Liam knows who I mean... those eyes, that pout, that arse!!

The very same Zeta

Remind yourself how much man love Liam had for him.

http://www.theshedend.com/topic/12235-hasselbaink-jimmy-floyd-2000-2004/

Which is very similar to a previous Chelsea striker - the only difference is he put the ball in the net on a regular basis.

Liam knows who I mean... those eyes, that pout, that arse!!

Exactly, if Torres was hitting the net like Jimmy used to it wouldn't be an issue. My word just what would it be like to have a striker to shoot on sight in this team like Jimmy used to ?

Might be considered unnecessarily picky but I'd also state one of the reasons why these passes to Torres (that he glares at the teammate for) are not inch perfect is because the teammate has not anticipated Torres taking up the position he is in, mainly because its the wrong one.

God, you are gonna miss him when he has gone... ;-)

Jimmy hardly did anything else on a pitch, but he sure as hell knew how to put the ball in the back of the net.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoYY3LlLSY

Right guys, so who's the scapegoat once Torres is gone?

Right guys, so who's the scapegoat once Torres is gone?

Depends on who we get in. If it's a big player like Falcao we don't need one. Otherwise, it's going to be Luiz.

Right guys, so who's the scapegoat once Torres is gone?

Luiz..

If any other player does his job as badly as Torres has done for the last 2 years, then they will get the same amount of criticism, and rightly so. It's not scapegoating. The guy has had TWO YEARS to get it right and he is still woeful in the large majority of his appearances.

Forgot his price for a moment, forget the history behind the transfer, forget even his name. Let's say this was John Smith who for the last 2 years had been toiling away putting in those performances. Do you honestly think it's good enough to lead the attack of a team challenging for 4+ trophies?

I'd bet good money on it being Luiz aswell but Mikel could make a comeback as the scapegoat. So many choices.

The way I look at the Torres situation is like this...

the way he has been performing for the last three seasons, from his last at Pool to the present day if he was anywhere else would we be looking at him with a view to buying him? ... if he was on the Market at 14 mill?

I for one wouldn't be excited about the prospect.

edit

and talking of scapegoats, the longer it go's like this the more chance the real scapegoat here will be Robbie, and that would be a travesty.

Edited November 12, 201213 yr by Chippy

If any other player does his job as badly as Torres has done for the last 2 years, then they will get the same amount of criticism, and rightly so. It's not scapegoating. The guy has had TWO YEARS to get it right and he is still woeful in the large majority of his appearances.

Forgot his price for a moment, forget the history behind the transfer, forget even his name. Let's say this was John Smith who for the last 2 years had been toiling away putting in those performances. Do you honestly think it's good enough to lead the attack of a team challenging for 4+ trophies?

I concur. Any player who plays so much and fails to perform so consistently will no doubt be open to persistent criticism. Particularly if that players failings are so clearly affecting how the team play and starting to cost the team points.

It's not 'scapegoating' , it's valid frustration from validly frustrated fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoYY3LlLSY

A striker that could do things on his own and didn't always need the service, that is what we are lacking right now.

All the greatest strikers in the world can do things on their own, this is why Torres will never be one of the greatest.

Messi, Ronaldo, Villa, RVP, Aguero, Henry, Zola, Hasselbaink, Drogba, Ronaldo (fat), Eto'o, Shevchenko. All these players can or could score goals without relying on team mates all the time. Torres used to be like these players but not anymore, it's all about service for Torres now. When was the last time Torres scored a goal on his own ?

If he left tomorrow, every goal he has scored for us has cost us £5m each in transfer fee and wages.

£5m x 17 goals = £85m

Edited November 12, 201213 yr by coco

I'd bet good money on it being Luiz aswell but Mikel could make a comeback as the scapegoat. So many choices.

There are valid reasons for these players getting harsh criticism, if you can't see it then that's your problem. Mikel, Torres, Luiz they all get criticised for consistent mistakes or bad performances.

The criticisms are valid a lot of the time yes, but Torres was one of our best players yesterday and all I saw was people blaming him for our loss. There's so many games where he's been average a long with most of our players (Shakhtar home the main example) and he was the one who got all of the flack for it. I'm not going to pretend that he's out ideal striker but it's got to the point where any little thing CHELSEA does wrong Torres is the first to get criticised. All I'm asking for is for you lot to be fair and unfortunately most of you just try and blame him for everything.

We let Torres stay but we got rid of Kalou and Meireles? I mean, where is the logic in here?Ok, i can feel it for Kalou but Meireles? Meireles is a superb DM and can snatch goals out of nowhere. Yet we se Torres running in a straight line into defenders like they were cotton towers.

We let Torres stay but we got rid of Kalou and Meireles? I mean, where is the logic in here?Ok, i can feel it for Kalou but Meireles? Meireles is a superb DM and can snatch goals out of nowhere. Yet we se Torres running in a straight line into defenders like they were cotton towers.

Since when has Meireles been a DM and since when the f**k was he ever superb? He's an average at best player.

Since when has Meireles been a DM and since when the f**k was he ever superb? He's an average at best player.

Meireles played as a DM when RDM came. Tell me, how many games has he scored out of nowhere when we were really in need to?

One.

Meireles played as a DM when RDM came. Tell me, how many games has he scored out of nowhere when we were really in need to?

Yeah he did play as DM a few times and he wasn't very good as a DM because it's not his natural position. I remember he got a goal against Benfica and I think one against Man City but that's about it. This is such a sh*t discussion.

We are usually a top 4 team so inevitably comparisons to the other teams in that group will arise, particulary the 2 above us currently

I am not sure if it is wise to debate FT merits & shortcomings, what he used to be like, why he is doing what he does now etc. etc. 67 pages long

What is the issue ? - the club made a huge investment in his signing, so one would rightly expect a better rate of return from FT than has occurred to date, in this case measured in goals, especially match winning ones. You could argue that his goal at Nou Camp paid back some of that outlay, but then then the CL prize money becomes a wash.

He looks currently like a man that is finished as a deadly # 9, and he only starts every game because he is the only choice, a situation contrived either by foolishness or on purpose by the CFC board........and therefore comparing the Chelsea striker situation to that of the 2 clubs above, it would appear that they are being managed in a better way and will likely finish above CFC come May.

I am all for the benefit of the doubt but enough, its depressing to watch RVP, Cheatarito, Dzeko, Aguero even that buck toothed git Suarez perform week in week out and then hope FT gets the proper service or does what a 'world class' striker - score a lot.

Thought Meireles was a useful player and I guess losing him off the wage bill enabled the "we made a profit for once" press release to happen.

In my opinion I think Torres looked as threatening on goal as he has looked for a while, he looked hungry for a goal and willing to shoot which is what he's missed, he was unlucky not to score. If he played like that all of the time he would get us a lot more goals, why he doesn't play like that all the time really boggles my mind.