Sigh. Another game another attempt to dribble through 8 players, another botched chance and another 'good all round effort'.

We can't win the title with him leading the line. It's simple. He is just not the player he was and waiting for that player to return is like waiting for Godot.

Agreed, but we can hope for at least 10 to 15 goals from him and hope he creates space for someone else to step up.

The issue with him is that he's a 28 year old trying to play like his 24 year old self. That 18 months or so out of the game stopped any chance of him evolving as a player.

My biggest issue with him isn't his dribbling or speed or strength, all of which I think are fine, but his willingness to attack balls and make runs into the box just isn't there and he's far too content to hand around the edge of the box hoping for scraps.

What game did you watch? He wasn't great but he worked hard most of the game, when defences such as Stoke and others pack the centre of the 18 yard box I am not sure why we we continue to batter our heads against the wall and try and go through the centre; he or anyone else acting as a lone forward is not going to get much, even City scored only one goal. I think we made it harder on ourselves as we had to many of our own men in the same space he would otherwise occupy, everything was crowded today and I lost count how many times Ivan was in the Stokes box running around like a headless chicken...however, did he miss a great opportunity in the first half..yes...but that was about the only chance he had all game....not defending him but to say he didn't have a good game is a bit harsh I think.

Finally, someone posts some sense in this thread!

In the past week we've played against two pretty defensively orientated teams (one is unbeaten in 44 games and another drew and almost beat the current EPL holders). Our attack was too narrow against such a big Stoke defensive team especially when we have three fairly small and nippy attacking weapons. Torres was cramped by Mata, Hazard, Oscar and Ramires. They all came into the middle and box and neither of them constantly drifted out wide to take any of the men marking them to create holes or opportunities.

It wasn't until we had Moses come on did we actually have some width to our game and it bloody helped! If you have everyone crowding the box and middle the two CB's are just going to sit on Torres and completely shut him down. We really need Mata (or Hazard) and Moses to start on the wings and stay there. Either of those three should beat their man and then look for Torres.

Granted he missed a perfect opportunity, but bloody hell, some of you need to look at what is actually going on rather than saying "Oh he hasn't scored or he's cost Roman too much money".

I promised myself to stay out of these threads, and now I remember why. What an absolutly ridiculious statement to make, he may not be playing great but he works his bollox off for the team, and if there was no hunger why on earth would he be annoyed about being taken off last week?

He was annoyed because he was taken off.. calm down and think of it this way. Carlos Tevez came back from a year off of football, looked incredibly out of shape but was still the same Carlos and its because hes an animal lol he just has that hunger and thirst to score even if his body holds him back which it did at first. Now he looks like his old self. I'm not comparing the situations, just giving you an example of what I meant by hunger. Theres a difference between hunger ( what Tevez has ) and passion which Torres displayed by storming off ( well at least I hope that was passion because if it wasn't then it's just outright disrespect).

Edited September 23, 201213 yr by Bello

Seeing as this is a 'groundhog day' thread on a repeated topic I guess I'll repeat myself...

I have generally been on his supportive side, not because I want to argue with the 'non supportive' side but simply because he is a Chelsea player and as such he deserves the continued support of the fans until he goes elsewhere. Can we be critical? absolutely we can and I have, but some posts for the period he has been here have been nothing but bodering on hatred rather than valid and objective criticism. It is easy to be critical and point out his failures, it is harder for the non supporters to find anything good even if he has a decent game, so it is easier to take the critical stand and continue to berate him and the same perhaps can be said of his supporters who continue to blindly defend him when he has played badly. Perhaps we should start a thread for each of the players, although I doubt the severe punishment he receives on this or the previous thread would be handed to the other players; although Mikel and Kalou have come close a few times, while the likes of our beloved Frank and JT rarely come into the depth of criticism laid down at the feet of Torres. Perhaps it's the 50 mill price tag that sticks in the throat of many fans because the man has yet to deliver the expectations. Fortunately there are millions CFC fans around the world who will continue to support him, providing he continues to put in the effort regardless of the goals and I think they just about outweigh those who believe he is a bigger bust than Sheva. This is a business and Roman has probably got his ROI on shirts and other merchandize from Torres and as such if he does to continue to struggle to score goals, regardless of his overall effort, I think serious consideration will be given to shipping him out overseas in January or at the very least next summer.

well,i watched the whole game today.torres was bad and comical on the ball at times.he has lost it as a striker and will never get it back imo.no doubt he works his bollocks off,but that should be a given for any professional footballer,and certainly, for a player on his stratospheric signing fee and wages.I would hope his frustration ie stropping against QPR,was his frustration with HIMSELF because HE knows he is under-performing.

anyway,whatever the reason,he is a problem at cfc,and has been given enough time to prove himself.Time to get rid imo,like we did with avb.

I really do get frustrated when he tries to take on players and a simple pass or shot would have been the better option. He's not the best at dribbling.

I'm a big supporter of torres and even I'll admit torres missed a sitter in the first half!

Agreed. And alot like the rest of the team today, he was too shy about just pulling the trigger when even a small opening presented itself. Just be a bit greedy at times ffs, even if there isnt much daylight.

He played today as if he was one of the trio of Mata-Hazard-Oscar. You could say that about many of his past performances that have been defended and accosted. His job is to lead the line.

I hope the club are working on some kind of plan for January because we need to hit the reset button for striker soon. Days like today emphasize that, when attacking brilliance and razzle dazzle arent enough, we dont have the kind of striker that is going to make the breakthrough on his own.

I really do get frustrated when he tries to take on players and a simple pass or shot would have been the better option. He's not the best at dribbling.

He'd be a perfect fit for Arsenal in this form. He's exactly like every one of their strikers not named Henry or van Persie.

this thread should read why cant torres score... if we'r saying he's getting no service then is it the manaers fault? is it the players behind him? is it a combo?

at the end of the day there is a problem, some one needs to be accountable, one things for sure, if he continues to play and not score robbie is to blame one way or another, becaues he either fixes it or changes it, no action is the wrong action

He had the same problem under both Carlo and AVB, clearly it has nothing to do with a manager, whoever he is. Plus, I don't see how RDM is supposed to fix it when the only alternative he's got is Sturridge, and he's either injured half the time or wants out if you believe the media reports. We really needed to bring in another striker in the summer.

He had the same problem under both Carlo and AVB, clearly it has nothing to do with a manager, whoever he is. Plus, I don't see how RDM is supposed to fix it when the only alternative he's got is Sturridge, and he's either injured half the time or wants out if you believe the media reports. We really needed to bring in another striker in the summer.

It was tongue in cheek, Abram, as i have stated many times players should be in on merit and not on names or money spent. On merrit torres should not be starting.

I actaully believe in danny we have a 20+ a year striker for years to come but this aside lets look at the hard work argument.

There are a bunch of strikers in the league that would work hard, kevin davis was the hardest working striker in the prem for many years, should we have brought him in?

I think we had a discussion about this on hear before drogba came in. what is the cirtiera for a top level striker:

Its very simple, it's to scare the living day lights out of defenders, to keep the up in at night the day before the game thinking f**k how am i going to deal with him tommorow. This phycolgical battle makes defenders make mistakes, it focuses whole teams on trying to stop one player, some times is raw speed, brute stregh and some times its just knowing that if you switch of for a moment your not going to get a second chance. I get the feeling people don't really feel that way about torres any more

Finally, someone posts some sense in this thread!

In the past week we've played against two pretty defensively orientated teams (one is unbeaten in 44 games and another drew and almost beat the current EPL holders). Our attack was too narrow against such a big Stoke defensive team especially when we have three fairly small and nippy attacking weapons. Torres was cramped by Mata, Hazard, Oscar and Ramires. They all came into the middle and box and neither of them constantly drifted out wide to take any of the men marking them to create holes or opportunities.

It wasn't until we had Moses come on did we actually have some width to our game and it bloody helped! If you have everyone crowding the box and middle the two CB's are just going to sit on Torres and completely shut him down. We really need Mata (or Hazard) and Moses to start on the wings and stay there. Either of those three should beat their man and then look for Torres.

Granted he missed a perfect opportunity, but bloody hell, some of you need to look at what is actually going on rather than saying "Oh he hasn't scored or he's cost Roman too much money".

Yeah agreed that we need more width, though I'm not sure the standard "beat a player by the touchline and put it in" is the approach to take. Barcelona's width is generally provided by players making runs by one of the side-lines of the box; ie. they're still going around the defence but they can more accurately cut the ball back into the box rather than trying to make their small players beat CBs in the air.

I think this is caused by overlaps and midfielders making vertical runs, what we need.

Really we should be starting Malouda up front, when did he ever fail to get on the end of an obvious chance?

Really we should be starting Malouda up front, when did he ever fail to get on the end of an obvious chance?

Or Kalou for that matter.

We should have signed RVP. Then maybe tried giving Torres a shot wide left or something because he seems better outside the box and can create some chances. The team can't afford to carry a player and a 25-30 goal a season player has been lacking since 09/10.

It's pretty crazy the champions league winners have a striker that scored 6 league goals last season and no backup

Really we should be starting Malouda up front, when did he ever fail to get on the end of an obvious chance?

You must be joking. He's a left winger and a pretty useless one.

I noticed that Mikel has managed to get a bashing on here despite not even playing tonight and I thought that it wasn't really fair that he should while our other much criticised player gets away scot free.

So even though I didn't watch the match I thought I would make some inane comment about how Torres should have scored at least a hatrick against lower division opposition.

Hopefully Mikel will feel better now if he's browsing the forum.

Edited September 25, 201213 yr by Snedger

Torres did miss that sitter from Marin....

I noticed that Mikel has managed to get a bashing on here despite not even playing tonight and I thought that it wasn't really fair that he should while our other much criticised player gets away scot free.

So even though I didn't watch the match I thought I would make some inane comment about how Torres should have scored at least a hatrick against lower division opposition.

Hopefully Mikel will feel better now if he's browsing the forum.

I'm picturing a teary eyed Mikel, hand on head, clicking away when suddenly.....out of the blue....No it can't be.....but oh yes it is! Finally that Spanish fairy gets whats coming to him! After months of endless praise a deserved comeuppance! TWITTER HERE I COME!

Does anybody know how to get goals deleted from the record books?

As Torres detractors have already established, there is a fomula for working out if goals count, and last nights goal does not meet it.

A or B or C + D or E or F = countable goal

A) first goal of game or

B) winning goal or

c) equilizing goal

+

D) in the FA cup or

E) in the prem league or

F) in the Champ league

You must be joking. He's a left winger and a pretty useless one.

He is joking...

Was a nice header by nando today. Have only seen the highlights of the match, and by highlights I mean the goals but we looked sharp. Mata looked like he played fantastic and even if nando did miss a few chances he got on the scoresheet and had a very slick assist as well. Here's hoping he sticks some in against arsenal

I cannot think of a player in our history who Chelsea fans have supported and wanted to succeed more than Fernando Torres.

This season the manager has backed him to such an extent he has bought players to suit his game and discarded the 4-3-3

that was made for the finest striker in our history Didier Drogba.

I think when players rely on a 'burst of speed' to find the space they need, when they lose it they have to adapt.

This is the stage we are at with Fernando. We have not seen the type of goal he scored against us, the direct run from an

angle, the instant acceleration and expert finish. Neither has this been seen on the International stage.

I hope I am wrong but I am seeing comparisons with Kerry Dixon here. When Kerry lost that half a yard his workrate

increased more than it did when Speedo was doing all his work in his prime. He drifted out wide to get involved and his

goals dried up in his later years as a pro, even to the stage when he was not considered for the Chelsea Veterans !

Fernando has players around him who will create chances, Mata, Oscar, Hazard - what he needs to do is stay central and

make runs, the same runs he made when he first joined us and he was never delivered the killer ball.

He is a goalscorer, make no mistake, but he has lost half a yard and Liverpool knew that when we signed him.

The problem for Robbie and Roman is whether the 'Torres Euphoria' every time he plays is good for the team or our

quest to win title's.

There cannot be any excuses anymore, Lukaku has come off the bench twice and had one full start, 3 goals for

West Brom. Sturridge as a centre forward scored plenty for Bolton.

Bolton and West Brom are not Chelsea.

Edited September 26, 201213 yr by Star

Fair point that.

I hope I am wrong but I am seeing comparisons with Kerry Dixon here. When Kerry lost that half a yard his workrate

increased more than it did when Speedo was doing all his work in his prime. He drifted out wide to get involved and his

goals dried up in his later years as a pro, even to the stage when he was not considered for the Chelsea Veterans !

Funny I was thinking the same thing the other day with regards to Kerry and Fernando, is it a coincidence that they have almost the same hair style as wel??

Funny I was thinking the same thing the other day with regards to Kerry and Fernando, is it a coincidence that they have almost the same hair style as wel??

Another similarity is that Kerry has a girls name & Torres is a part lady.

Nando will get us the goals, he'll bag 2 v Arsenal this weekend.

Still think he will get us 20+ goals in all comps.