Thats my worry. Just another roll of the dice thinking Torres will change. I hope this isnt the case.

Hopefully he will change........

clubs

lol

I'd play Lukaku over Studge and Torres who both wont be here next season.

Lukaku needs games and WILL improve.

Do you actually see Lukaku starting over Torres or even Danny? I don't.

The space we are given by opponents close their goal is minimal compared to WBA and Lukaku's close control is not enough to hold the ball or go past players. Torres is pretty good in that and even he fails to go past players same goes with Danny.

Edited November 26, 201213 yr by evissy

I don't see it but I'd like it.

He is the future, the other 2 for various reasons won't be here much longer so why not?

Do you actually see Lukaku starting over Torres or even Danny? I don't.

After 60-80 minutes yesterday, would'nt you have got Torres off and give Lukaku 10 minutes ?

If not, why ?

The whole Torres saga is very similar to the Man Utd Berbatov one, Man U paid over 30 million pounds for a player who had excelled at Spurs but couldn't take the step up to a bigger club, he had moments where he'd looked like he'd kick on and didn't then was eventually let go.

I suppose at least one season Berbatov did get the golden boot for Man U though.

It really is time for Roman to give up on Torres if anything him along with Shevchenko should make him realise he needs to let the manager make signings not himself.

I think Jose was the only manager who got to make his own signings under Roman.

After 60-80 minutes yesterday, would'nt you have got Torres off and give Lukaku 10 minutes ?

If not, why ?

Yes of course. I just think if we bring him back we are not addressing to the real problem and he wouldn't play as much as needed. He can't even get a start for WBA.

There is one month for Torres/Danny to make their mark. If it is like its been so far we need to splash the cash for a striker. Well, there is a difference between need and will talking about Chelsea. Roman will splash it although time could do the trick. There just is no time for anything with Chelsea. Only magical tricks by a manager.

It's took me a while to decide on this, but get Torres to f**k, I'm actually sick of him, he's got no heart whatsoever, and the club shouldn't be twisted to make his life easier, a few months ago at least he looked as if he was trying, now he looks like he doesn't care, sell him and buy Falcao, swallow your pride Abramovich. He's done.

I don't know about not trying, he looked to be busting a gut last night but just looked a very poor footballer.

Well, what i would say is that it is team game, and the actions of a persons team mates of course effects a players contribution, be it the service a striker recieves, the cover amidfielder gives to a defender or any other variable in the ganme .. Like it or not, all of our players rely on the service of other players to an extent.

As can be seen by by post in full (copied above), i am not defending Torres and have clearly pointed out the negative things that i saw in his game yesterday...however to say that Torres (or any striker) is not dependent on service is somewhat short sighted, and to dismiss service entirely out of hand is not conducive to giving a balanced overall view.

To be clear, I am of the opinion that even IF Torres got good service (which in my view he didnt yesterday), then i have no confidence that he will be in a position to take any chance created for him (or by

him) and i cannot see a way back for him here...Flogging a dead horse springs to mind.

However i maintain that the service that he recieved yesterday (or lack of it) played a part in a larger overall problem. It is one of many issues, however it is an issue all the same.

Further to my earlier post (copied above), i have just read this article from Robbie Savage who i think has penned a fairly balanced view which sums up all of Torres failings, from lack of runs, lost pace, lack of quality service and poor touch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20487065

The team as a whole attacking wise was very poor yesterday, Torres or not that would not have improved our 3 creative sparks.

Eh? That is just so obviously wrong.

Any good forward with a genuine physical presence, or one with bit of pace playing off the shoulder of the last defender and timing his runs would make a whole world of difference to Hazard/Mata/Oscar. For a start it would give them a proper focal point to aim for !!!!! They could hit a 50-50 pass and know a physically capable striker would have a good chance of gathering it. They could hit a ball over the top and know that a striker with some pace and movement would have chance of running onto it!

If you want an example look at the difference Sturridge made when he came on for Torres against the Baggies. Straight away we looked capable of getting in behind them and the link up play between Studge and Mata in particular, was turning their defenders and pulling them out of position. Sturridge's movement, positioning and anticipation was everything Torres' isn't.

If you want an example look at the difference Sturridge made when he came on for Torres against the Baggies. Straight away we looked capable of getting in behind them and the link up play between Studge and Mata in particular, was turning their defenders and pulling them out of position. Sturridge's movement, positioning and anticipation was everything Torres' isn't.

And Sturridge isn't really that good. If we had an actual "world-class" striker for them to focus on we might actually look like scoring. I'm tired of watching Torres work so hard only to achieve so little. Its like watching a hamster run on a wheel.

And Sturridge isn't really that good.

I actually think this is wrong Sturridge has the talent to be very good, its the application of that talent that lets him down!

The whole Torres saga is very similar to the Man Utd Berbatov one, Man U paid over 30 million pounds for a player who had excelled at Spurs but couldn't take the step up to a bigger club, he had moments where he'd looked like he'd kick on and didn't then was eventually let go.

I suppose at least one season Berbatov did get the golden boot for Man U though.

It really is time for Roman to give up on Torres if anything him along with Shevchenko should make him realise he needs to let the manager make signings not himself.

The thing about Berbatov is that Purple Nose never favoured him over another player. He pretty much was always in contention with Rooney, and at United it's difficult to displace Rooney especially if you are not performing to the level that a guy like Ronaldo is capable of doing(pushing Rooney to the wing).

In his first season Berbatov had 14 goals and 9 assists, which is a good return for a guy who didn't have a side build around him.

Second season Berbatov had 13 goals and 6 assists, but did not feature as heavily in the side.

Third season he ended up being United's top scorer but only featured heavily while Rooney's future was in doubt - later he was dropped in favour of Hernandez/Rooney combination. It's worth noting that he had minutes per goal in the League behind RvP.

Last year he was barely used but still had 9 goals overall from 1006 minutes on the field - compare that Torres and his 1600 minutes where he has 8 goals.

So although he never really became an automatic first choice at United, it had very little to do with his end product - just a matter of Purple Nose favouring other players over him.

Also keep in mind that Berbatov is much more involved in the build up of play - capable of keeping the ball without getting dispossessed and has constantly been one of the most creative strikers in the league. Even this season he is averaging about as many key passes as Mata/Hazard provide for us, already has 3 assists in the League and 5 goals for Fulham in 9 matches.

It's took me a while to decide on this, but get Torres to f**k, I'm actually sick of him, he's got no heart whatsoever, and the club shouldn't be twisted to make his life easier, a few months ago at least he looked as if he was trying, now he looks like he doesn't care, sell him and buy Falcao, swallow your pride Abramovich. He's done.

This is entirely wrong. He tried harder yesterday then I'd seen him try in weeks...

Although, leave it to Benitez to claim Torres' problem is his "supporting cast" and not Torres himself:

Benitez said after the game: "You could see he was trying very hard. The team has to help Fernando and create more chances, and he will score goals. You cannot expect a striker scoring just on his own, so we have to create more and better chances for him with the players we have.''

Edited November 26, 201213 yr by bhundley

Utter bollocks!

Did RB say that?

And for any of you who are still calling for Studge to start...it won't happen. Not with Benitez at the reigns now. Torres is his man and will be throughout his entire tenure at the club. I don't care what the media tells me, Rafa was brought in as a last ditch effort to get Torres firing again. The only way that is going to happen is if Benitez plays him in a majority of the matches. Recalling Lukaka would be a nice but I feel he wouldn't get quality minutes so we might as well leave him out on first team duty at West Brom so he cantry and continue his form through the season end.

Did RB say that?

Yes, bottom of this article about how he "doesn't listen to the crowd."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1240404/rafael-benitez:-i-don't-listen-to-the-crowd?cc=5901

Benitez said after the game: "You could see he was trying very hard. The team has to help Fernando and create more chances, and he will score goals. You cannot expect a striker scoring just on his own, so we have to create more and better chances for him with the players we have.''

Bollocks!

It won't be long before Benitez is blaming the Chelsea fans for Torres' form.

And for any of you who are still calling for Studge to start...it won't happen. Not with Benitez at the reigns now. Torres is his man and will be throughout his entire tenure at the club. I don't care what the media tells me, Rafa was brought in as a last ditch effort to get Torres firing again. The only way that is going to happen is if Benitez plays him in a majority of the matches. Recalling Lukaka would be a nice but I feel he wouldn't get quality minutes so we might as well leave him out on first team duty at West Brom so he cantry and continue his form through the season end.

Even though I have low opinion of Rafa, I very much doubt he would persist with Torres if he feels it might cost him. Rafa is looking to enhance his CV not to win any fans over or win Roman over it's clear to him he is a stop gap with a nice fat contract within touching distance of the League Leaders and a squad good enough to be challenging for honours this season. There might be some sentiment regarding Torres but I never felt like their relationship was anything special. Rafa is a pragmatic figure first and foremost, he is only diverting some attention from Torres at the moment because he hasn't seen enough of him in action before the inevitable realization how sh*te he has become actually hits him. Once he realizes this expect him to come up with an interview about how we cannot win without a in form striker placing further pressure on Torres - Rafa is a cynical coach, he knows Torres all too well and I guess he will do his best to turn things around for him. He might be making excuses right now because he has just arrived but it won't take long before the heat is on and he will either need to face the music or make the same decision as his three predecessors .

If only someone had dropped a heavy weight on Torres foot back in October...all this might have been avoided...ah well