so read whole article before commenting !
over the last few days alot of you on here have been bashing torres. You have good reason to do so as he has not performed at all to justify his price tag and his expectations. However what really annoys me is those who call for players like anelka , drogba to lead the attack.
More importantly though, I think Fernando Torres has garnered a disproportionate amount of blame for a Chelsea team that has been notably anemic in attack for the longest period in the Roman Abramovich era. While I believe it is undoubtedly true that Torres has lacked adequate service, I also believe that assessment to be too narrow. Rather, I would say that Chelsea’s central strikers (Anelka, Torres and Drogba) have lacked adequate service. With three golden boots between them, Anelka, Torres and drogba have each only scored one goal since February. For me, this is irrefutable evidence that something is broken at Chelsea. Whereas it was expected that Torres’s arrival would fix the team’s problems, it has actually highlighted them. This obviously begs the question of Chelsea: Why would they invest in a striker who is dependent on service when the team cannot currently manufacture any service? That’s a slight digression, "
After spending six months in Chelsea blue, Torres has failed to be given a single opportunity like the one Aguero had. Don’t get me wrong, it would be foolish to assume that Torres should depend on tap-ins to score, because he’s partly to blame for being so dependent, but wouldn’t you expect something to fall his away eventually? And that’s the same story with all of Chelsea’s strikers recently: easy, confidence-boosting chances have not fallen to them. Just being near the box for so many minutes should provide strikers with some easy opportunities. Alas, those have been non-existent.
Even when Chelsea were forced to depend on players like Claudio Pizarro and Shevchenko, they were much more prolific than Torres, Drogba and Anelka have been.
even when Shevchenko was struggling, the team was still playing very well. If you remember that season, Didier Drogba scored 33 goals. As for this season, it doesn’t look like any of Chelsea’s strikers will hit 5 goals. Drogba’s performances during Shevchenko’s tenure assures me that the problem goes deeper than just one player. It’s easy to overanalyze Torres because of the price tag, but lest we forget that none of Chelsea’s strikers are performing any better.
For those posters like blue kenyon who are thinking of accusing me of defending torres poor form , I AM NOT , this is an article that just opens up the narrow minds of many posters on here that cannot seem to look at the wider picture. People who compare torres situation to shevchenko seem to have no footballing knowledge at all as I have highlighted above.
For those of you who are thinking what about his time at liverpool , although he was still recovering from ragged injuries he still managed to score 9 goals.
The wider picture - for the Narrow minded
posted on 12/9/11
White hall please ! no your right this forum is to discuss chelsea so feel free to discuss
posted on 12/9/11
Aguero chance ????? Wasn't he 1 on 1 ?
Torres offers zero to the team right now if he can't score. His general all round play is below par. Get used to him on the bench, cause i can't see it changing
posted on 12/9/11
very well said. Torres is in poor form at the moment but Drogba isn't playing well either. I think Torres was dropped because of his recent interview, not that AVB has lost faith in him. I hope AVB starts Torres alongside Mata in our CL game tomorrow. If he still doesn't improve then I will stop defending him.
posted on 12/9/11
I thinkso too , this Torres interview seems to have gathered some storm , on SSN and it could lead to a fine for torres which would just make things worse for him.
Until the investigation is over it looks unlikely that he will play tuesday
posted on 12/9/11
(thank god you didnt mention Kalou)
I think I mention him once - but I got away with it
Basil Fawltyesque
posted on 12/9/11
For every 'narrow minded' post criticising Torres there is another blaming the rest of the team on his failings. Yes the team need to take some blame but Torres himself deserves a much higher proportion of it for his own inept performances.
If Torres turned up every week and played the way he did against Stoke, I would understand blaming everyone else, but the fact is that Torres has been shockingly bad. Always takes one touch too many, has the most unsuccessful dribble attempts in the league (when I say dribble attempt, it must count when he puts down his head and runs straight into an opponent) and he gives up on making runs behind after the ball doesnt arrive at him once or twice.
What he needs to do is stick to the task, yes we don't play him in enough, but that is no excuse to go wandering and trying to take players on, he doesn't have the attributes for this. Defenders of him say he has to come deep to look for the ball but this is wrong. If Torres stuck to his task and kept making runs he would receive no criticism from me, he doesn't tho, he goes hiding.
When he does get the ball his decision making has become embarrassing, a good example being when we had 3 on 2 against Sunderland on saturday and Torres inexplicabley top pokes the ball straight out the park.
I like the article and enjoyed reading it, I do feel that you are being slightly over defensive of Torres (not anywhere near as bad as most people here). He has had numerous one on one chances and fluffed them, and to say Aguero got a tap in, yes he did, but he has also scored some fantastic goals already, accelerating passed defenders and finishing well.
overall, nice article, good work, but I mostly disagree.
Does this opinion make me narrow minded?
posted on 12/9/11
The person who is most aware of his shortcomings is Torres himself...
If he gets the nod tomorrow - I would suggest he grabs the opportunity & proves everyone wrong...
I'll be first to if he does
posted on 12/9/11
I have not been bashing Torres but bashing the people who keep looking for new excuses for his failure to perform.
Whatever the shortcomings maybe with our midfield it is obvious Torres has lot some pace and confidence and the fact is he offers little else as a player which means the club were mad to buy him for 50m.
He looked promising against Stoke but since then woeful,time is running out for the guy.
posted on 12/9/11
Does this opinion make me narrow minded?
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No i think it makes you and the OP out as some of the better posters on our forum.
I agree with you and not the OP but it was a well written article and thoughtful
posted on 12/9/11
I totally agree with OP. Well argued and correct.