The 13 goals sturridge scored from the right wing in half a season in the first team last year were all long balls and headers

Best thing is for shekpe keeper to get all his flopping out the way early so that even the club hierarchy get fed up with him and we can move on with our season asap with sturridge leading the line, then give Lukaku his chance in January

Ivanovic factually played 2 positions today(Kudos to RDM and Ivanovic - he ran tirelessly)as a RB and striker. He was closer to scoring (chasing rebounds and all) than Torres. It seems FT is just afraid to score. That said, in the about 17 times he (FT) touched the ball, he made two very cool one-time passes but gave the ball away 15 times. I honestly can't say now that he is my fav player.

And I thought they said Chelsea no dey play attacking football? Oh we did that today. Scoreline could have been 7-4. oh ha. lol

Oscar is magic, I think he had a decent game. Cahill played very well imo.

Still not very clinical in front of goal and performance not that convincing so far. Against top teams we lost and drew once. If we are to be ruthless against opponents, its right about time and we can as well start with L'ar-se.

Good News: Lukaku scored and secured 3 points for WestBrom.

dayokanu:
Yeah its the food they eat in Chelsea.
How many strikers have thrived at other clubs in the same time frame How many strikers fr other clubs have scored 20 league goals in the last 5-6 seasons

in man utd: ruud, rooney, hernandez, tevez, berbatov, ronaldo have all scored 20 goals per season since drogba moved to chelsea.

in arsenal: henry, adebayor, rvp have all scored 20 goals in a season in the last 8 seasons

in city: tevez, aguero have scored 20+ goals - dzeko scored 19 last season despite his limited appearances and city just became a big team only 3 seasons ago!

in tottenham: berbatov, defoe and robbie keane have broken the 20-goal barrier in the last 8 seasons.

the more i dig deeper, the more embarrassing it gets!

You claimed only 2 in Chelsea
In the last 5 yrs How many strikers have thrived in Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd Man City in the same time frame

chelsea have won the league 3 times in the last 8 seasons yet arsenal have produced more 20 goal per season strikers in the same time frame----the same arsenal side have won nothing in that period. it goes to show chelsea as a team don't play to bring out the best in their strikers. at the very least chelsea should have had 4-5 strikers of this calibre in their ranks but surprise surprise - only drogba and anelka made the cut! it's pathetic!!!!

The waste of space wasted his chances again.
When will this guy do us a favour and find a new club.

Wonderful attacking game.
Oscar, what a brilliant Brazilian.

RDM grew some balls today and the game flowed. Kudos.

dayokanu:

You mean the midfield of Hazard, Mata Oscar stil cant create for him? So who do you want in midfield for Torres to score? Maradona, Cryuff or Pele

The question should not be still can't create rather it should be what have they created for him?
One chance per game is simply not good enough.

dayokanu:

You mean Demba Ba, Tevez, Michu, Fletcher have been putting in superhuman performances?

This season so far, How many good games can you count for Torres?

The likes of Michu and Tevez have midfielders playing and creating chances for them. Torres does not.

Never said Torres has been amazing this season but you don't have to gloat everytime he fails to get on the score sheet.

How many Arsenal strikers scored 20 goals when Henry was there? How many goals did RvP score when Adebayor was striker?

Chelsea had Drogba who worked for them so why wld they be looking for other strikers?

chic2pimp:

The question should not be still can't create rather it should be what have they created for him?
One chance per game is simply not good enough.



The likes of Michu and Tevez have midfielders playing and creating chances for them. Torres does not.

Never said Torres has been amazing this season but you don't have to gloat everytime he fails to get on the score sheet.

So what is wrong this time. If its not Torres then it must be the midfielders like Mata Harzard and Oscar abi? They are not creative enough or they simply beef him and dont want to create for Torres

Torres failed to score, Failed to provide assist only thing he does is to keep shekpe

chic2pimp:
The question should not be still can't create rather it should be what have created for him? One chance per game is simply not good enough.

dayo is a donkey......he won't answer the questions posed to him! what have mata, hazard and oscar provided for torres in comparison to what valencia/nani/young provide for rooney on a regular basis. ibime mentioned sturridge scored 13 goals on the right flank last season - that statement is the damning evidence that chelsea don't play to the strength of their centre forwards. ask ibime to produce the stats of sturridge's goal assist and he would be left scratching his head!

nani/valencia/young//arshavin/gervinho/lennon/bale etc are the best wingers in the league, none of them has scored 13 goals in a single season because their main job is to assist centre forwards - in chelsea, forwards assist wingers

dayokanu: How many Arsenal strikers scored 20 goals when Henry was there? How many goals did RvP score when Adebayor was striker?

how does these questions answer the pathetic set up @ chelsea. we are looking at drogba's years @ chelsea. between 2004 and 2012! i have listed all the strikers that have broken the 20-goal barrier in one season. even spurs who have only finished once in the top four managed to produce 3 strikers in this elite class and chelsea of all clubs can only point to 2 strikers.....

Chelsea had Drogba who worked for them so why wld they be looking for other strikers?

man utd had rooney when hernandez, berbatov and tevez all got 20 goals!
spurs had robbie keane when berbatov and defoe got 20 goals
your excuses are getting lame by the minute - i can understand if chelsea never acquired strikers in this time frame to boost the productivity but they did. shevchenko, kezman, quaresma, pizarro, etc were all drafted in but none of them made the cut!

coogar:

dayo is a donkey......he won't answer the questions posed to him! what have mata, hazard and oscar provided for torres in comparison to what valencia/nani/young provide for rooney on a regular basis. ibime mentioned sturridge scored 13 goals on the right flank last season - that statement is the damning evidence that chelsea don't play to the strength of their centre forwards. ask ibime to produce the stats of sturridge's goal assist and he would be left scratching his head!

nani/valencia/young//arshavin/gervinho/lennon/bale etc are the best wingers in the league, none of them has scored 13 goals in a single season because their main job is to assist centre forwards - in chelsea, forwards assist wingers

Lolz. This guy too funny.

coogar:

dayo is a donkey......he won't answer the questions posed to him! what have mata, hazard and oscar provided for torres in comparison to what valencia/nani/young provide for rooney on a regular basis. ibime mentioned sturridge scored 13 goals on the right flank last season - that statement is the damning evidence that chelsea don't play to the strength of their centre forwards. ask ibime to produce the stats of sturridge's goal assist and he would be left scratching his head!

nani/valencia/young//arshavin/gervinho/lennon/bale etc are the best wingers in the league, none of them has scored 13 goals in a single season because their main job is to assist centre forwards - in chelsea, forwards assist wingers

So its now the problem of Hazard , Mata and Oscar,

Last yr it was Drogba, Lampard, Anelka, Kalou and STurridge. Below is Guardians report of what happened today.

dayokanu:
[size=18pt]The effect of that mishap the Torres' already bruised confidence seemed clear later in the half when he twice shunned clear attempts to shoot and attempted superfluous passes instead[/size]

And later some Olodos would tell us they dont feed him with passes when he clearly shunned opportunities to shoot at goal

A-40:

Lukaku nko? Ricky Lambert?

You think the midfielders at southampton and west brom create one chance per game for their strikers?

A-40:

The question is does Torres himself put himself in a position to get more than one chance per game? If he is not breaking down attacks with his tentativeness or his being inert,he is being shoved off the ball offering little or no resistance at all!
He is not scoring not creating chances for others to score and is generally not doing anything on the pitch

The question should be are his midfielders looking for him often enough? If they are I don't see it.
No one arguing that his hold up play can't be improved. Ofcourse it can.
What I am saying is Let his Midfielders create goal scoring opportunities(not one per game) and then criticise him if he fails to deliver

A-40:

2 goals in 5 games is below par considering what his colleagues are managing and considering the fact that he has zero competition in his position

Well those colleagues have midfielders who are looking to feed them at every opportunity.
2 league goals in 5 games while not great is decent enough. I'm sure y'all won't be happy til he is scoring a brace every game.

dayokanu:
So its now the problem of Hazard , Mata and Oscar,

Last yr it was Drogba, Lampard, Anelka, Kalou and STurridge. Below is Guardians report of what happened today.

it's not the problem of the midfielders - it's the ethos of the club! this problem has been around for the last 8 seasons to be a unit problem - it's a system problem. chelsea tend to hire selfish players more than the ones who play for the glory of the team. this is why you would see drogba/lampard fighting on the pitch to take penalty kicks.

chic2pimp:
You think the midfielders at southampton and west brom create one chance per game for their strikers?
The question should be are his midfielders looking for him often enough? If they are I don't see it.
No one arguing that his hold up play can't be improved. Ofcourse it can.
What I am saying is Let his Midfielders create goal scoring opportunities(not one per game) and then criticise him if he fails to deliver

Well those colleagues have midfielders who are looking to feed them at every opportunity.
2 league goals in 5 games while not great is decent enough. I'm sure y'all won't be happy til he is scoring a brace every game.

You see the below? That means Torres was supplied chances but was too timid to take shots. So how do you blame midfielders for his inability to take shots?

dayokanu: [size=18pt]The effect of that mishap the Torres' already bruised confidence seemed clear later in the half when he twice shunned clear attempts to shoot and attempted superfluous passes instead[/size]

dayokanu:
You see the below? That means Torres was supplied chances but was too timid to take shots. So how do you blame midfielders for his inability to take shots?

so you are saying torres was put through one on one with goalkeeper and instead of shooting to score, he turned back and played a back pass to a teammate? why didn't he do that @ camp nou?

coogar:

it's not the problem of the midfielders - it's the ethos of the club! this problem has been around for the last 8 seasons to be a unit problem - it's a system problem. chelsea tend to hire selfish players more than the ones who play for the glory of the team. this is why you would see drogba/lampard fighting on the pitch to take penalty kicks.

Are you saying the Chelsea midfielders are selfish?

In the last 3 or 4 seasons Chelsea players have either topped the assist chart or were second even currently Hazard tops assist chart yet they are selfish

Just anything to excuse Torres "DUDness"

dayokanu:

So what is wrong this time. If its not Torres then it must be the midfielders like Mata Harzard and Oscar abi? They are not creative enough or they simply beef him and dont want to create for Torres

Torres failed to score, Failed to provide assist only thing he does is to keep shekpe

Not that they are not creative enough. They are yet to create chances for Torres.
If they were actually creating my stance would be a lot different.

coogar:

nani/valencia/young//arshavin/gervinho/lennon/bale etc are the best wingers in the league, none of them has scored 13 goals in a single season because their main job is to assist centre forwards - in chelsea, forwards assist wingers

That says it all really.
Wingers with a "Shoot First/on sight not Assist First" policy

coogar:

so you are saying torres was put through one on one with goalkeeper and instead of shooting to score, he turned back and played a back pass to a teammate? why didn't he do that @ camp nou?

Guardian wrote that

How many of the strikers who scored today were put one on one with the keeper from 50yards?

Thats why I compare him to Michael Owen . If he is waiting to be put one on one from 50yards then he is in the wrong profession.

chic2pimp:

Not that they are not creative enough. They are yet to create chances for Torres.
If they were actually creating my stance would be a lot different.


That says it all really.
Wingers with a "Shoot First/on sight not Assist First" policy

How come Chelsea players are always on top of assist charts in the league and only Torres doesnt benefit from it They create chances for Drogba, for ANelka even for Ivanovic but not for Torres

Mata was second last yr, Hazard currently tops, So much for the shoot first assist next fable you want us to believe

dayokanu:
Guardian wrote that!
How many of the strikers who scored today were put one on one with the keeper from 50yards?

guardian could write any nonsense! if a striker had to look for a teammate instead of poking a shot then the chance is not a clear-cut chance! torres is not a selfish player and he must have perceived his attempt at that instance would have been blocked so he sought a better option! clear cut chances are chances presented to him in the 6-yard box like rooney and rvp kept getting from valencia/walcott respectively last season....

Thats why I compare him to Michael Owen . If he is waiting to be put one on one from 50yards then he is in the wrong profession.

van nistelrooy scored 44 goals in one season feeding off scraps in the 6 yard box! if the passes are good enough, there's no reason a striker can't score 20 goals per season if he prefers waiting to be fed one on one on goal! hernandez got 20 goals in the penultimate season doing just that!

dayokanu:
How come Chelsea players are always on top of assist charts in the league and only Torres doesnt benefit from it They create chances for Drogba, for ANelka even for Ivanovic but not for Torres

they didn't create for drogba/anelka - drogba only broke the 20 goal barrier twice in 8 seasons - can you explain what happened in the other 6 seasons? was drogba dead in 05,06,08,09,10 and 12? anelka broke the 20 goal barrier once in 4.5 seasons @ chelsea!
so stop lying to us like the 2 guys had illustrious seasons at chelsea - it was mostly hit n miss!

Mata was second last yr, Hazard currently tops, So much for the shoot first assist next fable you want us to believe

this is another damning evidence that the system is faulty at chelsea. you mentioned mata was the 2nd top goal assistant last season and the combination of drogba + torres scored a total of 11 league goals last season. drogba(5 goals in 24 league apps), torres(6 goals in 32 apps). so who was mata assisting? lampard and david luiz

dayokanu:

How come Chelsea players are always on top of assist charts in the league and only Torres doesnt benefit from it They create chances for Drogba, for ANelka even for Ivanovic but not for Torres

What chances did they create for Drogba last year?
The same Drogba that scored a paltry sum of 5 goals in the league last season right?..... Should we also say Drogba was not making the right runs or may be He was not making himself available?

dayokanu:
Mata was second last yr, Hazard currently tops, So much for the shoot first assist next fable you want us to believe

But yet the so called Midfielders and wingers keep on outscoring the team's strikers.
Or do you know of any other Top teams where this is a regular occurence?

coogar:
this is another damning evidence that the system is faulty at chelsea. you mentioned mata was the 2nd top goal assistant last season and the combination of drogba + torres scored a total of 11 league goals last season. drogba(5 goals in 24 league apps), torres(6 goals in 32 apps). so who was mata assisting? lampard and david luiz

Don't mind Dayo.
The Joint total of 11 league goals is pretty much what Lampard and Sturrige each scored last season

chic2pimp:
What chances did they create for Drogba last year?
The same Drogba that scored a paltry sum of 5 goals in the league last season right?..... Should we also say Drogba was not making the right runs or may be He was not making himself available?

don't mind the dolt - trying to distort the facts. a whole monster drogba only scored more than 20 goals twice in 8 seasons and these tools want us to believe other strikers have benefitted from chelsea midfield in the past - who are they fooling?

But yet the so called Midfielders and wingers keep on outscoring the team's strikers.

lampard outscored drogba in drogba's first 2 seasons @ chelsea - this same drogba tore his former club apart with goals and yet a pasty english midfielder took didier to the cleaners in england! chelsea are the only club you would see a fat midfielder outscoring top class forwards!

coogar:

don't mind the dolt - trying to distort the facts. a whole monster drogba only scored more than 20 goals twice in 8 seasons and these tools want us to believe other strikers have benefitted from chelsea midfield in the past - who are they fooling?

Drogba is the only striker of the Abramovich era that has scored more than 20 league goals in a season.

chic2pimp:

Drogba is the only striker of the Abramovich era that has scored more than 20 league goals in a season.

it's a disgrace!!!!
let me expose this tragic comedy even further.....

chelsea's top goalscorers(league)by the season
2004/5 - frank lampard(13 goals)
2005/6 - frank lampard(16 goals)
2006/7 - didier drogba(20 goals)
2007/8 - frank lampard(10 goals)
2008/9 - nicholas anelka(20 goals)
2009/10 - didier drogba(29 goals)
2010/11 - florent malouda(13 goals)
2011/12 - sturridge/malouda(11 goals)

need i say more? its a tradition for midfielders to outscore strikers @ chelsea bar the anomaly in 07, 09 and 10. seriously look at 2007/8. lampard scored 10 league goals and he was still the top scorer @ chelsea. chelsea finished 2nd in the league - they tied united until the last day of the season and a miserable 10 league goals still trumped all the strikers in their roster. anyone expecting torres to score 30 goals in this accursed club is a lunatic!

Let us put sentiments apart and face the truth! It's hard sometimes to condemn your favourite footballer(s).Truth be told, Torres in the blue Chelsea jersey is miles apart from Liverpool's Torres.
Arguments abound that he's not being given clear cut goal scoring through passes but then I wonder 'how does he utilize the few passes given to him?'
Only people with their eyes at the back of their heads would fail to see and admit that Torres's malaise is far beyond the number of assists he gets.His low self-confidence is so obvious for all to see, and that is beginning to affect his game.
Hazard and Mata are delivering high number of assists-not to Torres of course.Then I asked myself why.I discovered after indepth observation that FT positioning is poor. My one time most admired striker would be hiding at the back of the opponent defenders <probably sizing their butt> when he's being given Cech-Drogba-esque pass that requires him to chest down and shoot at goal.
Hey! Must my guy dribbles to score a goal.Shoot at the damn goal when you have the chance but na otherwise he go do.
Class is permanent but form is temporary so they say.Hence, his not-so-superb form might be a passing fad! I hope and pray so.
Blaming the midfielders for his ordeal amounts to trivializing Torres' situation.It's important not to be economical with the truth when analysing football!

this debate has been overflogged already - but one thing is clear: strikers don't thrive @ chelsea bar the odd season. the stats are there for you to digest! i blame the system, the structure and most importantly the managerial instability! it must be the reason why the midfielders aim to score in every game @ the expense of the strikers to guarantee a starting berth in the next game.

if any sane human being play at any top football club, he would score 15 league goals easily. look at gervinho, walcott, valencia, etc. their aim is to beat their marker and find their centre forward in the box for a tap-in! how difficult can that be if the midfielders are selfless? the job of a winger is to look at his striker in the eye and tell him: "i am going to get you a brace this afternoon" but the reverse is the case @ stamford bridge! how rooney must love valencia!!!

it was the reason sturridge was left out of the england squad - hodgson must have thought sturridge has no football brain. he shoots on anyhow from the flank even from impossible angles. the other night, all mata had to do was roll the ball across for torres to tap into the empty net but he thought he could do it all by himself! this self-seeking attitude must be purged out of the midfielders at chelsea before any striker can thrive there!

It's difficult to judge based on assist statistics - if Torres is receiving passes in goalscoring situations yet refuses to shoot, such passes will not show up as either key passes or chances created.

That said, I think it's implausible that he is continuously refusing to shoot - I did watch today's game and the box was almost always packed full of Stoke defenders and there were very few chances created in reality.

This is made more obvious by the fact that only 3 shots by Chelski were in the box, the majority were pot shots from outside due to the massed ranks of Stoke defenders.

Frankly strikers on better form like Tevez have struggled against Stoke this season, so it will always be a tough game for any striker to make an impact.

debosky:
That said, I think it's implausible that he is continuously refusing to shoot - I did watch today's game and the box was almost always packed full of Stoke defenders and there were very few chances created in reality.

Ivanovic got in that box twice and so did Cole. Even Mikel sef. Just saying.

debosky: It's difficult to judge based on assist statistics - if Torres is receiving passes in goalscoring situations yet refuses to shoot, such passes will not show up as either key passes or chances created.

They said Chelsea midfielders dont create chances but they lead the assist stats in the league for the past few seasons. We saw Torres receiving good passes and squandering it. Even Guardian alluded to same or you mean Guardian was talking about last yrs game?

debosky: That said, I think it's implausible that he is continuously refusing to shoot - I did watch today's game and the box was almost always packed full of Stoke defenders and there were very few chances created in reality.

Chance creation has a lot to do with strikers movement. How would chances be created when the striker is elsewhere keeping shape?

debosky: This is made more obvious by the fact that only 3 shots by Chelski were in the box, the majority were pot shots from outside due to the massed ranks of Stoke defenders.

When the striker is useless, the midfielder would have to find a way through. Or do you suggest they keep finding the striker that doesnt want to score?

debosky: Frankly strikers on better form like Tevez have struggled against Stoke this season, so it will always be a tough game for any striker to make an impact.

Athletico made it hard, Juventus made it hard, Wigan made it hard Stoke made it hard, QPR made it hard? Do you know any team who would make it easier for Torres to score?

chic2pimp:
You think the midfielders at southampton and west brom create one chance per game for their strikers?

I asked you how many chances did common Steven Fletcher have before he netted two goals in consecutive weeks? Quagliarella came on the other day and scored on his first chance! Why must Torres get 100 b4 he converts

chic2pimp:

The question should be are his midfielders looking for him often enough? If they are I don't see it.
No one arguing that his hold up play can't be improved. Ofcourse it can.
What I am saying is Let his Midfielders create goal scoring opportunities(not one per game) and then criticise him if he fails to deliver

Thank God someone posted his conversion rate here! 9%! 9 phucking % I've watched Michael Schumacher in charity matches and I'm sure he would have done better

chic2pimp:
Well those colleagues have midfielders who are looking to feed them at every opportunity.
2 league goals in 5 games while not great is decent enough. I'm sure y'all won't be happy til he is scoring a brace every game.

Like I said before is he positioning himself to be fed! Is he contributing enough to the build ups. How many good games have shekpe keeper had this season? Even for country he's been largely shyte for the last 2 years! When a striker goes for 4 months without scoring should the midfield still be held responsible? Or does Hazard,Lampard.Mata (assist kings in their own right) set out to not give Torres the ball? Even for Spain same story! Abeg make una talk another thing

debosky:

Frankly strikers on better form like Tevez have struggled against Stoke this season, so it will always be a tough game for any striker to make an impact.

We always flog Stoke year in year out without fail so whatever tevez does is man city business not ours.

The box was packed because hazard and Mata were cutting inside causing congestion with Oscar but it is up to Torres to find his touch within such packed box. if we play winger who hugs the touchline and swing in crosses like Antonio Valencia, you guys would tell us heading and aerial balls is not Torres game. If we play tippy tappy wingers who congest the centre, you will tell us the box was too packed. The man of unending excuses.

^^ That wasn't an excuse per se - only a recognition of the difficulties on the day.

Ibime:
We always flog Stoke year in year out without fail so whatever tevez does is man city business not ours.

Factcheck: Chelsea beat Stoke only 1-0 this same year in March at SB - that doesn't exactly qualify as 'flogging' to me, but maybe flogging has taken on new meaning these days.

Anyways, my point still stands - It's not goals against a club like Stoke that will determine whether a striker is a flop or not.

Reading? QPR? Wigan? Yes - a good striker should score against them.