Sunday, July 29, 2012

Why Torres will never be able to emulate Drogba

Fernando Torres has been quoted as saying that he hopes that one day he will be remembered by Chelsea fans, the same way that Drogba will be remembered. This upcoming is no doubt a huge one for Torres, with the opportunity he now has to lead the Chelsea line, with the acquisitions being made this summer being made to accommodate the way Torres likes to play. The first season and a half of Torres' Chelsea career haven't been smooth running. Being played out of position, having to adjust to a 'Drogba system', competition from the Drog himself and broken promises by AVB. But now, none of these excuses can be stated for Torres next year. There's no Drogba, we will no doubt play football that feeds to Torres' strengths, with balls being played behind the defence. This is what made Torres so successful at Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. At Liverpool, Torres had the luxury of two world class midfielders in Gerrard and Alonso, who would always look to play the ball into Torres' feet, or behind the defence. He is yet to have that at Chelsea. Forced to play as a target man, dropping deep, going out wide to collect the ball, Torres has really had to graft for Chelsea, as there didn't seem to be many people willing to help him in the team.

However, I don't think this is through choice. It was simply the fact that Chelsea didn't know how to play to Torres' strengths. For years the players were used to a physical approach, breaking teams down, and sending the ball long to Drogba. That was what these players were brought in to do, and it meant that when Torres came to Chelsea, there was a mismatch. But now, Torres will have at least three creative players (I'm guessing) sitting behind him, in Mata, Hazard and Oscar, providing Torres with that killer pass that will make him so dangerous. We saw signs last year of how dangerous he can be when given the ball at his feet one on one with a defender, or through a hole in the defence, which was shown with both his 1st and 3rd goals against QPR. Torres will hopefully/inevitably get a lot more opportunities such as this next season, and hopefully will be able to break the 20 goal barrier for Chelsea.

But, to be considered in the eyes of Chelsea fans like Drogba? Sorry Fernando, I doubt that will ever happen, and you have to accept that. Drogba was one of the best players to ever play for our football club, and he'll go down in Chelsea history for his winning penalty against Bayern Munich to win Chelsea the Champions League for the first time. A cup final king, scoring in every final he played for Chelsea, apart from the 2008 Champions League final, he really was the man for the big occasion as he showed last season. Drogba's last 5 goals came against Napoli at home, Spurs in the semis, Barcelona at home, Liverpool in the cup final, and Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. He may have only scored 13 goals in his last season at Chelsea, but my word they were all big goals. This is the gap that Torres has to fill in order to be spoken in the same sentence as Drogba when Torres leaves/retires.

Drogba won us many of his 10 cups whilst at Chelsea, on his own. He was our talisman, mr reliable in the big matches, and this is the pressure that Torres now has to live with. Yes, Torres did score in the match against Barcelona away (one of my favourite goals of all time), but we shouldn't sugar coat it, we were through without that goal being scored. Torres is still yet to score a winner for Chelsea in his 18 months at the Bridge. That will need to change very quickly next season to really prove that Torres can fill the boots that have been left for him.

Wigan away on the opening day of the season would be a good place to start Fernando. This may be unfair on Torres, but for me he'll have to be part of a team that wins a number of trophies in order to be considered in the same way as Drogba will be. In 5 years time, we've won another Champions League, the Premier League at least once or twice and maybe a few FA Cups, and this has all been done with Torres leading the line, then I would consider putting Drogba and Torres in the same sentence. They say that the first time will never be beaten, and that is true when it comes to the Champions League. Torres could win us the Champions League and maybe not even be compared to Drogba, simply because Drogba won it with his last kick, after so many near misses. It remains to be seen what other recruits we bring in to make Torres' task as easy as possible. But one things for sure, Torres has the keys from the first game of the season, and he'll have the hopes and dreams for the upcoming season on his shoulders. It's a big ask, are you up for it Fernando? We will see.

KTBFFH
#Will Talbut


5 comments:

  1. I always thought that Fernando was a wrong buy King Carlo, maybe if he stayed he would have used Torres just like he used Shev in Ac. But since we have an owner that shoots them down like Doc Holiday, it leaves next manager-s in problems. Torres will do his best and that's the best that we can ask for.. There is a great player hiding in him we just need to dig it out of him..he's as bad as drogba is,he can deliver any silverware that we wont BUT we need to put him to work. And now it's our chance.. I have no fear.. Chelsea9 will bang them in

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  2. I always thought that Fernando was a wrong buy King Carlo, maybe if he stayed he would have used Torres just like he used Shev in Ac. But since we have an owner that shoots them down like Doc Holiday, it leaves next manager-s in problems. Torres will do his best and that's the best that we can ask for.. There is a great player hiding in him we just need to dig it out of him..he's as bad as drogba is,he can deliver any silverware that we wont BUT we need to put him to work. And now it's our chance.. I have no fear.. Chelsea9 will bang them in

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  3. completely YES, i agree with you regarding comparing Torres and Drogba........ It will be a very big challenge for Torres to make us ( Fans and Club) remember him after he retires or leaves.. However, i still believe what he did with former clubs and hope to see him show those skills for us in this coming season....... TORRES , i pray that God will control every movement of yours and make you brings all titles for us .......

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  4. From the very beginning I was skeptical when Torres was traded to Chelsea. I had thought that Torres was a poor investment for numerous reasons and when he failed to sink the ball into an unprotected Man Utd goal last season, I knew he was a poor investment.

    With so many world class strikers within Chelsea's price range you'd think that Torres would be more concerned with improving his game and doing his job, than trying to be 'more popular' than Drogba.

    If Torres wants to be remembered by us Chelsea supporters the way that we'll always remember Drogs, then he should start by retaining the ball, showing us that he's on the pitch to win, and, more importantly, SCORING GOALS.

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  5. Torres should scores per match to be able 2 consider him like Drogba.

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