Chelsea seem to have based their entire forward line around him for every game, declining to bench him when he was in a scoring slump, even when there were many other players who would be more than willing to take his place temporarily, and could even add something different to the table (I'm talking about younger, talented players like Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku - although they did just get him, so I'm sure he'll get his starting chance). Even Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, who have both proven their goal-scoring worth have been benched as a result of Torres starting. It's very likely that the previous and current coaches of Chelsea don't want to bench someone on which Roman Abramovich spent a record 50 million pounds. Makes sense, I suppose, and I do believe that his form is definitely going to pick up, but being left out of the Spanish lineup can't be good for his confidence one bit, which is quite unfortunate. Although I guess Vicente del Bosque (the national coach of Spain) has a point when he says that "Torres is an important player, but those who stand out with their clubs will get the call to the national team, not the other way around."Apparently, Torres was very gracious about not being called, congratulating his teammates on their six goals and great performance. While his confidence took a bit of a beating, this might actually encourage him to bounce back and work even harder than he already is to try and reclaim his role as a leading Spanish striker. I know that I'm hoping for it to happen, and I'm sure that every other Chelsea fan is probably hoping for the same thing.
According to weaintgotnohistory.com, Chelsea have signed a 16-year old forward from the Czech Republic to their youth squad, and we're hearing quite a few good things about him. His name is Dominik Masik, and he plays for the U-17 Czech national team. Noted for his good pace, acceleration and ball control, the left-footer seems to be playing all over the pitch in an attacking role, although recently he's moved into more of a left-winger position. Apparently he played today for the youth team and scored a goal with two assists. A good signing for 1.2 million pounds, to say the least. Here's a look at him:
Czech that beautiful play at 1:30 (Get it? Because he's from the Czech Republic? Anyone? Oh well.) Great finish, anyway.
In other news, Chelsea are preparing new bids for (guess who?) Luka Modric come January! Everyone thought it was over, but apparently the saga will continue. I have no idea what they plan to offer Harry Redknapp, whether it be an exorbitant amount of money, a player or two (Yossi Benayoun maybe, when he gets back from loan?), or a promise to never let a reporter call him a "wheeler-dealer" again.
We all know what happened last time.
Harry Redknapp is called a wheeler-dealer by a reporter. Big mistake.
NOTE: Contains swearing (I'm trying to be family-friendly).
It's often the case that a player plays his heart out the year leading up to a new contract and goes into a slump once he's getting paid too much money.
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase Harry Redknapp and with regard to Fernando Torres signing a fifty million pound contract..."no wonder he's on the f****ng bench."