91 days. That's how long we have had to wait between our final match of the 12/13 campaign against Everton and our first match of the 13/14 campaign against Hull City. In that time we have added Andre Schurlle, Marco Van Ginkel, and Mark Schwarzer to our first team squad. We have also seen the return of Michael Essien and Romelu Lukaku from loan. We have played exhibitions in the United States, Asia and again in the United States. Oh yeah, we also brought Jose Mourinho back. Even with all that activity, those 91 days felt like 91 months.
I have high expectations from our squad this year. We have a great mix of experience and youth. We have strong players in Essien, Lukaku and Ba. Then there's our skillful players, Hazard, Mata and Oscar. Then there's players like Cahill, Terry, and Ivanovic who will sacrifice themselves just to block a shot. Our squad is very balanced and we have the perfect manager steering the ship. Mourinho is great at managing squads and Chelsea's squad will allow him to pick the perfect lineup to matchup with any team we face.
Looking back, I have to give Rafa some credit. He did a good job while he was here but once we signed Jose, I realized the biggest difference between the two. Rafa came because he loves managing. Jose came because he loves Chelsea.
I have never felt so confident heading into a season and the main reason is Mourinho. He's one of "us". We, the supporters, have his back and he has ours. The sky is the limit this year and I see silverware coming back to The Bridge.
There will definitely be ups and downs this year but I can promise one thing, the next 270+ days will go by a lot faster than the last 91.
Come On You Blues!!
£50 million. We have all heard it over and over again. It has been beaten to a pulp. Yes, Torres was expensive and, yes, he has not quite lived up to his hefty price tag. Has he improved since making his move in January, 2011? No doubt, but he has not been playing at the level he once was at Liverpool. Do I think he can make it back to the form he had while at Anfield? Without a doubt and I believe it will be sooner or later.
I have always been curious as to what it was that made Torres such a dynamic player at Liverpool so I decided to search on YouTube for his Liverpool goals. I found a compilation that had all 81 goals. I watched it one time through and I noticed that a lot of his goals were scored after he settled the ball and shot or scored shooting with his first touch. I decided to start the video over and keep track of how he scored. I made 5 categories:
1. One Touch (includes a touch to settle and then the shot or shots with his first touch)
2. Dribble (taking more than 2 touches)
3. Headers
4. Headers
5. Assists from Gerrard.
These were the numbers I came up with:
1. 45 goals
2. 23 goals
3. 13 goals
4. 5 goals
5. ~ 19 goals
If you add categories 1, 2, and 3 together you get his total of 81. Obviously goals from outside the box and goals assisted by Gerrard fall into one of the first three categories. The first thing I took notice of was that of 81 goals, only 5 were from outside the box, approximately 6% of his goals, or to look at it the other way, 94% were scored inside the box. If you add his headers to his one touch goals, that brings his total one touch to 58 goals, or 72% of his goals. That makes the other 28% of his goals coming of the dribble, therefore creating his own chances.
I saw at least 19 assists from Gerrard (I am sure there were more but you could not always see the pass due to the video) and a lot of the other assists came from Dirk Kuyt.
So what do I make of this? First off, I want to say that most players are a product of their teammates. While at Liverpool, Torres had two great creators in Gerrard and Kuyt. These two were able to find Torres with layoffs and quick passes, most of which Torres put in around the penalty spot. Most of these goals were fairly easy to score, but they still required a solid finish which Torres provided. Without these two playmakers finding Torres for easy goals, he would not have scored 81 goals. On almost every goal, Torres was making a forward run and was found with a great pass right at his feet and from there he was able to finish.
How does this mini-analysis translate to his slow start at Chelsea? It was clear to me that although Torres is able to create his own goals, he is more deadly in front of the goal as a clinical finisher facing the goal. The only playmaker we had during the 2011/12 campaign was Mata as Lampard was playing deeper in midfield. With Didier Drogba, we had a striker that we could play long balls to and have him with his back to the goal, turn, and score. I can't remember seeing 1 of Torres' 81 goals at Liverpool being scored this way. So when we threw Torres into Drogba's role, clearly he was not going to do as well. You can't expect a player to change their play style overnight.
This new look Chelsea will benefit Torres and we can already see that happening. In 6 Premier League matches he has 3 goals. 5 goals in 10 matches total. This is a scoring rate one would expect out of a center forward, especially one of Torres' caliber. With young playmakers like Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Moses, and Marin, we can expect Torres to score more goals and be more productive in the future. All of these players are new to the system except for Mata. It will take time for them to gain chemistry with one another but as the season progresses, their chemistry will improve. I can only see our attack getting better which will be dangerous for other teams as our defense has been very solid. Torres' form will improve as the year moves along and I can easily see him getting 20 EPL goals this season.
So although Torres has not played at the level he was at during his time at Liverpool, our young talent will only benefit him and help him get back to his old ways as one of, if not the, top strikers in England.
Come On You Blues!
