Demba Ba - Aid or Replacement for Torres?

Yes, another Torres article folks!

Unfortunately, it seems our main man is always under the limelight for one reason or another. He is the ultimate talking point, completely unfathomable and inconsistent by nature! He just cannot help but divide opinions massively and baffle critics with his sometimes brilliant, sometimes woeful performances.

Every single time he puts on that Chelsea shirt, the Spaniard’s game is scrutinized in microscopic detail, even more so now that he has some real competition for his place in the shape of new arrival, Demba Ba.

I have to say, thus far I have been overwhelmed by Ba, and underwhelmed by Torres.

There is quite clearly a stark contrast between our 2 strikers, from their finishing down to body language, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum!

The Senegalese hitman has shown us all what he has to offer after just 1 full game plus a 10 minute cameo in the League cup. He put in 2 good shifts, tallying up 2 goals in the process, with a 3rd being disallowed unjustly in my humble opinion.

In contrast, Torres’ performances have failed to reach the heights of his long gone Liverpool days, he doesn’t look anything even closely resembling a £50m striker. To be fair to our number 9, he has scored a fair few this season, but the majority of those goals have come against weak opposition and most strikes haven’t had a major bearing on the overall result of games. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has echoed these sentiments, claiming the Spaniard should question himself on his poor form, rather than looking elsewhere. That is the reality of the situation, the answers aren’t going to come from anyone but himself! Unfortunately, he looks like he has given up on the pursuit of said answers.

Truthfully, as an investment Fernando simply hasn’t paid off, and there aren’t many promising signs to suggest otherwise. The problem Roman Abramovich has is that he was the one who wanted Torres in the first place, he pursued the Spaniard for his signature and eventually sanctioned the transfer. It is clear our Russian owner wants to save face and prove to the world that Torres can be a hit at Chelsea. He has employed the manager who knows him best, he has signed small technical players to feed him through-passes, he has reduced the competition for his place to virtually zero; however it still doesn’t look like the dream of Torres shining in blue is ever going to be a reality.

Sadly, there comes a time when you have to admit defeat, confess your wrongs and deal with the subsequent problems. In essence, replacing Fernando Torres with Demba Ba as our regular starting striker would do just that; show the world that we admit the Torres gamble didn’t pay off and that we are looking for solutions.

I just hope that Roman is ready to concede. Surely, it cannot take much longer for that ruthless streak of his to emerge, that unrelenting and calculating side of him Chelsea managers see on an almost daily basis. Will his gaze soon turn upon Fernando Torres? Will the Spaniard finally be judged as surplus to requirements, like many others before him?

The Demba Ba signing was initially made to help ease the burden off of Fernando’s back; because he was playing so many games. However, as time goes on, I can see Ba phasing Torres out of the first team completely, rather than being an aid for the Spaniard, he may well be a replacement.

And with a tough game at the Britannia coming up tomorrow, now is as good a time as ever to throw Ba into the team and hopefully watch him cement down his starting position.

Carefree & KTBFFH!