15 Feb 2013

Lawro raves: €8m star is one of the transfer 'steals of the season'. Agree...?

After his €8m move to Chelsea, Demba Ba well and truly hit the ground running, and grabbed three goals in his first three starts for the club. Ba's instant success further highlighted the ongoing ineffectiveness of Liverpool old-boy Fernando Torres, but the Spaniard's profligacy in front of goal seems to have rubbed off on the striker, who hasn't scored in his last five appearances. Despite this, Anfield legend Mark Lawrenson believes that the Senegalese star will still prove to be one of the best signings of the season.

Speaking to the BBC recently, Lawro hailed Ba's impact at Chelsea, and claimed that the 27-year old is a superior option to the misfiring Torres. He enthused:

"Demba Ba will turn out to be one of the steals of the season at £7m. He gives you more than Fernando Torres, who has not been the same player for around two and a half years now.

"Ba is better in the air, he is stronger, more physical, quicker. He may not be as good a finisher as Torres but the former Newcastle man is giving Chelsea more than the Spaniard"


Lawro is not the only ex-Red who thinks Torres is basically finished. In a recent column for the Daily Telegraph, Hansen labeller Torres a 'busted flush', and argued that the Spaniard's problem is physical, not mental. He observed:

"Forget it. Benitez will not be able to inspire Fernando Torres to recreate his past glories. It does not matter which manager you put in charge - Torres’s main weapon [pace] has gone...and it has had a debilitating impact on the rest of his game. It is not a mental problem with Torres. It is a physical one. Without that speed, what are you left with?"

Watching Torres play over the last year, it is obvious that he's lost a yard of pace, and that has definitely affected his game. However, put him through on goal, and he'll hit the back of the net 9 times out of 10.

At Liverpool, the majority of Torres goals (69%) came as a result of defence-splitting passes, and his pace ensured that he had the speed to get on the end of those passes. Chelsea don't play the same way, which has negatively impacted the Spanish striker's goal ratio.

It surely can't be long before Chelsea put Torres out of his misery and sell him and/or replace him with another striker. At least Reds fans can take heart in the knowledge that Torres gave the best years of his career to Liverpool.

With only one goal in the last thirteen games, Torres' goal return is shockingly bad at the moment. Benitez has his work cut out trying to fix the problem, and if he puts all his faith in Torres over the next three months, then the Chelsea boss may well end up following him out the door in the summer.

Jaimie Kanwar NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


24 comments:

  1. Would people here be open to Fernando returning?

    How crazy would it be if we sold Carroll back to Newcastle at a cut price and brought Torres back at a cut price?

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  2. its galling: we could be sat here laughing at chelsea rubbing our hands together with 50 million. But no we are also laughing stocks.

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  3. Lawro is wrong
    Buying Ba would of devoid confidence from Torres and Lukaku both knowing extra competition then they sold Sturridge who is scoring a shed load of goals.

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  4. exactly. there is ways to manipulate the transfer market and grab steals/bargains but you have to be wise, analyse and know when to go in for the kill. £35m for carrol, how about £2m for michu, £2m for sissokho, £3.5m for diame, £7.5m for demba ba, £8m for loic remy, £8m for ben arfa, £5m for taarabt (when qpr relegated) all of that is £35million, thats 7 some quality and some very good players who i believe could all have a big impact on our club and we ended up spending that all on one donkey. Have mercy on liverpool god, please

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  5. I would love to see Torres back at the club. He has openly said he was happier at Liverpool than Chelsea and all the players at Chelsea play for themselves with the exception of lampard, terry and maybe hazard. Just imagine Suarez and Torres in the same team....

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  6. LFC 1892-2009 then we died10:42 pm, February 15, 2013

    Inspired signing by Rafa,getting Ba for £7m which is a fifth of the price the King paid for Carroll,or a third of the price the King paid for Downing.

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  7. Sorry but if you think Rafa signed Ba you're deluded. His interim position means he has no responsibility at Chelsea other than coaching

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  8. I agree, why did we not pick Ba up? Even michu or sissokho any one of thos guys, who is running the scouting network?

    It really seems like god has no mercy on us, does it. Seems like Liverpool is god's play toy and he loves to create surprises every week just to see us in anguish!

    Ya, I blame god for our predicament.

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  9. Jaime, my last few comments on the last few topics have basically been the same & I see no reason to change. Our scouting team is beyond rubbish, we get ripped off in the market, no imagination, breadth of scouting too narrow (ignore African/Euro African talent). Year on year we barely improve?!

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  10. For everyone saying 'we should have signed him'...we couldnt have, One we wouldnt have been able to pay the wages he wanted and match Chelsea's and HE WANTED to go to Chelsea.If we could get Torres back for something like 12 million Id defo take him back,but Id doubt he'd sell for anywhere as cheap as that or am I wrong in that?

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  11. n\No, but i'll bet his opinion carries a fair bit of weight.

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  12. I don't really blame Pepe or Suarez or even Gerard if they want to leave! Every year the team is getting slimmer and slimmer! they've been supporting the team for so long and in the last 3-4 seasons even we can see that we are  not anymore the team we used to be and we not buying anymore good players either! We used to bring such a great names in this club but not anymore! So if we get disappointed imagine them then! 4 years ago we could beat the best teams in the world and now we can't even win two games in a row! Now we get linked with some players witch we trying to train them, make them reach the pick and after selling them! That's our new policy!Reminds me a bit of Ajax like 10 years a go! It will take us more than we want to think to get back at the top!Sad but true unfortunately!

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  13. Patrick Apea-Danquah3:07 pm, February 16, 2013

    I agree mate they claim we buying talent . So technically we haven't bought a finished product in a whole year ,barca can buy talent.man u .can buy talent . BAyern can buy talent. We have a very very very week team with no sense of leadership in any department to buy talent .cleverly is trying to out play scholes .that is talent learning from a master.we had to break th bank for for wes.sneigjer .our team lucks leadership and vision it was so evident in the oldham game.we just can't do anything without Gerrad we have seriously fallen apart .

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  14. Yeah...totally agreed with you. With the policy of the new owners we are finish.

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  15. He's finished as a player. We got out of him the best years of his career so let's leave it as that. Why waste more money on players clearly incapable of performing.

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  16. No, I would not like to see Torres back at LFC because he is past his prime and also, it would upset the team that Rodgers is trying to build. I see a lot of promise in the Suarez - Sturridge partnership. And usually, when a player goes back to their former club, they don't perform at the same level as before they left.

    When Torres joined Chelsea, the writing was already on the wall. This was a case of Roman wanting his man rather than the manager wanting the player. Chelsea had Drogba then and their playing style was so different from Liverpool.

    I wouldn't say Demba Ba is the signing of the season but he is certainly a good buy for Chelsea and he fits into their playing style nicely and at only 7m! I thought Michu is the best buy at the moment. Good value for the money paid. 

    I always wondered how LFC missed out on such players. Maybe our scouting team needs a re-look at the way they operate.

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  17. I really feel we need a experienced head coming in, I've just watched FA Cup final 2001. When Owen was still popular! Remember the impact Macallister had for us that season, enough of the kids we need leadership.
    No to Torres because of how he left, & that he's past his best! Pains me to say this but the time to prepare for life without Saurez starts now, can't see him staying beyond next season unless we qualify for CL. Realistically it may be another 3-4 yrs.

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  18. If a player loses confidence at extra competition rather using it as extra motivation, then they are a player you do not want.

    EVERY player should have competition for their place to stop complacency.

    Look at LFC, a team in desperate need of experienced players to provide competition to our regular starters who give up half way through every season.

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  19. Ditto, our first choice CBs could do with some genuine competition, instead of a ageing CB who is retiring and Coates who has barely played enough that he still hasn't settled into the British game. Beyond that are reserve graduates. 


    Both in terms of fitness and competitive reasons, you need a squad these days. Not just a first XI. Especially at a big club. If Torres can't handle competition and considering the form he has been in, he needs to go to a smaller club. You go to a club that had Drogba, their best out-n-out striker since even before Vialli in terms of form and probably their best striker of all time, you can't expect them to rollover and let you have it all your way, no matter how much money Roman throws your way. Ask Sheva, Roman's last pet project. Torres' needs to develop a harder mentality, otherwise his career will continue to nosedive.

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  20. If you think Torres is a steal at 12m then you really are clueless.. 

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  21. I must agree Jamie. Torres can play only if Gerrard is there to make those defense splitting passes. Alonso also had a hand in those goals scored by Torres.
    Between any reason why we are unable to edit our comments?

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  22. Correct me if I am wrong, but to trigger his 7.5mil clause, the club should be in CL. 

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  23. Right so you're saying you'd prefer Borini to Torres?I for one would love to see Suarez play with Torres.Suarez the creator Torres the finisher.....And Im clueless? I know Id take Torres over Borini and thats enough of a point as it is

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