Chelsea Fanview: 'Our £50m striker Fernando Torres must deliver - but needs to play in a system that suits him'

CHELSEA
FAN: Roy Ekengbuda
WEBSITE: Chelsea FanCast
The target: All four major trophies

According to Andre Villas-Boas (and probably Roman Abramovich) all four major trophies! In reality, the Premier League and the ever elusive Champions League of course. For most older Chelsea supporters, whilst we’d like to win as much as possible, we are a bit more realistic and I would see the priority as rebuilding the squad so that we can continue to challenge for trophies over the next few years and have some stability on the management and player front. I’d love to see us win the Champions League and get that monkey off our back, and of course the Premier League is always a priority for any fan.

My thoughts on the gaffer...

Well he looks and sounds impressive and if you’re good enough you’re old enough. He knows the club, set-up and players well, speaks excellent English and is incredibly detailed and thorough in his approach. I hope he doesn’t get over-burdened by unrealistic expectations from Roman and too many of the fans. I’m not expecting miracles in his first season, and I hope he gets time to settle and stay for a long and successful time.

Our key man this season
John Terry pure and simple. He may be getting on a bit now, and the body has taken a battering over the years, but quite simply he is still Mr Chelsea – on and off the pitch. His role is vital in rallying both the players and fans to the cause, and it is imperative that he and Villas-Boas get on and buy in to the same objectives.

 


Youngster to watch

We have so many talented youngsters on the verge of breaking in to the side and too many on loan elsewhere. However, Josh McEachran has to be the one to watch not least as he is likely to feature in the side more than others such as Patrick van Aanholt. I saw him play a lot last season and he is very, very talented, so I hope this is his breakthrough season.


A player who must deliver

Does that really need answering?! Got to be Fernando Torres, hasn’t it? It was typical of Chelsea supporters to stick by him last season, and I hope he can get back to the form he showed for Liverpool and Spain. At £50 million he really needs to deliver, but my worry is that he needs to be played in the system that suits him best, and I wonder whether that will happen under Villas-Boas. My other concern is that he may have lost half a yard of pace after that injury – crucial for a forward at this level. Fingers and toes are crossed, but we’ll back him all the way.

Our Achilles' heel

Right-back, missing a creative midfielder and a lack of pace throughout the side. We need a world-class right-back to match Ashley Cole on the left, as attacking down both flanks is important to the tactics of the team. We’ve never replaced Gianfranco Zola as a player who can provide that bit of magic and break down and unlock increasingly stubborn defences. The biggest problem last season was the lack of pace in terms of how fast we moved the ball – that might have been a tactical flaw from Ancelotti, but I hope we attack and counterattack with far more urgency this season otherwise we’ll run into bus after bus after bus!

Fixture I am looking forward to the most...

In terms of the title challenge it has to be Manchester United, since if we finish above them, we’ll no doubt win the title. Always a crunch match with plenty of atmosphere and much at stake. However, the return of QPhahahaha will be high up on most Chelsea fans list for a bit of a laugh at our insignificant neighbours. And did I mention Spurs?


Our toughest opponents will be...

Manchester United again – as I said before if we finish above them I suspect we’ll win the title so the matches against them will be key and tough. The matches against City will also be tough as they’ve proved a bit of a bogey side for us over the last few seasons and I expect them to be challenging for the title more seriously this year after all the money they’ve spent strengthening their squad, and after winning the Cup last year they will be more confident. Hopefully the Champions League might distract them!

Player we love to hate

Wayne Rooney for his obnoxiousness, brilliance and arrogance. Carlos Tevez because he’s so ugly and he scores against us too regularly!