Nevertheless, two games in to his Chelski career and that's the sort of talk that Fernando Torres is going to have to start getting used to. Unless he starts scoring bucket-loads of goals. Fast.
That is the nature of football support in this country, driven to extremes of opinion by tabloid head-linery.
That Torres is thoroughly proven both internationally and, crucially, in the Premier League matters little. His price-tag alone makes him a target for the hounds. Two goalless games. Two early substitutions. Questions over whether he and Didier Drogba can co-exist. The air is thick with the scent of Torres' blood.
It is not Torres' fault that Chelski are floundering in 5th. It is not even really Carlo Ancelloti's, but the boss must be aware of Roman Abramovich's managerial scythe looming over him.
If any one man at the club is to blame, it is Abramovich himself. His Chelski Empire is built upon the fragile foundations of short-termism. If your team is short of goals, buy a superstar striker. If you're leaking goals, write another cheque. There's no need to worry about youth development or squad togetherness. If a player fails he can be replaced.
If you are the richest team in the land this might work, to an extent. Chelski have won trophies. However, they have not dominated the league as Abramovich might have foreseen. And, crucially, they have not won the Champions League.
This season, they have slipped behind Manchester City and Spurs, who have both taken to splurging on superstars too. Chelski's reaction? The biggest splurge in British football history on their new main man, Torres.
Because one superstar player will, they hope, paper over the cracks of a squad that's too old, too one-dimensional and too mercenary. If that fails I guess Plan B is the equally unimaginative Sack the Manager approach - followed by bringing in the biggest name boss with the biggest salary demands and the biggest magic wand. That'll do the trick. In the short-term. Maybe.
At present, neither Chelski nor City nor Spurs, in spite of their spending, are quite capable of keeping pace with Manchester United or Arsenal in the league table.
Manchester United and Arsenal - squads littered with developing young players; clubs with hard-coded cultures of professionalism and teamwork; managers who have had four decades between them with solid platforms on which to build their legacies.
Player development from the grass-roots up. The board's patient backing, even through the tough times. Long-term economic viability. These are legacies that will last.
When the bottom drops out of football's current mad-money climate, which it inevitably must, it is United and Arsenal who will be best placed to remain at the peak of English football.
What will happen to the likes of Chelsea is a much darker prospect.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5
