Torres is worth much more than Drogba, and he is also much more handsome than Drogba. Especially the female fans of the Blues prefer to see Torres rather than Drogba.
In addition, Torres's movement and footwork are also what Ancelotti likes.
Drogba basically only has one move on the front line: rushing forward, receiving the ball with his back, turning around and shooting.
Torres will have many exciting moves on the forward line.
So, when Torres arrived, Drogba sat on the bench with a frown.
Ancelotti privately comforted Drogba and said that there was no need for Drogba to play against a small team like Southampton.
Drogba didn't quite believe what Ancelotti said, but he couldn't refute it.
This is different from planting a flag with Anelka. Planting a flag with Anelka was a direct confrontation between players, but now Torres is obviously protected by the entire club's top management.
Drogba now expects Torres to perform poorly.
It would be best if no goal was scored...
The reason why Sturridge did not play and was not on the bench was that he had just been loaned to Bolton Wanderers for half a season. Therefore, Sturridge, the England star and FA Youth Cup champion, missed the opportunity to compete with Gu Ran one-on-one.
Of course, even if Sturridge was still at Chelsea at this time, he would not be able to play.
Even Drogba had to be a substitute, so how could Sturridge start? Chelsea at this time was a typical taxi team, with so many talented players that even the British star could be loaned out.
Sturridge's real rise was not at Chelsea, but at Liverpool.
Sturridge is also a player who is good at memes. He is the one who charges for two hours and can talk on the phone for five minutes. He also has a famous nickname called Daxian because he is very superstitious. No matter he is training or playing, he always walks into the field backwards.
Moreover, the volume when watching TV and playing games must be 18. When a teammate asked him why, Sturridge said it was because it sounded auspicious.
Sturridge is also a well-known glass man. Almost all parts of his body have been injured except for his penis.
As for the European young Rozhirkov, he injured his knee and needed to rest for half a month, so he was not included in the game roster.
In general, Chelsea still attaches great importance to this game.
Ancelotti fielded an almost full-strength lineup, on the one hand because of his cautious coaching style, and on the other hand, it was probably to please the big boss Abramovich who was watching the game in the box.
At this time, the referee finally blew the whistle.
The first leg of the League Cup quarter-finals, Southampton's away game against the last Premier League champion Chelsea officially began! Chelsea kicked off first.
Torres passed the ball steadily back to Lampard, and then quickly moved towards Southampton's half.
Southampton's formation immediately began to tighten and double-team. Lambert, as the defensive midfielder, took the initiative to step forward to mark Torres, while Gu Ran, as the attacking midfielder, did not return to defense, but pressed towards Lampard who had the ball.
Today, Southampton's tactics were also very clear. The whole team defended with all their might, and Gu Ran kept a close eye on Lampard.
Seeing Gu Ran coming up, Lampard didn't panic at all. He continued to observe while dribbling the ball to the side.
"Blue Kenyan" Ramirez is right next to Lampard, ready to sacrifice himself for him as an engineer at any time.
The African buffalo Essien also followed Lampard eagerly, ready to rush forward and sweep the ball at any time.
Lampard didn't seem to be in a hurry to pass the ball, but wanted to attract Gu Ran out of touch and expose the space behind him.
Gu Ran was not afraid at all and rushed directly towards Lampard.
Ramirez immediately turned sideways to block Gu Ran's interception! Gu Ran had long expected Ramirez to come forward to block, and immediately made an emergency stop and followed Cruyff's turn, and in an instant, he avoided Ramirez's interception without any contact!
Ramirez was completely stunned!
He had never met such a fast, flexible, and agile opponent before! Ramirez wanted to stop and turn around to intercept, but his center of gravity could not be pulled back in such a short time, and he was almost knocked to the ground.
This is just when the game started! Ramirez almost lost face!
Without waiting for Ramirez to adjust himself, Gu Ran stuck to Ramirez's back and made an oblique cut towards Lampard who was advancing with the ball.
Lampard immediately accelerated and started to get rid of it.
Lampard is extremely fast, but Gu Ran is even faster!
Gu Ran pressed his body against Lampard the first second Lampard started at high speed. Lampard ran wildly to protect the ball and used his elbow to hit Gu Ran's ribs, trying to get rid of Gu Ran through extremely aggressive physical confrontation.
However, Gu Ran stuck to Lampard tightly, forcing Lampard to slow down in order to protect the ball! All the fans present couldn't help but cheer excitedly.
No one expected that the game would start with such an exciting head-on confrontation!
The top No. 8 in English Football League One is no less than the top No. 8 in the world! Lampard was also greatly shocked. He had seen Gu Ran play football with his own eyes, but at that time, Gu Ran was at most a semi-professional player, and his playing style was also very grassroots. Unexpectedly, in just half a year, Gu Ran's growth has become so strong.
Lampard couldn't help but complain in his heart: Why hasn't the club's top management brought Gu Ran to Chelsea in half a year?
If it had been dug out earlier, wouldn't this have happened?
Lampard was forced to stop in place by Gu Ran, and all his forward breakthrough paths and passing routes were blocked by Gu Ran.
In desperation, Lampard could only pass the ball back to Ivan Ivanovic who was coming up to support him.
After Big Ivan got the ball, he immediately rushed across the center line.
Opposite the right back Big Ivan is the left midfielder Chamberlain.
Chamberlain rushed towards Big Ivan with great momentum. Big Ivan didn't even look at Chamberlain and just forced himself to eat him with his body.
Chamberlain was immediately headed flying, and Southampton's left side was instantly in danger.
Fortunately, Hammond filled in the position in time and midfielder Lambert also responded in time.
The central defender Walton, who is very experienced, stepped forward and temporarily acted as a half-defensive midfielder.
The entire Southampton team's defense line was also shrinking and gathering rapidly, leaving no chance for Chelsea.
Big Ivan broke into the range of 35 meters and made a surgical-like long diagonal pass to cut through Southampton's high-altitude defense and sent the ball into Southampton's penalty area!
Torres... (End of this chapter)