The Striker Conumdrum

Hi Folks,
Mark here.

So, Liverpool seemed to have signed Torres. At £27m and 90K a week, it is a substantial investment in a player. There is no denying that Torres has skill but Liverpool fans should worry about his scoring record.
It would be unfair to include his early years, so lets look at the past 4 years:
Year Apps Goals
06/07 40 15
05/06 40 13
04/05 49 20
03/04 40 21

Goal average: 69/169 = 0.4 goals a game.
On the face of it, it doesn't seem to be bad, but the last 2 seasons were a worrying trend, especially with Athletico doing better in La Liga in that time. His record of 14 goals in 40 games for Spain is hardly remarkable, given that Peter Crouch has 12 goals for England.

Maybe I'm being over-pessimistic here, but the past few years have seen many strikers "ruined" by the Pool, and frankly, I think Torres will find it tough in the Premier League. Benitez has gambled big, I believe failure will cost him his job.

Over at Arsenal, having dumped Henry, signed Brazilian/Croatian Eduardo Da Silva yesterday. The claim of a £16m transfer fee by Dinamo Zagreb would seem to be well wide of the mark, an unsubstantiated claim of 8m is more likely. I think it is a good signing, in theory he is what they need. Briefly watching him play for Croatia, he is an old sytle centre forward, a man who would generally score scrappy goals and is useful in the air. His hat-trick against Israel was impressive, as was his performance against England (Selection of goals here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfXGOGzEAwk), his success will depend on adapting well but he seems to have the talent.

Blackburn have signed Rigters, a guy we bigged up on the last podcast. His performances for Holland in the U21 Euro Championship were excellent, 4 goals in 5 games, including a last gasp overhead kick against England, point to his class. Mark Hughes has again made a canny signing, and is doing very well at Blackburn on a relatively small budget.

What about Forlan, I hear you ask. Well, last week I laughed at the idea of him returning to England, but his move to Athletico Madrid should be good for both parties. Forlan has proven himself in Spain, with 1 goal every 2 games, and his headless chicken style should suit the bottlers at Athletico.

Mark,
http://www.okeydokefootball.com/