Mourinho will have to deal with yet another problem when it comes to choosing the best starting lineup in the weeks ahead. Torres could face an extra three match ban after his altercation with Vertonghen. The Spaniard will surely miss the next match as Premier League regulations forbid him from playing because he received a red card against Tottenham. Furthermore, the Blues’ striker is set to face the disciplinary commission which according to Yahoo! Eurosport, will demand some action be taken for violent behavior and inappropriate conduct.
Mike Dean sent off Torres because he received his second yellow card. Mourinho’s player will have to undergo further investigation as the match report will probably not include the moment in which he scratched his opponent’s face. According to post match declarations, both the referee and his assistants missed that particular moment. The Spaniard was arguably behaving inappropriately all throughout the game which eventually led to his elimination. Both of his yellow cards were received after disputes with Vertonghen.
Chelsea’s striker will receive a verdict from a panel composed of three former referees that will analyze his conduct throughout the game. Video footage will be used as evidence which means Torres will more than likely miss out on more than just one match.
The bad news for the Spaniard is that these commissions usually analyze the entire match. They will not take into consideration only the two incidents that led to his elimination and they will look for poor behavior during the whole game. With that in mind, they will surely see, just as all the people that have watched the game, that Torres had a rather aggressive attitude that is far from what the Premier League considers as fair play even though from a Chelsea perspective he played a good attacking game providing an outlet for his team-mates and providing a constant threat to the Tottenham goal with his chippy display.
Most commentators noticed how in-your-face Torres was and how he may even have intended to harm Vertonghen although his past history does not suggest he is a dirty player. If the committee appointed to manage this situation think the worst, Chelsea’s forward will probably miss out on two very important matches against City and Arsenal. That is not good news for the Spaniard who was already being left behind by Mourinho who seemingly prefers Eto’o as his main man in front of goal.
The good news however for the Spaniard is that the ban does not effect the Champions League and obviously his feisty performance against Tottenham impressed the boss as Mourinho has included Torres in the squad for the match day two clash with Steaua who they beat last year in the two-legged Europa League encounter despite losing the first match in Bucharest 1-0 but they did go on to win 3-1 at Stamford Bridge where Fernando Torres scored but missed a penalty in the dying minutes which would have sealed the game but Chelsea did of course win on their way to lifting the cup. Torres has indeed got the call for tonight’s game and is Mourinho’s starting striker playing along with the now in favour Mata with Oscar, plus Schurrle is included in a strong Blues line-up as Mourinho cannot afford another CL slip-up.
When the squad is short of options during the Torres suspension- let’s not forget a certain Chelsea striker who just banged in 2 goals and added an assist and was virtually unplayable as he looked like a world beater – the only problem was that he was representing Everton not Chelsea – I keep wondering if it was really the best thing to send Romelu Lukaku out on loan again as he led Everton like a man-mountain and he is the Drogba-esque centre-forward Chelsea just seem like they are short of. If the blues get a long-term injury upfront then the Lukaku loan will come into focus even more as a poor call just like Mourinho’s treatment of Mata has clearly been a bad call.
Anyway let’s hope for a positive result against Steaua to continue our modest 3 game unbeaten streak.