Drogba or Torres?

Chelsea takes on Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti (or should I say Roman Abramovich.) has a dilemma up top. Should he start Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres?

The choice is a very complex one. If it is based on form, it is simple. Drogba should start on Wednesday. The complex theory is that Roman is actually picking the squad and Carlo is letting him do this because Carlo should be grateful to stay on as manager after they fell asleep for two months in the season.

Another situation is Fernando Torres' record against Nemanja Vidic, who is currently Utd's best defender this season. Overall Torres has dominated Vidic however this year in their three matchups so far, Vidic has been out-performing Torres. Also El Nino has been off key since he changed from red to blue.

Even though he has not scored so far, Torres has started picking up some sort of form and it is possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The old adage: All it takes is one goal. Maybe Torres can find his form over the two-legged series.

180 minutes is too short of time to figure out if an out-of-form stirker is going to gain his form back. I would not trust him starting these games. Maybe coming on at around the 65th minute mark, I can see him sparking the game into life. However I would not give the keys to the car just as of yet.

Drogba, on the other hand, seems to always be frustrated by Vidic. Prime example when Drogba tries to choke out the Utd defender in the 08' Champions League Final. Has only scored a total of three goals against the Manchester outfit. He does seem to be the more in-form of the two and he is a trusty go-to-guy for Ancelotti in the clutch.

Anelka is not in the discussion because he'll more be on starting out as a right forward and be coming into deeper roles to get the ball and set up the attack. Nowadays, Anelka has not been chosen as a first-choice striker unless Drogba and Torres aren't available. Anelka should be considered over the other two, his form this season is better (he has 16 goals, Drogba-11, Torres- 9 in all competitions) and he does give center defenders more problems because he moves all around the pitch that it is possible to lose him as he drags himself in wide positions or in midfield positions.

On my complex thought: Why is Abramovich "picking" the squad? I think the Russian has an influence in putting Torres in the squad, even though he has not hit form yet. There is that 50 mil that was given to Liverpool in the deal for him. Also there is Ancelotti being grateful not to get the sack after a dreadful couple of months that actually took them out of Champions League contention. This is the same sort of form that got Big Phil sacked. So I can see that Carlo is just letting Torres play to please the owner. I don't think that is how a club should be run but I can understand how Ancelotti's hands are tied right now. He'll be back in Italy next season and enjoy not having an unbearable owner and team off of his back.

My opinion is that Drogba should start. Chelsea can't just hope and pray that Torres will finally step up his form. For this home leg, the sure thing is needed. Even though both player's forms aren't great, Drogba would be the sure thing at this point in time.