I feel a little sorry for Torres as well. Although he is far from prolific (in terms of goals), he plays his part well in games and seemed to be becoming a little more important. Ba, whilst he may play against West Ham, isn't good enough, so unlikely to get a look in against City, unless we are a couple of goals down and we need to throw everything at them.
First things first, scrappy cup game against Stoke, then need to put in a business-like performance against West Ham.....no point in beating the big clubs if we can't secure 3 points against the others.
Against City, I think Jose may start Schurrle upfront, just to put loads of energy and movement in for the first 60 minutes or so - then, replace him with Et'o? The thing is, if we were to beat City at their place, that could play a significant part on the way the rest of the season pans out.
With regard to Strikers/Forwards, what do you see happening with Lukaku? When Drogba was here, we moved the ball quickly up to him to hold up and go from there. With our current attacking midfielders / wingers / forwards, it is much more of a ball on the ground with zippy passes. Moving back to a style of play to support Lukaku may not work, although it would be great to have other options. How do you see us progressing next season. Will it be a ball on the ground or in the air approach?