I would never swap Rickie for Torres

JACK CORK goaded Fernando Torres by claiming he would not swap Southampton team-mate Rickie Lambert for the £50million flop.

Chelsea could have bought Lambert FIFTY times over for the British-record fee they paid Liverpool to land the Spaniard.
Each of Lambert’s 101 goals has cost Saints under £10,000 after they picked up the former beetroot factory worker from Bristol Rovers for a bargain £1m.
In contrast, Chelsea have spent more than £2m for each of the 24 times Torres has found the net since his record-breaking move from Liverpool.
Ex-Chelsea kid Cork said: “Rickie has been different class for us for the last three or four years.
“For someone of his build, his touch is unbelievable. He is great to have in your team.
“Torres and Demba Ba have scored lots of goals in their careers and you don’t pay £50m for someone who isn’t any good.
“But if you asked who I’d rather have in my team, I’d say Rickie.”
Cork spent 14 years at the Bridge before joining Saints at the start of last season but never played a first-team game. The former Team GB star reckons Chelsea’s managerial merry-go-round makes it tough for youngsters to break through.
Cork said: “Chelsea was massive for me and from the age of eight it was my dream to play for them. It was frustrating towards the end but I loved it when I was there.
“We had a good set of young players who have all gone on to play a high standard. That was when Chelsea were doing well and winning titles — so I can understand why nobody was given a chance.
“With the managers chopping and changing there is always a lot of pressure on them to win games, so it’s tough to blood youngsters.”
Cork believes Saints can follow up their recent home wins over Manchester City and Liverpool by toppling another of the Premier League’s big guns.
He added: “We’ve beaten Manchester City and Liverpool — so it could be a good time to play Chelsea after two great results against good teams.
“They have done as well as they would have hoped in the league this year so they might have their eyes on the Europa League.
“They are still one of the best teams in the world so it is going to be a big challenge for us no matter what team they put out.”
Saints chief Mauricio Pochettino refuted claims his men only perform their best against the top sides.
As well as the wins over Liverpool and City, they also drew with Everton.
He said: “If you look at the victories it might seem like we have raised our game against those teams.
“But I don’t think that is the case as we played well against Wigan and Norwich but didn’t get the points. We had a very good home win against Liverpool and when you get that result, you want to carry on playing again as soon as it is possible.
“Against Chelsea we know we are facing one of the best teams in England with top-quality players. So we must be at our best.
“When I look at the Chelsea squad I cannot tell the difference between the reserves and the first-team players. There is so much quality.
“Whether you have Ba or Torres, they are both amazing and it is the same throughout the rest of the squad. They are all excellent.
“Chelsea have 24 or 25 players who can cause any team in the league a problem so I am not thinking it will be easier whatever team they put out against us.
“The international break is of no concern to us as we knew it would happen.
“We hope all the international players arrive back fit and healthy and ready to face Chelsea.