Torres: I never kissed the Liverpool badge

[billypilgrimnz]

Torres is gone. Before he left, I wanted Chelsea to win fuck all. After, I still want them to win fuck all.

 

I always thought Torres was a little overrated. Good goal scoring, which means he should always start, but he is desperately limited at dribbling and passing, something which could be compensated for by other players around him, but which we never really did. We might actually be a better team without him in it (and with Carroll and Suarez fit and playing, of course)

[therevivalist]

Would some fans going to the game tomorrow hoist that very banner of Torres actually kissing it. With this words under it: Yes You Kissed IT. Please.........

[ReddOrDedd]

Really, who cares? Move on.

[mypost]

I like bacon butties for lunch after a full english breakfast.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Tasty!

 

And it's starting again.

[Redexile]

'Too many broken promises'

The ill-fated Anfield era of Tom Hicks and George Gillett has yet another victim, writes Dion Fanning

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Fernando Torres with new manager Carlo Ancelotti . Photo: Getty Images

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By Dion Fanning

 

 

Sunday February 06 2011

 

L ast Friday, Fernando Torres tried to explain what happened. How he had meant the things he once said about Liverpool. Yet his words had ceased to have meaning when it turned out that others didn't mean what they told him.

 

Liverpool supporters' sense of betrayal will be expressed at Stamford Bridge today but even on Friday, even with his excitement at the opportunities at Chelsea, Torres' feeling of betrayal was also palpable.

 

"There were too many things to think about, too many broken promises, too many false hopes -- but I am not responsible for that," he said during a compelling day of press obligations at Chelsea's Surrey training ground. "The only thing I have to do is play football and I accept that my performances were not the best, I realise that."

 

Torres' dissatisfaction began the summer Rafael Benitez sold Xabi Alonso and discovered that most of the profit would go to feeding Tom Hicks and George Gillett's debt. Torres recalled those years of promise when Liverpool finished second and reached the latter stages of the Champions League. Soon there would just be promises, then eventually a battlefield of broken promises.

 

At that time, when Liverpool promised so much, he said he never wanted to play for another English club. But he watched as the club he said he would never forsake became another club, torn apart by dysfunction and Shakespearean intrigue.

 

"I said that at that moment, I didn't think I would play for another club -- because at that moment Liverpool were giving me what they promised, but not now. I think one of the important points is in my first two seasons at the club, they played in the semi-finals of the Champions League and finished second in the Premier League, four points behind Man United. We were very, very close to being one of the top teams for a long time because everyone was together and everyone was moving in the right direction."

 

In the summer of 2009, that stopped. Football wants heroes and villains, supporters demand them as much as the media, but if Hicks and Gillett were the obvious bad guys, many others were playing a part, including those generally regarded as heroes.

 

In Benitez's final year, Torres became dissatisfied. The manager was blamed by those who spoke of dressing room discontent. The chain of command had been broken by Christian Purslow, who was close to some of the players who were unhappy. Torres wavered. Benitez knew who the unhappy players were and he knew who were more content. With Torres, he was never sure.

 

Many have been persuaded that Benitez was the problem but when he left it turned out that, imperfectly, he had been holding things together. Torres knew when this season began that it was getting worse.

 

In the summer, Liverpool had appointed Roy Hodgson after Kenny Dalglish's ambitions for the job were dismissed by Martin Broughton and Purslow. Off the field, Torres kept hearing stories that never came true. "The old owners were talking about selling the club too many times and during that time the team was being weakened because they were not focused on it."

 

Torres reflected on Friday that things might have been different if Dalglish rather than Hodgson had been appointed instead of patronisingly dealt with last summer. Dalglish's appointment last summer might have changed things.

 

"I don't know, that never happened. He came in the last month. It's always difficult to change the manager. Benitez was five years at Liverpool with a different style, always doing the same things. Hodgson came with his ideas about football, his tactics and methods. I think the fact is maybe we never understand what Hodgson wanted or Hodgson never understand us. I think that is not his fault, he's a great, great man and great manager."

 

Dalglish's arrival made a difference but by then it was too late. Liverpool had dropped into the relegation zone during Hodgson's time and Torres had spent the first half of the season chasing long balls, adapting to the tactics of a coach some of his team-mates were convinced was the solution. Now they were a club without Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso, key departures in Torres' view which pointed to a long transition. With Hodgson in charge, it began to look like an eternal transition.

 

"When Kenny Dalglish came, especially for the fans, there was some new hope because he knew the club. As a footballer and as a manager, he did great things for the club. I don't know, if he was manager in the summer, maybe it would have been different, maybe not."

 

There were moments on the field this season that left many convinced that the dissatisfaction with the owners and the broken promises had now fractured the dressing room. During the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, Torres made a dismissive gesture towards Jamie Carragher which was, some believe, a reflection of their personal relationship.

 

Carragher was vocal again last week. Torres' sale might have been for the best if "he didn't 100 per cent want to be here". Nobody can question Carragher's desire to be at the club but many now have to ask if he should be.

 

It was "time for a change" he said when Benitez was sacked, even if the change only made things worse. Then, like now, he made some conciliatory public noises, but his private view reportedly was different.

 

Most, if not all, of those who contributed to the psychodrama at Liverpool have left. Carragher is the issue that needs to be confronted by Dalglish who has the powerbase to do it, a powerbase that may have intimidated those who felt he shouldn't get the job last summer.

 

"There is no romanticism in football anymore," Torres said on Friday but those who believed he had seen something more than success in Liverpool had made him the vessel for their dreams.

 

Last week, he seemed to trample on them. On Monday night, it was reported that he said he had now joined a big club. Football had its villain.

 

"Everyone is trying to turn my words. I will never say anything bad about Liverpool. I left a great club with the best history in the country and I come to another great club. In the last years, Chelsea has proved that they are one of the best clubs in the country and I have the possibility to join them. Liverpool has more history, it is a massive club but right now I think Chelsea have more options to win everything and are building a great history and future."

 

Certainly, he has decided that he had to be ruthless in his choice of club even if there was a sense of the romantic in his explanation for leaving Liverpool. Torres cared about playing for Liverpool but the club was no longer the club he loved.

 

Torres' sense of betrayal was profound but he also had to realise his own ambitions which, until Dalglish arrived, seemed further away at Liverpool. He thinks the club is building for the future while as a footballer he has to think of now.

 

Footballers sitting at a podium are never at their best. Usually they keep their heads down and roll through the platitudes. Torres didn't do that on Friday. He wanted to explain what had happened, he said, and there will be a time when he wants to do more explaining. "I have nothing to prove," he said, "I only want to win trophies."

 

Things had gone wrong for him at Liverpool and his unhappiness was profound and on this, if on little else, he agreed with Jamie Carragher that it suited everyone for him to leave.

 

"I'm sure it was the best option for both. Obviously I was not playing the same way because I was feeling the apprehension about everything that happened, the sale and all those things. I am sure they have spent the money well. There is no reason to keep one player who wants to leave."

 

Liverpool were left with those familiar conflicting feelings of hope and despair. The signings of Luis Suarez and Carroll made them feel good again. But Purslow's signing of Joe Cole last summer had made them feel good too. Cole's arrival was seen as a statement when in fact all it did was demonstrate again Purslow's arrogant clumsiness when it came to meddling in football.

 

Carroll is worth the price Liverpool paid for him if he delivers on his potential. His potential is not the problem, his personality is the danger. Carroll too made an impressive debut in front of the media last week. He explained himself and said he was a straightforward man who liked a drink "at the right time". The right time for a footballer to have a drink was about 1985. Any player who begins a career explaining when and why he likes to drink may be in danger of fulfilling some old stereotypes of the English footballer.

 

His progress is astonishing. Towards the end of Rafael Benitez's time at Liverpool, the club were working on a deal to sign Carroll for about £5m. Then Benitez was sacked and Purslow entered the transfer market.

 

John W Henry's explanation of the way Liverpool worked in the market last week made sense. Liverpool may have overspent but when the Hicks and Gillett years involved even greater sums going out of the club in interest payments, Andy Carroll becomes a risk worth taking. Henry explained that Liverpool wanted "Carroll plus £15 million for Torres". Yet in pointing out that the sale of Torres and Ryan Babel financed the purchase of Carroll and Suarez, he may have revealed that the club were preparing for Torres' departure long before last weekend.

 

Torres informed the club, as he said, ten or 12 days before the story broke last Thursday. According to informed sources, Torres was told by the club that any release of the information at this stage could increase the price for Suarez so only when that deal was close to completion did the story come out. Torres, with the last-minute request, was easily cast as the villain, but this was just another contortion he had to absorb and he had become used to them.

 

The decision to sign for Chelsea seemed to make little sense. Torres sees it differently. He sees Chelsea as a rejuvenated team because they have Fernando Torres. The stunning self-belief may not be misplaced. "They were the only club I wanted to fight for."

 

In the long-term, he will be Didier Drogba's replacement. In Benitez's final year, the statistics available to the manager showed that Torres was working less and when his former manager spoke last week of how clubs wanted to buy Torres last year for £70m, he might not have been speaking in the abstract.

 

Torres says he was surprised by the friendliness at his new club and again that might have been the change from the previous months of isolation when he became disconnected at Liverpool. He was the only Liverpool player not to attend the Christmas party, which was seen as an example of his isolation, or he may have just decided not to go where he wasn't welcome.

 

Torres' mistake was to leave Liverpool when the club were feeling good again and put in jeopardy the supporters' fragile sense of hope.

 

He believes he can win the trophies at Chelsea he wanted to win at Liverpool. The years of discord and destruction by Hicks and Gillett and others are still claiming victims. Torres may not be the last to decide that if he wants to fulfil his ambitions, he will have to leave.

 

"If the promises had been true, Liverpool would have been fighting with Manchester United and Chelsea so you never know, maybe I would still be there. We were very close to fighting with these teams but two years after, we were not."

 

Torres is closer now and he may be closer to the player Liverpool signed nearly four years ago. But he is not the player the fans turned to for hope.

 

"In time they will realise what I did for the club. I couldn't get to the target we had to win trophies with them. I'm sure I did my best for the club. Maybe now they can start a new era."

 

Last week, the old one claimed another casualty.

 

- Dion Fanning

 

hmmm

[Section_31]

Has he scored yet?

 

 

No.

 

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

HE was so fucking great for us, even during some of the shit periods he was scoring amazing goals and was still a danger. Then he left, and fucked it all up. Fucking fucker.

[SoMuch4Gravity]

Suarez rules. He's already recruiting new talent for the Club. Thank you Nando.

[Dicko]

As great as Suarez is he still hasn't quite touched the greatness of Torres' first two seasons.

That said, you're a silly boy Fernando.

[Scott_M]

Should have been sent off yesterday. It would have been hilarious.

[Hades]

As great as Suarez is he still hasn't quite touched the greatness of Torres' first two seasons.

 

Laughably wrong.

[aRdja]

As great as Suarez is he still hasn't quite touched the greatness of Torres' first two seasons.

That said, you're a silly boy Fernando.

To be fair, Torres was supported by Steven Gerrard and Alonso then, possibly 2 of the best midfielders at the time.

 

Suarez has barely played with Gerrard yet.

[El Rojo]

One goal in 21 games for Torres with Chelsea.

 

Will we ever have a deal as good in our history again as shifting him for £50m? I very much doubt it.

[Deepz]

He seems to have adjusted well to life at Chelsea, has turned into a cunt on the field. Bit like Villas-Boas too after that snidey interview after the game. Those kicks from Torres are something that we'd not see him do in a LFC shirt, for the simple fact that we have class and respect for our opponents.

[fowler9]

Torres reminds me of Neil in the Inbetweeners movie

 

"no it's okay as long as we don't kiss"

[the walsh]

he,s pace is gone i remenber when he left there was a piece in the mirror about people inside the club knew he had lost a yard of pace. and wasnt quite the player he was 50 million was a great piece of businness.

[Gym Beglin]

Different clubs though, teams tended to have a go against us and so they left gaps in behind which Nando ran into, never to be catched.

Chelsesa have more teams playing deeper against them, thus not the space to exploit.

Partly.

 

He does seem a bit slower off the mark but even a carthorse like Kevin Davies still gets more goals than the current Nando, so I think the lack of pace doesn't even explain it fully.

 

If anything, his attitude fucking stinks, his ego went spastic last year and he's not come back down since then. Honestly, who the fuck did he think he was, swapping Liverpool for Chelsea? Excuse me Fernando, Mr El Nino, you're a fucking flid for even thinking it, and pretty soon you're going to be dropped from the Chelsea side, like you were dropped from the national team, and I hope you pull out the newspaper clippings of your personal feats with us, and I hope you cry for a good hour, so that Ollala has to come and find you in one of the 24 bedrooms in your Kensington rabbit warren and comfort you.

 

We had a solid relationship, it was going great and then you fucked that cockney slag because she had better tits than us. Well guess what, we came into some money, and we've had our tits fixed up real nice, and transplanted the snatch of a 15 year old gymnast onto our old battered, chapped pussy, and now we are fending cock off with a stick.

[col06]

El Crapo :biggrin:

[Section_31]

Different clubs though, teams tended to have a go against us and so they left gaps in behind which Nando ran into, never to be catched.

Chelsesa have more teams playing deeper against them, thus not the space to exploit.

Partly.

 

He does seem a bit slower off the mark but even a carthorse like Kevin Davies still gets more goals than the current Nando, so I think the lack of pace doesn't even explain it fully.

 

If anything, his attitude fucking stinks, his ego went spastic last year and he's not come back down since then. Honestly, who the fuck did he think he was, swapping Liverpool for Chelsea? Excuse me Fernando, Mr El Nino, you're a fucking flid for even thinking it, and pretty soon you're going to be dropped from the Chelsea side, like you were dropped from the national team, and I hope you pull out the newspaper clippings of your personal feats with us, and I hope you cry for a good hour, so that Ollala has to come and find you in one of the 24 bedrooms in your Kensington rabbit warren and comfort you.

 

We had a solid relationship, it was going great and then you fucked that cockney slag because she had better tits than us. Well guess what, we came into some money, and we've had our tits fixed up real nice, and transplanted the snatch of a 15 year old gymnast onto our old battered, chapped pussy, and now we are fending cock off with a stick.

 

Don't agree there, we played against all sorts of sides and he was always sensational. I don't think teams play significantly different against us as they do against the chavs.

 

You're right about his attitude, he's had a face like a smacked arse for years now, we thought he was just unhappy here but seemingly it goes deeper than that, he was shite for Spain last summer too, it's like he's fallen out of love with football itself.

 

I remember someone saying, don't know if it was someone off here or someone else, that his general demeanour went downhill rapidly at Liverpool. He went from a generally affable and approachable lad to an aloof, scowling cunt.

 

I hope the crowd gives him some serious shit when he comes back this year, but that's if he plays.

[Gym Beglin]

 

I remember someone saying, don't know if it was someone off here or someone else, that his general demeanour went downhill rapidly at Liverpool. He went from a generally affable and approachable lad to an aloof, scowling cunt.

 

 

Probably the moment Spain won Euro 08.

He's done a lot of growing at Liverpool and Atletico, he's probably not been as protected as he would at a club like Real, or United, he's had to fight for everything. Even on the pitch he suffered at the hands of some hatchet defenders, and he definitely wasn't protected by them while he wore our colours, or Atleti's.

And you could see this sense of entitlement just grow in him as the seasons went by, and I think it's very likely borne of the Euro 08 win where he catapulted himself into this 'best player in the world' bracket.

 

The rot set in when Xabi left for Madrid, there was only ever one outcome after that. Not only was Xabi a mentor and steadying influence onNando, but he was also showing an egotistical Nando that he was playing at a level not befitting someone of such a reputation.

[SoMuch4Gravity]

 

We had a solid relationship, it was going great and then you fucked that cockney slag because she had better tits than us. Well guess what, we came into some money, and we've had our tits fixed up real nice, and transplanted the snatch of a 15 year old gymnast onto our old battered, chapped pussy, and now we are fending cock off with a stick.

 

Awesomeness.

[Dicko]

Laughably wrong.

 

Hardly.

You either didn't see Torres in his first two seasons or you weren't paying attention.

Either way Suarez has got nowhere near the pace, power & finishing ability of the 23 year old Torres.

Case in point Suarez through on goal yesterday he skys it, Torres through on goal and you know the ball is in the back of the net.

Don't let the manner of Torres departure mask just how fucking blindingly brilliant he was in his first two years.

[mossga]

We had a solid relationship, it was going great and then you fucked that cockney slag because she had better tits than us. Well guess what, we came into some money, and we've had our tits fixed up real nice, and transplanted the snatch of a 15 year old gymnast onto our old battered, chapped pussy, and now we are fending cock off with a stick.

 

Ace :biggrin:

[Il Fenomeno]

Hardly.

You either didn't see Torres in his first two seasons or you weren't paying attention.

Either way Suarez has got nowhere near the pace, power & finishing ability of the 23 year old Torres.

Case in point Suarez through on goal yesterday he skys it, Torres through on goal and you know the ball is in the back of the net.

Don't let the manner of Torres departure mask just how fucking blindingly brilliant he was in his first two years.

 

Probably as an out an out striker Torres was better, as Suarez doesn't have much composure infront of goal, but Suarez contributes more to the build up play and has a bigger effect on the players around him.

[Dicko]

Probably as an out an out striker Torres was better, as Suarez doesn't have much composure infront of goal, but Suarez contributes more to the build up play and has a bigger effect on the players around him.

 

Agreed.

But even so remember the derby in his first season at Anfield he single handedly wrecked Everton's defence with very little support.

He did this constantly.

The point I'm trying to make though is that it's early days and if you had to put me on the spot of who I'd take between Suarez right now or Torres of 2007-2009, then it would be Torres every single time.