The Lad from Sunny Spain

On Merseyside, on the red side of Stanley Park, there is one name that evokes such feeling from Liverpool fans. Fernando Torres, the Spanish forward who was both one of the most admired and despised players in the club’s history. If is name is spoken, Liverpool fans are quick to remember his goalscoring exploits but they are also quick to remember his transfer saga in which relationships became bitter and broken. The twilight of Torres’ career approaches as he plays in the Japanese league and it seems fitting to think about the care-free striker who seemingly scored goals for fun.

Fernando Torres in his early career was nothing short of superb but it was only when the long-haired Madridista came to play with Gerrard at Liverpool where he cemented himself as one of the best forwards in the world. There was an undeniable love for Liverpool on Torres’ part, he had ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ inscribed on his captain’s armband at Atletico Madrid. Liverpool were also desperate for a player of his calibre to come and play for the club, there had not been a consistent and effective goal-scorer upfront ever since Michael Owen left to join Los Blancos, Atleti’s cross-town rivals. The combination of Gerrard’s ability in attacking situations with Torres’ clinical finishing was an irresistible proposition for Rafa Benitez.

There was some doubt over the Torres move from Liverpool supporters, the team had acquired a glut of talent in Benitez’s first season and the results were mixed. Xabi Alonso was an unqualified successs but other players like Fernando Morientes did not impact at Liverpool despite the fact he came with a good reputation from Real Madrid. The lad put the doubts and concerns to ease with stunning simplicity. On his first game at Anfield against Chelsea who had a title-winning side with players like Drogba, Terry and Lampard, he stepped up to the challenge. Just fifteen minutes into the game, he displayed the deft touch which became synonymous with his career. The ball fell to his feet in a one-on-one situation against Hal Ben Taim, the Israeli fullback. Torres stopped on a dime, let Taim set himself before kicking past him and sliding the ball into the goal past Cech’s arm.

The prolific scoring did not stop there, Torres eventually finished with thirty three goals for the season in all competitions which propelled Liverpool to another top-four finish and the semi-finals of the Champions League. In the Champions League, Liverpool lost against Chelsea who became a recurrent suitor for the talented Spanish forward. Chelsea had been sniffing around Torres as a replacement for Andriy Shevchenko who had struggled at Chelsea due to injury issues and limited playing time compared to his AC Milan days where he was The Man. At the time Liverpool refused to sell Torres as the club was starting to look upwards and seemed to be ascendant. Benitez had built a strong midfield core of Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano that could win the ball back and then move the ball into the channels where Torres loved to run. There was also the new owners who were brash in their ambitions to push Liverpool up to the top table.

George Gillett and Tom Hicks are now hated and reviled figures on Merseyside but at the time, the American capital was expected to provide a financial injection which could somewhat even the playing field against the billionaires in English football. Liverpool had previously watched Chelsea spend hundreds of millions on players like Drogba, Shevchenko and Ashley Cole. Now the club had a larger budget that it did during the Littlewoods Era, top-level players could be purchased and Liverpool could contend. In the first two seasons, Hicks and Gillett put money into the club. They bought Torres, Mascherano, Skrtel and Craig Bellamy among others. They had no desire to sell one of their best players to a rival side, Chelsea.

Liverpool and Chelsea had a competitive rivalry during the mid 2000s as both teams continually matched up against each other in the Champions League. Liverpool had gotten the best of Chelsea during the six times that the teams played each other in the Champions League. Liverpool had advanced on two occasions to winning the Champions League and being Runners-Up to AC in 2007 Champions League Final. The other time, Chelsea beat Liverpool in the semi-finals and memorably lost against United in the 2008 Final in Moscow. There was a healthy dislike between both clubs that was only exacerbated by the rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez. Both men were regarded as expert tacticians and yet Rafa had bested Jose on multiple occasions.

Moreover, Torres changed the way that Liverpool played. In past Benitez where Crouch or Kuyt operated as the striker, Gerrard would play as the consummate centre midfielder. With Torres, Gerrard operated on the right in a position that would now be called a central attacking midfielder. The chemistry was undeniable, Gerrard would know where Torres was on the pitch and played inch-perfect balls for his hungry striker. It also gave Gerrard an attacking remit where he could attack the eighteen-yard box and score more goals. As systems go, it worked effectively and meant that Liverpool scored a lot of goals. The club were not willing to move a player on after such an impactful season, especially not to Chelsea.

On an international level, Torres arrived as a player and proved to be a crucial piece for Luis Arragones Spain side. For fifty years, the Spanish National Team had not won anything and was seen to be also-rans. A nation which produced good football players but who could never put it together when it mattered. In 2008, the Euros presented real legitimate hope for Spain. The team had Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa and Fernando Torres. A core of talent that was arguably as good as any other nation at the Euros.

Torres and his play was important to a Spain side that prioritised moving the ball around and creating chances with their passing. The model that Arragones implemented mirrored the style of football that Xavi and Iniesta played at Barcelona. It was passing football that punished opponent’s for lapses in concentration when defending. Fernando was one of four Liverpool representatives for Spain and proved his worth by being unselfish. Torres established a partnership with David Villa that was destructive and at times deferred to the Valencia striker who was full of goals at the Euros. It worked perfectly for Arragones as it meant that he had two strikers who worked together instead of operating as two impressive soloists.

Villa missed the Final and it meant that Torres was the lone striker as Spain opted to start Fabregas and play a 4–1–4–1, the formation was aggressive and would create midfield overloads in attacking positions. Spain played with four midfielders who could attack comfortably and one defensive midfield compared to Germany’s more conservative selection of two defensive midfielders to sit in front of the back four. The tactical decision paid dividends with Spain having more shots on targets and controlling the pace of the game. It was a simple goal that came from the midfield overload for Torres. Xavi had the space to play a ball into the channel that was perfectly weighted. The ball itself caused a lot of indecision among the defence and the goalkeeper, Lahm hesitated and Lehmann came out to claim the ball. Jens Lehmann missed the ball and Torres slotted the ball into the goal.

Spain won the Euros and started a period of international dominance that was truly impressive. For Torres, it just added to his reputation as player, he was no longer just a prolific scorer, he had won the European Championship due to one of the goals he scored. He became of the best strikers in the world over the space of a season and it was expected that Torres would follow up his debut season in England with an even stronger sophomore effort.

Fernando continued his success in England despite the fact he had recurring injuries that took him out of the season for stretches at a time. Torres picked up numerous hamstring injuries which eventually led to his ability to burst away at pace to fall away. For a striker like Torres who ran into the channels, it meant that his body could not do what his mind wanted to do. It was the beginning of an injury-hit period that meant that Torres would never be the same player ever again. In terms of success, Liverpool pushed hard and finished second in a Premier League season that they could have easily won.

There were just two teams who challenged for the Premier League in 2008–09, Liverpool and Manchester United. The two teams have a storied history and there were many parallels between United and Liverpool that season. Both teams were owned by American owners who had bought the club through huge loans from banks, both teams were managed by tactical geniuses and both clubs did not win to lose to the other side. Liverpool kids are brought up to hate Mancunians, Manchester kids are brought up to hate Scousers. At the heart of the rivalry, you had Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, a Scouser and a Mancunian. In the end, Liverpool drew too many games against mid-table opposition which meant that Manchester United became champions of England once again in the Sir Alex Ferguson era. It was expected that Liverpool would kick on in 2009–10 and be serious contenders for the Premier League. Nobody could foresee the club falling to pieces before eventually being sold to New England Sports Ventures.

It had become common knowledge that Rafa Benitez and the American owners had fallen out with each other. Benitez wanted much more money in order to build on the progress that the side had displayed and truly establish a top-level Premier League side that could beat anyone on their day. Gillett and Hicks refused to make anymore large outlays of money, they felt that Benitez needed to do better with the players that he had previously purchased and find internal improvement. Rafa believed that it was the betrayal of the vision which was promised when Gillett/Hicks had purchased the club. For Hicks and Gillett, the issue was much more serious.

The relationship between the owners had completely broken down over the fact that Tom Hicks refused to sell his stake to George Gillett even when the external financial conditions threatened to cause the club to make huge losses. The Financial Crash of 2008 posed a distinct threat to a team like Liverpool compared to Manchester City. Manchester City were funded by internal capital that had come directly from Sheikh Mansour and his business activities. While his personal businesses were affected, it meant no damage to the club. For Liverpool, the Crash presented the threat of insolvency.

When Gillett and Hicks had purchased the club, they had agreed to do so with leveraged capital. In common speak, it meant that the club was purchased using loans from banks which would be repaid over a set time period. At the time of purchase, there was no consternation. The Glazers had purchased Manchester United a few years prior in a similar manner and the club seemed to be in rude financial health. The Crash meant that the bank became more urgent in needing the loan to repaid by a certain date. The loan repayment would have forced the club into liquidation and an unknown future.

There was instability within the club’s management, between the owners, between the owners and the manager and also with Rick Parry, Liverpool’s CEO at the time. The club had also become unstable in the dressing room. Hicks and Gillett were openly eyeing Jurgen Klinsmann to be the new Liverpool manager while Rafa Benitez was still in a job. Benitez was openly recruiting Gareth Barry to come and play for Liverpool despite the fact Xabi Alonso played the same position. Rafa had become unhappy with his assistant Pako Ayestaran and replaced him with another assistant who did not command the same level of respect from the players. It was a multitude of problems that was only exacerbated by the appointment of Christian Purslow.

Purslow’s role within the club was officially CEO but he had another role that was deemed more important by Liverpool’s largest creditor RBS, he was to find £100m that could be used to pay back some of the loan. In short Purslow was a hatchet man who had to achieve this aim in whatever way possible. It meant that a promising title-winning side was sold off cheaply. Xabi Alonso was sold for just £30m, Mascherano was moved for £20m and Sami Hyppia was allowed to leave the club in order to reduce the club’s wage bill. Brick by brick, the club was torn apart. It was no wonder why Fernando felt he had to leave by the end of the 2010 season, there was no way that a striker of his calibre could be at a club which had some much negativity off the field and a toxicity among the coaching staff.

The club success which had taken place in the prior year had vanished, Liverpool finished just 7th with no notable successes and huge regression due to the loss of key individuals and the poor replacement of these players. Torres had another strong season with twenty two goals in thirty two games but continued to pick up injuries. Fernando had a reoccurrence of the hamstring issue which plagued the 2008–09 season before having season ending knee surgery on the 16th April 2010. It was hoped by Torres that he would be able to recover in time for the World Cup in South Africa where Spain would try and continue the success of the European Championships.

The knee surgery was touch and go as it required a lot of strengthening work and subsequent conditioning in order to make sure that Torres could play at the highest level for Spain. It was unknown whether Torres would be totally fit but Vincente Del Bosque picked the Liverpool striker for his squad regardless. Compared to the European Championships where Spain played a more traditional 4–4–2 system, Del Bosque opted for a 4–2–3–1 which played a lone striker. The change in formation meant that Fernando Torres came off the bench and was used as an impact substitute who could provide another offensive outlet.

Throughout the tournament, Spain looked truly dominant as they passed the ball around and drove the opposing team to make mistakes. The trio of Alonso, Xavi and Iniesta was superbly talented in keeping the ball in midfield and creating chances out of seemingly nothing. The dominance was threatened in the Final by the Netherlands who had attempted to challenge Spain by playing physical aggressive football. The Dutch were not adverse to throwing in a tackle and wearing Spanish players down physically in an attempt to force mistakes from the peerless midfield. The Dutch were incredibly successful and managed to drag the game into added time without any goals conceded or clear-cut chances.

Fernando Torres came on in the 105th minute of the game with just fifteen minutes of added time left until the match would be settled on penalties. For Spain, Fernando served a key role in these fifteen minutes, he was a fresh offensive player who could make runs and force the exhausted Dutch defenders to track his run. It meant that Spain had more space when moving the ball forward and it created space for midfielders like Jesus Navas and Iniesta to run into. The other key substitution was Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas came on for Xabi Alonso and immediately settled into the pivot role in midfield which meant that Iniesta could play further up the pitch as a Central Attacking Midfielder. Eventually Spain scored the winning goal and became World Champions.

The highs that Fernando experienced with Spain were quickly replaced with the growing uncertainty at Liverpool. The fans were now openly demanding that Hicks/Gillett sell the club and leave Liverpool alone in peace. There was also another change, Benitez had been replaced by Roy Hodgson. Hodgson came into Liverpool to a muted response, he had not previously managed a demanding English side like Liverpool. It also did not help that a fan favourite in the form of Kenny Dalglish had his advances rejected by Gillett/Hicks. It also did not help that Roy purchased the wrong players. Christian Poulsen, Milan Jovanovic, Joe Cole and Paul Konchesky were all purchased during Hodgson’s first transfer window and it was clear that none of these players were of the standard that is demanded by Liverpool fans.

Konchesky looked overwhelmed with the expectations at Liverpool, Jovanovic was overweight and combatative and Poulsen looked washed. The squad slumped to 18th in the table after the first nine games and had only managed to get to 9th in the League by the time that Fernando Torres had decided that he had enough. Liverpool was going nowhere, the players weren’t good enough and there was too much off field drama.

Roman Abramovich made another bid for Fernando Torres, tabling a figure of £40m which was rejected by Liverpool in the January transfer window. On the final day of the window after many discussions with club officials, Fernando Torres made the £50m move to Chelsea to join the team which had coveted the Spanish forward for many years. This was a distinct point in Fernando’s career, he was never quite the same player that he was in his Liverpool days. He was never as prolific, never as loved by Chelsea than when he was Liverpool’s Number 9. For Liverpool fans, it was heart-breaking. One of the best players at our club was moving to a rival and in such acrimonious circumstances, it felt like betrayal. It was also the thought of what-if for many Liverpool fans.

In the transfer window, Liverpool had made a big signing. A Uruguayan by the name of Luis Suarez was signed from Ajax. The player had courted controversy throughout his entire career but he was a ferocious goal machine. Suarez developed into being one of the best players in the world over the next few years, imagine what Liverpool could have achieved with both Suarez and Torres. The team would have been potent offensively with Gerrard and two of the best forwards in the league. It was potentially a title-winning side with both players working together and scoring a huge number of goals. Instead the dream was never realised and Fernando became a reviled figure until one day in 2015.

Liverpool had organised a charity match between Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher as a way of raising awareness and funds for the club’s foundation and Alder Hey Hospital. The level of talent on both sides was undeniable, Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez and Xabi Alonso were just some of the names who were featured in the game. The other notable name was Fernando Torres, it was unknown how he would be received by the fans. The previously reviled Spain striker was embraced and brought in back into the hearts of the fans after four years in the cold. ‘Fernando’ by Abba rang around the game before the game and fans chanted his song. Fernando Torres was loved by Liverpool again, the hostilities has ceased. In the Simon Hughes book ‘Ring of Fire’, Fernando speaks of being ‘at peace’ now that his last memory of Anfield was one of love.