9 Sept 2009

Fernando Torres: Are Liverpool FC playing to his strengths?

Fernando Torres has scored three goals in four games this season. Great return so far, so what more do we want from the kid? Frankly, a lot more. Liverpool’s outstanding striker is certainly capable of scoring more goals, but is he being handicapped by Liverpool’s preferred formation?

During the 2007/08 season, Torres scored thirty three goals in 46 appearances, which is quite the prodigious strike rate; even the great Ian Rush only managed 30 in 49 appearances in his first full season at Anfield.

Three in four is nothing to sneeze at either. But can you envision a world where his talents are best, not better, utilized? Those 3 goals might already - and probably would - be 5.

The problem is not with him. Well, not entirely (he’d probably admit that he’s not his sharpest right now); it’s with the role he’s been asked to play. Fernando Torres is not a lone striker - ball on the carpet, facing the right way and defenders all aflap - that is where El Nino gets it done.

Getting a ball at chest height, blinded by the sheen off Pepe Reina’s pate and shaking of the less-than-subtle advances of two or three hairy-knuckled suitors would make any defender look world class. Go ask Phil Jagielka.

Even with last season’s success employing the 4-5-1 formation, it seemed that it relied heavily on one fundamental belief: “Nando will score goals.” And he did. Seventeen of them. Not bad considering the extent of his injuries, but he could’ve and would’ve scored more had he been given a role better suited to his strengths.

The 17 goals would easily have eclipsed Steven Gerrard's season-high 24 had he been given that option despite the six less games he played. More goals, more points. More points, more silverware. And two more league titles than Man U.

No man is an island and even the rock of Gibraltar would eventually get reduced to rubble given the weekly dose Torres gets. In the last few weeks, he’s looked like he’s logged more time in the Octagon than on a pitch.

And yes, a little whinging is acceptable when you wake up every Sunday morning with fetlocks. That type of abuse is the realm of Andrei Voronin. When fired out of a cannon, he goes through tanks.

That’s why the whispers around Julio Baptista coming to Anfield probably had more than one of us openly salivating at the prospect of seeing ‘The Beauty and The Beast’ outside of a Disney cartoon.

Think the blunderbuss and the rapier, blunt force and surgical precision. Now imagine immoveable object collaborating with irresistible force. This is the physics that engineers league titles.

And now look at the reality of the 2009/10 season. With key departures and his ‘Kelly Services’ approach to replacing vital personnel, Rafa no longer has the customized components he spent the better part of three seasons fine tuning into the juggernaut that was last year’s team. Added to that, he now has neither the grease nor the bolts at his disposal to give his creation life again.

And so, does Rafa stay the course and wait for key personnel to step up (or in some cases pitch up) or does he buy a little of what Pepe’s selling and take a few risks?

Six points from a possible 12 for a team highly touted to be a serious title contender points to righting the ship or sinking it and building a new one. So why not set sail out with a 4-4-2 and let his Dreadnoughts hunt in packs?

With his proclivity for tinkering now an abhorrent anachronism and his inexplicable blind faith in a back-passing Brazilian, the likelihood of Rafa shaking things up too much is the stuff of pipe dreams.

But one can still hope that Rafa might at least try “the best form of defense is attack” philosophy, give the lad the backup he needs and radio in “Torres! Torres! Torres!”

Yes, one can still hope. Until then, Nando might want to consider investing in double-stitched jerseys and a Doberman pinscher.


Darren Rudham is one of Liverpool-Kop's new writers.


22 comments:

  1. never satisfied are you? we scored the most goals in the league last season with this formation, and with torres out for a number of games and just because it hasn't gone perfectly to plan in the first few games you want to change it all? i agree rafa is incredibly stuborn over the formation, but i don't see any need to change it around that much at the moment...

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  2. Guest - you are now banned (and comment deleted).

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  3. Actually Torres playes in 4-4-2 formation (a sort of) for Spain. Could you do me a big favour and chech his goal return? It will be most appreciated. Thank you.

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  4. its more like 1 in 5 mate

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  5. Geez Louise. Jamie is multiplying. Now there's two crappy writers here!

    Torres is best played as alone striker! We've seen his contribution when he was partnered with somebody and he obviously lacked space to move in. That's evident in Spain's squad and it was the same in LFC when he was a few times partnerd in attack. He's fast, storng and technical, but needs space to move into.

    Also playing him up front alone allows us to utilize a much stronger midfield line, capable of covering at the back whole also vreating quick counters. Last season we've played one of the best football I've ever seen us play. And Torres was outstanding in the lone striker role! So whatever possesed you to claim that that's not his best position is beyond me.

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  6. I know but the author doesnt :)

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  7. Torres is best played as alone striker! We've seen his contribution when he was partnered with somebody and he obviously lacked space to move in. That's evident in Spain's squad and it was the same in LFC when he was a few times partnerd in attack. He's fast, storng and technical, but needs space to move into. 
     
    Also playing him up front alone allows us to utilize a much stronger midfield line, capable of covering at the back whole also vreating quick counters. Last season we've played one of the best football I've ever seen us play. And Torres was outstanding in the lone striker role! So whatever possesed you to claim that that's not his best position is beyond me.

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  8. ViceP - I've removed the bit at the start of your post tha contrevened the comment policy.  If you post similar stuff again, you will be banned.  You made some good points, so just stick to debating the issues.

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  9. I think if liverpool want to score more goals they should teach fernando to put his head up once in a while and lay one off. Personally i think that the formation is set up for him simular to the way it was for owen with Heskey 

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  10. <span>mate i think you need have a good hard think about what you say basically gerrard/voronin etc played behind torres for most of his first season anyway making it a 4-5-1 yet you said "Torres scored thirty three goals in 46 appearances, which is quite the prodigious strike rate". o maybe rafa tried 4-4-2 early on but he quickly shifted kuyt out to the right and thats when we started playing well and torres started banging them in.</span>

    <span> his scored </span><span>scored 3 in 4 dis year dont understand the fuss the reason he has not scored more is 1 the whole team has not played that well so less clear cut chances have been created and 2 his not completly sharp yet. </span>

    <span>theres nothing at all wrong with the formation maybe certain personal could improve the lads havent been playin well thats the reason we havent done so well so far end off. torres will bang them in by the end of the season his sats will be just as great as before because he is pure class and the likes of gerrard, aquilani and kuyt will feed him and score plenty themselves. so stop  worrying about  rubbish and actually support your team cause you dont have a clue about what ypur sayin
    </span>

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  11. See what happen in Spainish national team
    Torres just doesn't like 442

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  12. <span>mate i think you need have a good hard think about what you say basically gerrard/voronin etc played behind torres for most of his first season anyway making it a 4-5-1 yet you said "Torres scored thirty three goals in 46 appearances, which is quite the prodigious strike rate". o maybe rafa tried 4-4-2 early on but he quickly shifted kuyt out to the right and thats when we started playing well and torres started banging them in.</span>  
     
    <span> his scored </span><span>scored 3 in 4 dis year dont understand the fuss the reason he has not scored more is 1 the whole team has not played that well so less clear cut chances have been created and 2 his not completly sharp yet. </span>  
     
    <span>theres nothing at all wrong with the formation maybe certain personal could improve the lads havent been playin well thats the reason we havent done so well so far end off. torres will bang them in by the end of the season his sats will be just as great as before because he is pure class and the likes of gerrard, aquilani and kuyt will feed him and score plenty themselves.</span>

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  13. Torres plays second striker behind villa when he's playing for spain in a role similar to stevie g's right now with less tracking back.  Torres performs well in the 4-2-3-1 but i think the point darren is trying to make is a good one.  The first season he was incredible in the role and was as close to untouchable as one can be but last year and this year he has been catching it more from defenders.  Putting a benayoun or a voronin in place to draw some of the boot heels off of him might not be such a bad thing.  Last year we played 4-4-2 in many of our bigger games and the squad's strength showed truer than it had most of the season in those matches.  Am i saying that it's a surefire thing no, but i do see the merit of it.  In european competiton we are unmatched using the 4-2-3-1 but in england 4-4-2 may be the way forward.  That and either replacing lucas with aurelio once he's fit or moving stevie back and putting yossi into stevie's spot.  Either way we've got to get rid of lucas, i'm tired of defending him.

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  14. Since no one made this point, I'm gonna go with what I've witnessed on the pitch whenever Liverpool play: Rafa's tactics and formation is catered towards the strengths of BOTH Gerrard and Torres. 

    And from what I have seen in the first four games of the season, it would seem that Johnson is also a focal point in the team.

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  15. I actually agree. Last season worked because Xabi Alonso was still here. With him, Gerrard can go up to play support striker for Torres, taking some of the heat off him. But with Xabi gone and Lucas unable to replace him, the logical thing is to pull Gerrard back to midfield and have Voronin/Benayoun/Kuyt a chance to link up with Torres. If we keep playing him up there alone, I'm afraid he might get injured again.

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  16. I admit we rely on Torres for goals; still, despite his 3 goals this season, his first season form is nowhere to be seen. He takes too much time on the ball and gives away the ball carelessly with his predictable runs.
    This translates into his form for Spain: yes, he was guilty of the same faults.

    Think hat-tricks against West Ham and Boro in his first season; what happened to the instinct to shoot on sight and get into goal scoring positions? Think wonder goal against Marseille; what happened to the trickery of our golden boy? Think first game and standing up against Terry; what happened to the infallible tenacity that made him stand out from the other strikers?

    I hate to say this but while Dogba is scoring some pretty goals and running effectively at defenders while causing nightmare in set pieces, our golden boy is whinging at the decisions that go against him and taking his goal scoring responsibility too lightly. It seems that when players run their mouths off, their form on the pitch is inversely proportional to their verbal volume. Quit the talk of how we Liverpool fans love you and how we are gonna win the title this season - PROVE IT. REMIND US why we've come to love you in the first place.

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  17. First off as a lone striker he has no room to move with the 2 centre backs for company. If he has someone that can take the majority of the punishment for him, he is freed up to move off the ball. With help (which he doesn't have with Steve G trying to fill the gap that Lucas is supposedly filling) he can move off the ball and utilize his most valuable asset - his speed. No striker is effective with his back to goal (perhaps Robbie Fowler is a notable exception). Everytime he's had the ball at his feet this season, he's at least looked dangerous.
    And yes, I agree, we played some great football last year with a stronger midfield. Until Aquilani is fit (right around the same time Santa will be coming down the chimney) and provided he adapts to English football, we don't have a strong midfield. Put Stevie back for better attacking options and distribution and put another striker up top to take some of the heat for number 9. 

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  18. my larger point is that he needs someone to take the punishment he is taking. It's not Stevie who would be better served pulling the strings from midfield anyway (which no one is capable or willing to do right now).
    Once Fernando is behind the defense - which would a lot easier if the entirety of it wasn't in his backside - he does the most damage. Yes he scores goals, but he'd score more if he wasn't warding off legions of slathering central defenders on his own or if he was receiving service to his feet so that he can go around them. I'm not disputing that he is a phenomenal lone striker only that he could be "phenomenal-er" if he was given space to roam. 

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  19. closer to 1 in 3 (23 in 68). Now you know. And knowing is half the battle

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  20. To clarify - the 'guest' who was banned is not the guest who made the first comment on the thread!  It's another 'guest' who left a derogatory comment.

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  21. Even now, having seen this post around a year ago Liverpool are still wasting Torres. He needs a second striker next to him, or atleast a player like Kuyt sitting just behind him. He isn't getting the service he deserves at the moment.

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