Former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres grabbed two great goals last night as Spain hammered the Republic of Ireland 4-0, and booked their place in the Euro 2012 quarter finals. Torres' clinical finishing harked back to his glory days at Anfield, but Reds legend Steve Nicol believes the Spaniard still has a long way to go before he reverts back to the 'Torres of old'.
Analysing the Spain-Ireland game for ESPN, a churlish Nicol seemed unimpressed with Torres' two-goal brace, and argued that £50m Chelsea star 'still looks like he lacks a bit of composure'. He added:
"For the first goal, Torres looked like his old self, but for me, he plays like a big kid.
"He's got 10 other players beside him who are all smooth and silky, but he still hurries everything, and until he can settle down a bit, he's always going to look as if he's trying too hard".
To be honest, I don't think it matters if Torres lacks composure; his job is to score goals, and that's exactly what he did.
Like Andy Carroll with Liverpool, Torres has massively underperformed in his first 18 months at Chelsea, but the quality and talent is still there, and that's not something you lose easily.
I would still take Torres back at Liverpool if the opportunity arose.
Jaimie Kanwar
Analysing the Spain-Ireland game for ESPN, a churlish Nicol seemed unimpressed with Torres' two-goal brace, and argued that £50m Chelsea star 'still looks like he lacks a bit of composure'. He added:
"For the first goal, Torres looked like his old self, but for me, he plays like a big kid.
"He's got 10 other players beside him who are all smooth and silky, but he still hurries everything, and until he can settle down a bit, he's always going to look as if he's trying too hard".
To be honest, I don't think it matters if Torres lacks composure; his job is to score goals, and that's exactly what he did.
Like Andy Carroll with Liverpool, Torres has massively underperformed in his first 18 months at Chelsea, but the quality and talent is still there, and that's not something you lose easily.
I would still take Torres back at Liverpool if the opportunity arose.
Jaimie Kanwar
If we could have the Torres who first joined us, then I would agree, but as someone who was whinging mightily about Reina and his supposed disloyalty and divisiveness, I am surprised at you. I always thought that you put great store on only having players who want to play for the shirt and I think that Torres clearly wants to play for Torres.
ReplyDeleteYes, his talent will not have gone forever and it showing signs of resurfacing, but no, not unless he really wants to come back for the right reasons.
nigger
ReplyDeleteTorres only move after Chelsea is overseas.
ReplyDeleteAndy Carroll needs to learn how to pass lool
ReplyDeleteTorres is a European Champion, remember that? you,ll never see another Rodgers or no Rodgers. He supports Chelsea by the way.
ReplyDeleteLol, i do think its quite amusing that Nicol uses that description re Torres "plays like a kid" :), he's got a point though, i think Torres has been pulling a sulk for quite some time now, good to see him scoring for Spain, i got no beef with the fella tbh, showed re still retains some class, when he wants to...
ReplyDeleteWouldn't surprise me to see him improve his form next season, with no Drogba at the Club he im sure will lap up all the attention of being their number 1 striker...
Totally agree i would take torres back i think he'd find form at anfield
ReplyDeletenicol was right on the money - u are living a pipedream entertaining this nonsense fella.
ReplyDeleteWrong man, Nicol is just another one of the army of disgruntled Poo fans yearning for the the glory days which slip away hour by hour never to return. All this " I wouldn't take him back" shite is just that, shite. Unlike Poo the Champions of Europe are not a selling club. Enjoy your slide into oblivion.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your glory.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Combat 18, racist fans, your "role model" racist captain, your plastic flags, your mastery of simulation and cheating, your "Aluminium Wars" oligarch owner, your powerless, 2nd rate puppet manager, your turncoat, booing fans, your shameless yearning for Jose.
And most of all, hope you enjoy it when your Oligarch sells Stamford Bridge for property development to get his €1 billion back.
Self sufficiency? Utterly laughable.
Torres is still class by the way.
ReplyDeleteHe was almost back to form in Prem League until he got a silly red card, set him back a little.
Nicol's comment is silly, par for the course for him.
As if he is ever coming back. Wake up!!!!!
ReplyDeleteNicol's right. If you look at the way Spain play, their players rarely lose possession of the ball and get a pass away before that happens. Torres on the other hand loses it. His ball control these days are kind of iffy, Torres of old used to glide past defenders. Hes lost that stride.
ReplyDeleteWe may get Torres back if we qualify for CL. For now it is a distant dream. The difference between Torres and our AC, sorry the gulf in standard is too huge to have a meaningful discussion about it. Just sidetrack a little, any new transfer target for LFC, the more concrete ones?
ReplyDeleteAre you saying Rodgers supports Chelsea? You are wrong mate, he worked at Chelsea, but he is a boyhood Liverpool fan
ReplyDeleteTorres gets two goals and gets slagged off.We all know he's not as good as before but he's getting better.We all have our own clubs,if we didn't there would be no competition.Iv'e been a Chelsea fan since 1967 and like every club we have good times and bad times.I'm afraid that simon's
ReplyDeleteComments just makes him simple Simon,typical bile from someone who
Sounds twisted and unhappy.As regards the comments on John Terry,I can't see how anyone can prove that he's guilty.If I got an elbow in the ear,ran over 50 metres back to my own half and shouted something to
Someone that distance away,that no one heard,how would I be guilty.Even if he did say something surely he could say he was shouting at the ref,who was wearing black.Right or wrong he can't be found guilty
Beyond a reasonable doubt.Let's be honest he's not a racist.He captains
Eleven black players,who love him.
I hope you are not one of us Reds.... why? Because you've made a valid comment re Combat 18, but even with the little I know about Chelsea your first paragraph is assinine (look it up!). You then go on to show you dont read about other clubs - the oil baron has left funds in place so that when he leaves Chelski will be ok.
ReplyDeleteAnd then - and then you show a total lack of understanding of FFP.
Simon, go back to Old Toff-ord where you belong. (I hope, I really really do hope. Not red? Maybe, ooh could you be an Evert*n fan?)
Either way you appear a fool and you make Liverpool fans look foolish.
Readers, we arent like this guy at all!
Shame u r not a Chelsea fan .u r a armchair critic .with a mobility car and a giro.two letters and a number.....DO 1
ReplyDeletesign on
ReplyDeletewhy would he ever contemplate returning to u lot? with lamps, marin, hazard and mata feeding him you will see loads of goals from him. what can u offer, downing, kuyt and that selfish tossbean gerrard?
ReplyDeleteremember to keep your thursday nights free
Just a few points
ReplyDeleteLiverpool have some not so nice fans as well so people in glass houses and all that.
New chelsea fans and John terry fair enough. At least are owner is not in it to make money unlike yours. Are second rate manager won in 3 months what rafa won in his 6 years, cheating = Louis Suarez . Yearning for Jose pool fans do the same for rafa.
Regarding Roman and stamford bridge chelsea fans own the pitch so he couldn't even if he wanted to. He wants to builds something at Chelsea and all them people saying he will get bored and leave are kidding themselves same with man city.
Oh and Liverpool fans wouldn't welcome an Oligarch? And you didn't boo against Wigan two months ago either? What about Hodgson?? And you haven't appointed an 2nd rate puppet manager from Wales who has won nothing when the other loser couldn't provide? As for captains listen mate assholes in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones. Is he a cheat? is he a diver? look at the evidence the independent observer can decide! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abk9JSDBra4 Assault? Arrogant, overpaid and over hyped drunk is how he is thought of outside the swill! Yearning for Jose? The only ones I hear yearning for him are mousers. He's going to United!!!! Live with it!!!! And by the way THE REAL TRUTH IS no one can sell The Bridge! Not while the ground is owned by the fans and believe me we will sell it when we've got Battersea Power Station or somewhere better I can assure you of that. As for Henry I read today from him he won't move! Afraid of the cost?......Oligarchs? you wish! As always your comments stem from insecurity and fear. Anxiety is emminent because history is being made somewhere else and has been for almost 10 years now. Yawn! Laughable it is for sure, in fact it's fu...in' hilarious.
ReplyDeleteWhy's that? He lost his form while he was at Liverpool in the first place!
ReplyDeleteI don't see any massive gulf in class between Carroll and Torres at present tbh. For some reason, Torres seems to get a free pass whereas everybody bleats on about Carroll's £35m price tag (which was offset by Torres' £50m fee in the first place)
ReplyDeleteTorres isn't getting back to form, he is just who he is; a once great striker that is living off of his reputation. If form played a part in decisions, he wouldn't even be making the Spain or Chelsea sub benches.
I for one, would much rather look elsewhere, than seek to have him back. Unless the fee was somewhere in the £10-15m region.
Look, Torres wouldn't come back to us unless we were strong Premier League and Champions League contenders and I don't just mean scraping into the top 4.
ReplyDeleteNot wishing to be negative, but by the time we get there, even if we assume that we manage it in a couple of years, Torres will be years older and even if he's recovered his form, he will have lost some of his edge, pace, acceleration, which were all part of what made him so good in those first couple of seasons for us.
Even assuming that he did want to come back in that situation, Chelski would never sell him to us anyway. So this whole discussion is pointless.
Personally, I'd rather just wait and see who Rodgers is going to bring in and I'd rather have Suarez than Torres in a million years and yes of course they're different players, but when there time is over, history will show that Suarez will have given much more to the team.
you are crazy, Nichol was bloody hard to replace. Torres loves liverpool , even still. I do believe that that boat has sailed though. Torres is still a family favorite in our house. And always will be, just for the joy he brought to liverpool with his awesome goal scoring. No one really knows the facts of torres departure from LFC, well , those that are not working behind the scenes at anfield. I'm a life long red and 40 years old. I know OUR club and its past greatness, hell I watched the greats, and shared the joy of there success and there tears. so all you 20 year olds should go and do some research on LFC and you might just like what you see. Family club with family values, I have supported them through the glory and there is no way i would defect just cos they are not what they were, I have faith as a true red its called support. I cant tell you all how proud i am of LFC and to be a supporter.I would have it no other way. And im not scouse.you dont have to be, we are one family no matter where your from. YNWA
ReplyDeleteRegardless to what rubbish he spouts I would take Torres back 2day. We longed for natural goalscorer since R Fowler. I blame KD for not doing enough to keep him at Anfield. Torres and Suarez would have been breathtaking.
ReplyDeleteKuyt doesn't play for LFC anymore you fucking retard. Gerrard if I recall correctly assisted last night for England and the other night also. Torres and Gerrard had one of the best partnerships in the world at the time and was what made Liverpool such a deadly force in Europe. You are blinded by your big money signings. Yes Hazard and Mata will be great for Chelsea this season, but it is so foolish for you to write off Liverpool like that. Plastic fucking flag fans. Also, I wouldn't have Torres back myself, loyalty is important, he has skill but this skill does not challenge the level he was at when he joined Liverpool. PS: Thanks for the 50M.
ReplyDeleteYour new manager inherited the whole team he has at his disposal, don't recall him making any signings etc, he has not built that team an should not take all the credit for the 2 trophies, most of the leg work had already been done for him., lets wait until he has a season behind him before passing judgement. I do like the bloke though...
ReplyDeleteBrilliant striker on his day. Despite the mistakes he made against Italy, Spain looked far more likely cutting open Italy after he came on. His presence alone caused problems for the Italians.
ReplyDeleteNeed bit of rough and direct sometimes to go with the silky and smooth.
No worries Nicol, i'd still have him in our side any day of the week, regardless of what people think of him, he is still one of the most dangerous strikers in the world, which is something that we lack.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with Nicol. Torres IS a big kid. What's all this whining Im reading about today, him moaning about falling out of love with work. Spoilt £120k per week brat. Do these boys not know just how priviliged they are in life. No idea at times.
ReplyDeleteLol, I typed expletive required above, no use of a word itself! ;-)
ReplyDeleteMost people do still argue that Torres is one of the most dangerous strikers in the world. In spite of the overwhelming amount of evidence that contradicts that opinion.
ReplyDeleteHe simply isn't worth what it would cost to bring him back to Liverpool.
Your right about it not being his team and the real test is next season as he did pander to there egos and that will only last for so long but he should take credit because when avb left we where in serious trouble and going out of the cl now where champions of Europe and won the fa cup.
ReplyDeleteas an ireland fan, i was gutted to see him score, but we were so amateur, we made arbeloa look world class!! don't read too much into his performance the other night. remember the italy game and his terrible performance in front of goal there. thats the torres we now know and in my opinion dislike.
ReplyDeletehis dad and grandad were lfc supporters.if you watched his press conference you'd have heard that.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy our glory, I,ll also enjoy your tired cliches, racists? those in glasshouses etc etc, Roman will get bored soon? yawn yawn, oligarch owner? I,ll have him over yours.Plastic flags? we love em as they seem to wind you up so much. As I said earlier, enjoy your slide into oblivion. Poo, the masters of yesterday.
ReplyDeleteReally? you can do better than that surely? unlike poo
ReplyDeleteYawn, cant you think of some new cliches?
ReplyDeleteI wish him well,,,just not too well ;)
ReplyDeleteKuyt? Stay with it! That one reference shows you have no idea. Toss bean? Is that because he turned you down, twice?
ReplyDeletewon every trophy goin
ReplyDeletewho cares about torres cos every proper fan doesnt he doesnt give 2 sh!tes about liverpool fans
ReplyDeleteremember 5 times
ReplyDeletethat tossbean u fucked u cunts off
ReplyDeleteThat is not true (and I didn't imply that playing Torres or any orthodox striker up front is better than having no striker at all. So instead of not saying much, I didn't say it at all. Pfft. In fact, funnily enough, I am a fan of false nines and 4-6-0 formations), examples out there of successful orthodox striker-less teams/playing strikers very deep/wide. Totti did a super job in the 4-6-0 formation for Roma, under Spalletti and it was a very watchable style too as I though they were the best team to watch that season out of all European teams at the time. RVP did it for Arsenal for half a season before injuries struck him and Cesc, when he had Cesc behind him and Bentdner coming in from the right, was very good to watch and were scoring plenty. That is the RVP I prefer but to be fair, he has turned into a freak of goalscorer now. Manure operated strikers in 2008 but they were played very deep and on the wing (Rooney on the wing and Tevez as second-striker with no striker ahead, just Ronaldo floating in from the right wing), to allow Ronaldo freedom and they won the CL playing that way. There is of course bloody Messi. Its doable, playing without a striker but you need at least two players that have goalscoring movement from the wing and from midfield a la Pedro/Villa/Perotta/Totti/Cesc. Spain seem to have a thing for 'playmakers & deep pivots (Xabi-Busquets)-overload, but when they are that good, you can't resist it, which is fair enough from Del Bosque. Spain tend to use more than one player for the 'false nine' role, which is very messy, with Cesc/Silva/Iniesta rotating in that role. Its only really Cesc that has strong degree of goalscoring movement to his game from the first game.
ReplyDeleteWell duh of course any striker can claim to be brilliant on his day (not the key point of my remark but people can be nauseatingly picky I guess, rightly so if i mention something its fair hunting game ;) ) but not many have had as many brilliant days as he he has had in the past, so its not the end of the line for Torres yet, even though we Liverpool fans are bitter over him. Torres was a outstanding striker and has fair bit of time of left, so who knows, he could rekindle his best form. With Drogba seemingly out of the picture next season, with the arrival of the likes of Hazard, seems Chelsea will give a bit more attention to Torres next season in terms of fitting his strengths in, rather than making him do a lot of donkey work he was doing and temptation of the old (but successful, of course) Chelsea ways. To be fair, even though his finishing was way off, he did well last season in terms of the build up play, especially considering that isn't his forte. Next season me thinks will be more promising for him as I think Chelsea will change tact in relation to playing style, not just because of Torres but because of Torres, Hulk, Hazard and Mata.
Torres gets a free pass? Yeh alright mate(!). The media have been taking the mick out of his finishing for ages. Just the other day on ITV, the host was taking the mick that Torres will score a goal and still go back to months of not scoring or something like that as he is a tease like that. They made Andy Carroll out to be the next messiah as he is British and hyping up any half-decent performance. Its on the forums that Carroll takes a beating and rightly so but in the media, he gets the usual British love-in. Pull the other one.
ReplyDeleteYou think it's unusual for a club owner to make money off the club?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think professional football started in first place?
Goes to show how deluded football fans have become. Football clubs are businesses. What business could survive with year on year losses like Chelsea and City?
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers.
Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. How does owning Chelsea increase Abramovich's wealth?
Look into Abramovich's past. Do you think a few pesky fans will block his plans, whatever they may be?
Or maybe his shady past will catch up with him...
As regards cheating, Mourinho's Porto were masters at winning free kicks. He brought that, and media based pressuring of refs, to Chelsea to win trophies.
Europesnumber1 .i can do better than that .yes I can .u no evry thing about not .wat about abramovich being skintight before he made his money sucking bores yeltsins tallywhacker u no .how u make ur money .GOBSHITE
ReplyDeleteTorres left us in our time of need. We worshiped him. We believed in him when he was off form. Before the 50m offer came in we turned down a 30m bid from Chelski and Torres assured us he'd stay with the club because of his 'love' for it. When the 50m offer and probably a much higher wage offer than the previous one came in, off he went to 'win trophies'. Look at how Suarez left Ajax, how Henry left Arsenal, how Hyppia left us. They did it with respect. They didn't say one thing and do another and they certainly didn't leave their respective clubs when they were in need of them. We were in 12th place at the time. I'd never take him back. Even if he was doing well and actually wanted to come I wouldn't want him anywhere near us. In conclusion, lady-boy Judas is a cunt and I hope he never ever finds his form and ends his career as the 50m flop who used to be good.
ReplyDeleteWhen did I say it was unusual for owners to want to make money off a football club I just said roman is not in this to make money and does not really see chelsea like a business just as a project and unlike your owners and I personally prefer that.
ReplyDeleteRegarding his past While I don't morally agree with the way roman become rich. Is it not how capitalism really works weather we like it or not and Chelsea fans have something called the cpo that have blocked his plans for a stadium recently, so yes they have real power to veto any plans he has for the stadium.
Regarding new owners of course most of the new owners are in it for the money why else would all these yanks being snapping up english football clubs. They see telephone numbers for tv deals and think how hard can it be, Gillette and hicks for example and it would be naive to think otherwise.
Its also worth noting that Liverpool have lost 20 and 50 million in the last few years as well. So Chelsea and city aren't the only clubs.
The only team in my opinion to get the rub of the green with the refs all the time are man united so this Jose media pressure while at Chelsea I personally think is not true.
In comparison to Carroll, yes, Torres does get a free pass. The 23 y/o Carroll rarely gets mentioned without reference to his price tag, whereas the 28 y/o Torres is continually spoken about 'regaining his form', 'lacking confidence' or whatever other excuse is required for his equally poor performances.
ReplyDelete"Spain looked far more like cutting Italy open after Torres came on. His presence alone caused problems for the Italians". I may be paraphrasing slightly, but seeing as you were comparing the teams performance with no striker to the teams performance with a striker, the statement looks very much like saying Spain were more dangerous with an actual striker up front to me...
ReplyDeleteI readily acknowledge that Torres has had many brilliant days in the past, but those are just as infrequent as the next decent strikers nowadays. He very well may score a bucketload of goals next year, but will he do any better than any other "decent" striker? I doubt it, and as such have to argue against such comments wishing to see him back at Liverpool (which is just a moot argument seeing as he won't be coming back anyway, whatever anybody thinks of him).
Wright, right, well I totally disagree with that as Carroll is a British media darling. So I'll leave it there as it will end up going round in circles. Cheerio.
ReplyDeleteMore like stretching and immaturely unsuccessfully picking at it a la tabloid journo, (though they get paid for it, so they have some sort of excuse for acting like that). My point was in relation to this article, as after all I'm posting on this article about Nicol's comment on Torres and how he isn't like the silky smooth Spanish team mates. Hence my finishing and concluding sentence was about needing bit of rough and direct sometimes to go with silky smooth, which summed up the point I was making in relation to Nicols' comment, as that is what the article is about. I was loosely justifying the usefulness of Torres' style/method/goalscoring movement of playing to the silky smooth style of his Spanish team mates referred to in the article by Nicols. First, look at the article and assume the point of the post is in relation to the article, see whether it relates, before going at it like a bull in a china shop a la unsuccessful Clouseau with your silly picky comment of 'having Torres up front is better than having no striker at all. Thats not bla bla bla' as that I did not say or blatantly/specifically imply that. I loosely referred to the goalscoring threat that Torres provided but like I suggested later in my next post, you don't need to have a orthodox striker up front to get goalscoring movement and hence I didn't rule that out in my first post but of course, you didn't bother to think, instead jumped the gun futilely.
ReplyDeleteSpain could easily have been more dangerous by playing Pedro/Villa (obviously not in the squad, though thought I'd clarify as I know some people are stupidly picky as they like to picky for the sake of being picky, even if it doesn't make sense as we have seen first hand here) on the left for the reasons I stated above, instead of playing the way they did or Torres. But already gone into this earlier, so I'll stop.
Try not to jump the gun, as it does you no favours.
I'll leave it there as I have made my point. Next time understand context and possibility of more than one interpretation to a post, before going all Cujo the moment someone says something remotely complimentary about Torres as it simply smacks of bitterness that you just focused on using as a stage to have a pop at Torres, regardless of your denials to make your point seem not wildly affected by bitter tribalism. In relation to your second paragraph, with all due respect, bit 'yawn' and 'samey samey' really with your anti-Torres waffle. Cheerio.
That works just fine for me mate.
ReplyDeleteNope, paraphrasing was the right word. Look it up and see for yourself mate :-)
ReplyDeleteI won't bother going any further into your post, as each time I do you just come back with something even longer, yet less relevant to the actual points being debated.
Finally, I only debate things said in an article or by the person I'm directly responding to, so if you're confused by anything I say, just read your posts again to find context for the comments. Cheers!
Nope Wrighty, Chan has got you on this one easily. You jumped to the wrong conclusion from the start and you keep on shooting yourself in the foot because you can't accept that you were wrong in the first place. Been funny reading watching you both, Chan is boringly long winded even though he is right in the points he has made and you are more funny to read as you got it wrong from the start but just haven't got the humility to accept you are wrong, instead continue to make a tit of yourself time and time again (no point posting a reply to someone that most likely won't reply, as its futile and just smells of you trying to salvage something out of the mess you have created with your stupidity). Cheers Wrighty for the unintentional comedy.
ReplyDeleteSad really at the way he has fallen, for me anyway, as he was my favourite player at the time (not just for the looks! ;) ). Pity things ended the way it did. But it was a poor time at the club generally with the owners, etc, though the romance in me would have thought his so-called love for the club would have made him hold on for a while longer.
ReplyDeleteSteve Who. I remember him as a fairly good footballer who didnt have a football brain - and apparently this lack of intelligence is apparent in the rest of his life. What a sad loser, I think we gained alot when he left us.
ReplyDeleteok, having Torres upfront is better than having no striker at all. That's not really saying much though is it?
ReplyDeleteAny striker can claim to be brilliant on his day, but unfortunately those days come around far too infrequently for Torres nowadays. Realistically it would cost up to about £30m to get Torres back, and he is barely worth £15m from all we've seen of him in recent years.
There are far better options out there. (And I'm not saying that as a bitter fan, as I've never held anything against Torres for seeking a move elsewhere under his circumstances)
i agree,the way ireland played we made arbeloa look like cafu.
ReplyDeleteI (maybe begrudgingly at times) accept whenever it is pointed out that I am in the wrong, as has happened on the forums before. In this instance though? GTFOH!
ReplyDelete