Fernando Torres

Knex*

Xavi6 wrote: »

It's Roy's fault, no other possible explanation.

He's also responsible for the recession, Hurricane Sandy and anything else that can be pinned on him.

Where was he when Lennon was shot?

Himself and Suarez have a lot to answer for....

His form at Liverpool was a direct result of Hodgson.

NabyLadistheman

2 pages before Andy Carroll got a mention! Not bad

SlickRic

homerjay2005 wrote: »

his form had dropped considerably long long before he signed for Chelsea, yet people seem to ignore this.

nothing to do with systems, formation or players, he started to lose everything around 2010 and has not recovered since.

that year. 2010. hmmm. something else happened that year.

some much-maligned former Liverpool manager, who is regarded as nothing more than an idiot by many rival fans left that year, didn't he?! shít...I can't remember his name. remind me...

i remember being told ad-nauseum that Torres couldn't stand him and wanted out of the club because of him though, despite it being the most prolific goalscoring return of his whole career by far. honestly though, his name has escaped me.

he was the guy who Torres has since credited as being the major reason why he became as prolific as he did in a Liverpool shirt.

he was Spanish, looked like a waiter, and was a bit tubby according to rivals.

oh yeah, his name was Rafa wasn't it? that shít manager who "allegedly" fell out with all the star players at the club.

machiavellianme

Xavi6 wrote: »

It's Roy's fault, no other possible explanation.

He's also responsible for the recession, Hurricane Sandy and anything else that can be pinned on him.

Where was he when Lennon was shot?

Hopefully holding the gun...

5starpool

I wish this thread wasn't started just before the game against Liverpool ffs. Guaranteed hat trick now for him.

Chucky the tree

Xavi6 wrote: »

It's Roy's fault, no other possible explanation.

He's also responsible for the recession, Hurricane Sandy and anything else that can be pinned on him.

Where was he when Lennon was shot?

Under Rafa 09/10 - 18 goals 22 league games
Under Roy 2010 Sept - December - 6 goals 19 league games
Under Kenny 2011 January - 3 goals in 4 league games.


Of course his form didn't dip when Roy was manager, what a crazy suggestion.:pac:

Yakult

Torres should never have left the Kop or at least not half way through the damn season. That's what pisses me off about it. If he had waited until the summer I would probably have some inkling of respect for him still but the way it panned out, I have none. Nor do I have sympathy for him. I hope he is happy with the trophies the team around him won, after all that's what he probably wanted.

Back to Spain I reckon and maybe he might find his feet again but he needs to get out of Chelsea soon, because time is not on his side.

Fowler87

Few factors probably in his demise but not playing with Gerrard anymore has to be one of the main ones

kippy

Yakult wrote: »

Torres should never have left the Kop or at least not half way through the damn season. That's what pisses me off about it. If he had waited until the summer I would probably have some inkling of respect for him still but the way it panned out, I have none. Nor do I have sympathy for him. I hope he is happy with the trophies the team around him won, after all that's what he probably wanted.

Back to Spain I reckon and maybe he might find his feet again but he needs to get out of Chelsea soon, because time is not on his side.

Is he that bothered though?

Macca07

Fowler87 wrote: »

Few factors probably in his demise but not playing with Gerrard anymore has to be one of the main ones

Because Hazard and Mata are only average at best...

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Fowler87

Macca07 wrote: »

Because Hazard and Mata are only average at best...

Nothing to do with that. Top players they are but certain players find specific understanding of each others game and Gerrard was that for Torres. Stats don't lie either..

kippy

Fowler87 wrote: »

Nothing to do with that. Top players they are but certain players find specific understanding of each others game and Gerrard was that for Torres. Stats don't lie either..

So nothing to do with injuries?

Fowler87

kippy wrote: »

So nothing to do with injuries?

Persistant injuries with Liverpool too so maybe they are taking its toll at this stage of his career. But he always found consistent goal scoring form again.

Hulk Hands

He's been bad since prior to the 2010 World Cup,probably due to injuries catching up with him. He was poor in his last 18 months with Liverpool, and them getting 50 million for him was ridiculously good business. I remember being shouted down for having that opinion at the time. It's nothing to do with love or passion or desire or whatever other crap people like to spout, these are professional sports men paid to do a job, not intermediate hurlers. He simply lost his yard of pace that set him aside from other strikers, and in turn lost his confidence. Domino effect from there

missingtime

A combination of things have resulted in Torres' decline in form. Persistent injuries and the sacking of Benitez and his team. And in particular a guy call Xabi Valero.

Fernando Torres praises goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero
Jun 6 2008


by Christopher Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post


OE of Liverpool’s big success stories from overseas, Fernando Torres, who netted 33 goals in his debut season at Anfield, has revealed that a lot of his success is down to an unfamiliar source – Liverpool goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero..

“We’ve a Spanish goalkeeping coach and he has been a genius at telling me every week exactly what kind of task lies in front of me in the following match,” said Torres.

“Nobody has ever worked with me like this before. It’s outstanding. Basically, I know days before the next game exactly the best way to finish a chance against the keeper I’m about to face.

"Xavi Valero tells me precisely what each keeper tends to do – stay big, go down early, if they have a preferred side they try to push you to. It’s vital information. I’ve refined the way I take chances as a result.”

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/0100news/tm_headline=fernando-torres-praises-goalkeeping-coach-xavi-valero&method=full&objectid=21033722&siteid=50061-name_page.html

Dante

People are missing the main reason as to why his form has dropped so rapidly over the past two years, and its actually blindingly obvious. Its simply because he cut his hair. Back when he had glorious long blonde hair he was banging them in for the pool left right and center, and was arguably the best striker in the league. Then, for some crazy reason, in mid 2010 he decided to cut his hair considerably shorter. Almost immediately his form went into decline, spiraling downward to the point of no return.

While some argue that this is pure coincidence, one only has to look at the statistics to see the clear correlation. Based on various newspaper articles online, Torres defaced his hair in late May 2010, essentially at the end of the 2009-10 season. Up until that point, Torres had a remarkable scoring record, bagging 24 goals in 33 league games in the 2007-08 during his debut season, 14 goals in 24 league games in his second season, and a further 18 goals in 22 games in the 2009-10 season. This gave him an impressive pre-haircut premier league goal-to-game ratio of 1.4 (79/56).

Almost immediately after this, the goals began to dry up as did his confidence. In the season following the onslaught of his hair, which I will now refer to as 'the incident', he only managed a mere 9 goals in 23 league games which, while still a respectable tally, really didn't live up to the high standards set over his previous three seasons. Add to that his poor performance for Spain at the 2010 World Cup, some early alarm bells were beginning to ring. Unfortunately for Chelsea, they did not hear these bells and signed Fernando in January 2011 for an insane amount of money, enough for him to get all the haircuts and hair extensions in the world. It wasn't enough however for him to regain his confidence and form, as things quickly went from bad to worse. During his first half season with Chelsea he struggled to find the net scoring only once in 14 premier league games, which I believe is solely attributable to him still mourning over the loss of his once magnificent long golden locks. By the end of the 2011-12 season, he scored a pathetic 7 goals in 46 league appearances. While things have improved very very slightly this season, with 4 goals in 10 league games, he is undoubtedly still a shadow of his former self. This is clearly highlighted by his post-haircut premier league goal-to-game ratio, which increased dramatically from the impressive pre-haircut ratio 1.4 to a painful 5.1 (56/11). I just want to highlight the severity of these figures in simpler terms, this means that he now only scores a goal every 5 games since 'the incident' as opposed a goal every 1.4 games which he enjoyed during his glory years. Coincidence? I think not.

So there you have it, I hope you will all now agree that it wasn't his deep love of Liverpool nor the weight of a ridiculously high transfer fee on his shoulders that lead to his steady deterioration in form, it was simply due to the catastrophic mistake of cutting his hair, the source of all his power and skill.

GavRedKing

DaaaaaaaaaaN wrote: »

People are missing the main reason as to why his form has dropped so rapidly over the past two years, and its actually blindingly obvious. Its simply because he cut his hair. Back when he had glorious long blonde hair he was banging them in for the pool left right and center, and was arguably the best striker in the league. Then, for some crazy reason, in mid 2010 he decided to cut his hair considerably shorter. Almost immediately his form went into decline, spiraling downward to the point of no return.

While some argue that this is pure coincidence, one only has to look at the statistics to see the clear correlation. Based on various newspaper articles online, Torres defaced his hair in late May 2010, essentially at the end of the 2009-10 season. Up until that point, Torres had a remarkable scoring record, bagging 24 goals in 33 league games in the 2007-08 during his debut season, 14 goals in 24 league games in his second season, and a further 18 goals in 22 games in the 2009-10 season. This gave him an impressive pre-haircut premier league goal-to-game ratio of 1.4 (79/56).

Almost immediately after this, the goals began to dry up as did his confidence. In the season following the onslaught of his hair, which I will now refer to as 'the incident', he only managed a mere 9 goals in 23 league games which, while still a respectable tally, really didn't live up to the high standards set over his previous three seasons. Add to that his poor performance for Spain at the 2010 World Cup, some early alarm bells were beginning to ring. Unfortunately for Chelsea, they did not hear these bells and signed him in January 2011 for an insane amount of money, enough for him to get all the haircuts and hair extensions in the world. It wasn't enough however for him to regain his confidence and form, as things quickly went from bad to worse. During his first half season with Chelsea he struggled to find the net scoring only once in 14 premier league games, which I believe is solely attributable to him still mourning over the loss of his once magnificent long golden locks. By the end of the 2011-12 season, he scored a pathetic 7 goals in 46 league appearances. While things have improved very very slightly this season, with 4 goals in 10 league games, he is undoubtedly still a shadow of his former self. This is clearly highlighted by his post-haircut premier league goal-to-game ratio, which increased dramatically from the impressive pre-haircut ratio 1.4 to a painful 5.1 (56/11). I just want to highlight the severity of these figures in simpler terms, this means that he now only scores a goal every 5 games since 'the incident' as opposed a goal every 1.4 games which he enjoyed during his glory years. Coincidence? I think not.

So there you have it, I hope you will all now agree that it wasn't his deep love of Liverpool nor the weight of a ridiculously high transfer fee on his shoulders that lead to his steady deterioration in form, it was simply due to the catastrophic mistake of cutting his hair, the source of all his power and skill.

Time for Roman to fork out for some extensions and a bottle of hair dye so and not €50 million on Falcao.

Sorted.

hefferboi

Xavi6 wrote: »

It's Roy's fault, no other possible explanation.

He's also responsible for the recession, Hurricane Sandy and anything else that can be pinned on him.

Where was he when Lennon was shot?

You're mixing Roy with Suarez there.

Dante

GavRedKing wrote: »

Time for Roman to fork out for some extensions and a bottle of hair dye so and not €50 million on Falcao.

Sorted.

Maybe so, you can't argue with such concrete facts. Hopefully its not too late...

SantryRed

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Under Rafa 09/10 - 18 goals 22 league games
Under Roy 2010 Sept - December - 6 goals 19 league games
Under Kenny 2011 January - 3 goals in 4 league games.


Of course his form didn't dip when Roy was manager, what a crazy suggestion.:pac:

The Dalglish one is pretty stupid in all fairness.

Chucky the tree

SantryRed wrote: »

The Dalglish one is pretty stupid in all fairness.

I wouldn't call facts stupid. Small sample size doesn't help, I suppose it could just be a big coincidence as well. What is stupid though, is claiming Torres was poor for 18 months or so before his move.

BetterCallSaul

kippy wrote: »

When Chelsea paid 50 million for his services to Liverpool I laughed at them, really I did, and I applauded Liverpool for getting so much money for an asset that had gone past its best. Probably the best transfer deal in history for the selling club, being honest.

It wasn't even the best transfer deal for the selling club on that day, never mind in history.

As bad as he's been, I'd say you would still find a club willing to pay a decent fee for his services again.

Lord Trollington

I don't buy into this notion that he has lost his explosive pace. They guy is only 28 for f*ck sake.

Physically he is at his peek for the next 3/4 years.

There are a number of factors at play here that has him in the mire he's in.

Injuries, being in and out of the Chelsea team, in and out of the Spanish squad the weight of expectation being a big part of it.

Since arriving in England he's been through 3 managers at Livepool and 3 at Chelsea. 6 managers in 5/6 years. No real continuity.

Majority of his problems are psychological. As a striker you need to be playing and full of confidence.

He's just not had that since his early days at Liverpool. You do not become a bad player over night.

As a LFC fan I'd love to see him back at Liverpool banging in the goals alongside Suarez and Stevie G. I'd take him back in the morning. But there is no such thing as romance in sport. Ask Robbie Fowler.

SantryRed

Lord Trollington wrote: »

I don't buy into this notion that he has lost his explosive pace. They guy is only 28 for f*ck sake.

Physically he is at his peek for the next 3/4 years.

Regardless of age, it's obvious he has lost his pace.

Oregano_State

Lord Trollington wrote: »

I don't buy into this notion that he has lost his explosive pace. They guy is only 28 for f*ck sake.

Physically he is at his peek for the next 3/4 years.

There are a number of factors at play here that has him in the mire he's in.

Injuries, being in and out of the Chelsea team, in and out of the Spanish squad the weight of expectation being a big part of it.

Since arriving in England he's been through 3 managers at Livepool and 3 at Chelsea. 6 managers in 5/6 years. No real continuity.

Majority of his problems are psychological. As a striker you need to be playing and full of confidence.

He's just not had that since his early days at Liverpool. You do not become a bad player over night.

As a LFC fan I'd love to see him back at Liverpool banging in the goals alongside Suarez and Stevie G. I'd take him back in the morning. But there is no such thing as romance in sport. Ask Robbie Fowler.

It is very possible for recurrant hamstring injuries to have an effect on pace, even if he's still in his peak years, and I think he has lost a bit of explosiveness over the first 5 meters.

I reckon he'll hit 15-20 EPL goals this season barring injury. He has looked good, but not amazing. Up until recently I thought he could get back to his best, but I'm not so sure now.

At the moment he's still a great player, but he's not up there with RVP, Falcao etc at the moment in terms of pure goal scoring and terrifying defenders.

I hope he can get back to where he was, but it's looking less likely with each passing week he doesn't bang a hat-trick from 4-5 chances like he was once well capable of.

Lord Trollington

SantryRed wrote: »

Regardless of age, it's obvious he has lost his pace.

I think you missed the point of my post.

He's 28. He's at his peak physically. You don't just completely lose your pace at that age, as i said there are much more factors at play here. If anything at his age he should be a much more clever footballer than he was 4/5 seasons ago.

He has the best nutritionists and physical trainers sports has to offer at Chelsea.
The pace he would have lost would be minimal if any at all.

Its a lazy bar stool cliche to suggest this is his problem.

He is still getting into positions and creating chances. Gone and long gone is the swagger in which he takes on those chances. You can see it in his body language every time he takes a shot that he's not confident.

I would say 90% of Torres problem is mental. Less than 10% is physical.

SantryRed

Lord Trollington wrote: »

I think you missed the point of my post. I can't dumb it down anymore unfortunately.

He's 28. He's at his peak physically. You don't just completely lose your pace at that age, as i said there are much more factors at play here. If anything at his age he should be a much more clever footballer than he was 4/5 seasons ago.

He has the best nutritionists and physical trainers sports has to offer at Chelsea.
The pace he would have lost would be minimal if any at all.

Its a lazy bar stool cliche to suggest this is his problem.

He is still getting into positions and creating chances. Gone and long gone is the swagger in which he takes on those chances. You can see it in his body language every time he takes a shot that he's not confident.

I would say 90% of Torres problem is mental. Less than 10% is physical.

Don't be so fcuking condescending to me.

It is blatantly obvious he has lost his pace. None of this mental/physical bollocks. Remember when he was a Liverpool and he'd just burn the centre half and slot the ball away, he can't even get away from them any more. Of course he's not confident like at Liverpool, but to say it's 10% physical is laughable.

Don't forget Torres had a few operations in 2010 and imo never looked as sharp after them.

GavRedKing

Torres HAS lost his blinding pace he had when he first came, that been said hes still fairly quick.

TBF as beens pointed out he has had a few injuries and operations so that would contribute to it.

He was always an intellegent footballer, his football brain is miles ahead of Sturridge and thats one of the reason hes playing week in week out. Hes often invovled in either an assist or the setting up the guy that eventually assists a goal, now he should be the one on the end of those passes/crosses but hes contributing to the team so I'm happy with himfor the time being.