Fernando Torres

[Exiled_red]

True, I just saw it somewhere and thought I would post it.

[Tee]

True, I just saw it somewhere and thought I would post it.

No matter what the media, Torres himself or Chelsea say, his move has been nothing short of an absolute disaster.

[little dave hedgehog]

if he's anything like me, he might think penalties are essentially worthless to a striker. of course they aren't worth nothing to the team, but when i was younger and playing regularly and keeping track of how many goals i was scoring, i would never count penalties toward my total. a missed penalty is a real knock for your confidence, but if you score one it doesn't really prove much. all goals are valuable, i just don't think they do much for your mojo, so to speak. i could understand if, at 2-0 up, one might think he'd have far more to lose than to gain.

he's still a complete bottling ****** though.

[Tee]

if he's anything like me, he might think penalties are essentially worthless to a striker. of course they aren't worth nothing to the team, but when i was younger and playing regularly and keeping track of how many goals i was scoring, i would never count penalties toward my total. a missed penalty is a real knock for your confidence, but if you score one it doesn't really prove much. all goals are valuable, i just don't think they do much for your mojo, so to speak. i could understand if, at 2-0 up, one might think he'd have far more to lose than to gain.

he's still a complete bottling ****** though.

WTF? I would claim everything, EVERYTHING if I was a striker. Don't understand that mentality mate. A goal is a goal, tap in or penalty or deflection.

[little dave hedgehog]

i counted every other type of goal, just thought penos were way too easy. plenty of scope to be disappointed if you don't score, but gets the same celebration as shooting a fish in a barrel. (unless it's in a final and you win on the penalty or something.)

[scully]

I remember a few years ago we were playing Portsmouth at Anfield in a game we needed to win for CL qualification reasons. It was 0 0 when we were awarded a penalty in front of the Kop. We had many recognised penalty takers on the pitch at the time including, if I recall correctly, Gerrard and Alonso,

Peter Crouch was on an awful run - something like 14 games without a goal. He had the bottle to take the penalty. Granted, he missed it, but at least he had the guts to take it. We ended up winning the match 4 0 so it didn't really matter in the end. Crouch had been under incredible pressure to get his first goal for us but, despite the fact he missed the pen I knew he would keep going and would probably ultimately come good for us, which he did.

Last night Chelsea were 2 0 up against a Championship side with a short amount of time left when they were awarded a penalty. Score or miss, it's highly probably Chelsea will win the game and progress. The Chelsea fans chant for Torres to take it. Mata offers him the ball. An he ****s himself, bottles it and refuses to take it.

As a poster said above - the worst thing that could have happened was that he missed and Chelsea win 2 0 and he has no more or less derision heaped on his shoulders than would have happened anyway.

That one act last night finally convinced me he's finished.

Anyway - just my thoughts for what they're worth.

Great post. I loved and still love Crouch because the guy has guts and a massive heart - things the brat at Chelsea clearly lacks.

[kev776]

He is just having a long "off day"

[Buzzo]

WTF? I would claim everything, EVERYTHING if I was a striker. Don't understand that mentality mate. A goal is a goal, tap in or penalty or deflection.

i counted every other type of goal, just thought penos were way too easy. plenty of scope to be disappointed if you don't score, but gets the same celebration as shooting a fish in a barrel. (unless it's in a final and you win on the penalty or something.)

You guys sound prolific, sounds like Kenny should maybe have you in the first XI at Anfield


---------------------Lucas----------------------------

Maxi--------------Gerrard--------------------Suarez

--------------Tee-------Little Dave Hedgehog-------

[Tee]

You guys sound prolific, sounds like Kenny should maybe have you in the first XI at Anfield


---------------------Lucas----------------------------

Maxi--------------Gerrard--------------------Suarez

--------------Tee-------Little Dave Hedgehog-------

[Craig_H]

Just think how much money we'd make too, selling replica shirts with "Little Dave Hedgehog" on the back ££££££££££££££££££££££££££


"Tee"....not so much

[little dave hedgehog]

truth.

[Buzzo]

I just don't know how our scouting network can have missed out on 2 prolific centre forwards? Liverpool supporters as well

[little dave hedgehog]

well i can understand not signing me now. but dunno what the **** they were thinking not giving me a run out 15 years ago. boggles the mind.

[andrewces38]

Just think how much money we'd make too, selling replica shirts with "Little Dave Hedgehog" on the back ££££££££££££££££££££££££££


"Tee"....not so much

I would buy a " Tee " shirt

[Liverpel]

Mind games cannot be won if you keep running away

By Richard Sadlier
Sunday March 11 2012
Fernando Torres was fouled in the 68th minute of Chelsea's FA Cup win against Birmingham City on Wednesday evening. The referee awarded a penalty kick and sections of the crowd chanted the Spaniard's name in the hope he would take it. Juan Mata stepped forward but his effort was saved by Colin Doyle. All this information can be found in the match report which featured on Torres' official website, but the most telling point was left out.

A lot of those chants were from sections of the Birmingham City crowd, and Torres refused to take the kick himself when offered the chance by Mata. He has now gone 1,431 minutes without a goal, just nine minutes short of 24 hours.

Taking to the field convinced you will fail is something I have experienced many times. Early in my career, I avoided any contact with team-mates during the pre-match warm-up for fear they would pass me the ball. My confidence was so low I was sure I would be unable to control it, revealing to anyone watching that I was an impostor. I never went near the goal to shoot for the very same reason. This was all before the game kicked off.

I over-thought everything and imagined anything I tried would have a negative outcome. In that state of mind it is far easier to hide, so I would run to places where the ball would not find me. I would position myself against centre-halves who would outjump me or full-backs who would outrun me. I covered as much of the field as I could without ever wanting the ball to come near me. It is interesting that Torres has been regularly praised for his general play during his long run without scoring. Some think he is a better all-round player than he was at Liverpool but I think he is running from what he fears he can no longer do.

For me, the worst possible situation was to be in front of goal with an expectation to score. I was convinced I'd miss. You get far less stick for delaying a run into the penalty area than for getting there on time and missing. I would often be praised for my effort and attitude by fans, but everyone in the dressing room could see through me. It hardly needs to be said, but I was awful in every game I played at that time.

A collapse in form is bound to dominate the mind of any footballer, but thinking too much about it or trying too hard to resolve it doesn't help. It is often said that a continued spell in the team would benefit the confidence of any striker, but that's not always true. With the kind of anxiety I had then, a run of games would have done nothing to improve the situation. Anyway, if those games are spent listening to jeers from the crowds and taunts by opponents, which they inevitably are, matters are only made worse.

Strikers don't forget how to score goals. But they can lose the belief that they will. This has been the case for Torres in his career at Chelsea. I know he has never been a regular penalty-taker, but his reluctance to take one, particularly with only 20 minutes to go in a game they were leading 2-0, revealed the full extent of his mental frailties.

When the issue is so obviously a psychological one, I would have expected him to be working with a sports psychologist long before now. However, recent comments attributed to his agent Antonio Sanz astounded me. Asked whether he had sought the help of a psychologist, Sanz said his client would be open to the idea if it was proposed by the club. Why he needs the club to mention it first is beyond me

Actually, why Sanz himself hasn't suggested it before now is just as hard to understand.

Maybe they are all in denial at what is really happening, or perhaps they have bought into the old-school stigma surrounding such work in professional football. You take a sore tooth to the dentist immediately, so why a crisis in confidence isn't brought to a sports psychologist at the earliest opportunity baffles me. But it explains why things have been so bad for so long.

He faces the humiliation of being left out of the Spanish squad for the European Championships. He was not included for their recent friendly with Venezuela. There is reported interest from Paris St Germain in signing him at the end of the season, but the fee will be a fraction of the £50m paid by Chelsea in January 2011. That now looks like one of the worst transfer deals of all time (or one of the best if you're involved with Liverpool).

His complete collapse has been painful to watch at times. Despite saying he will persevere with Torres for as long as it takes, Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo left him on the bench yesterday. Former Chelsea midfielder Gianfranco Zola gave his verdict on Friday, saying "he needs to be a little bit more confident and that's all". He makes it sound so simple, but it's a great deal harder if you're not willing to ask for help.

[email protected]

- Richard Sadlier

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/mind-games-cannot-be-won-if-you-keep-running-away-3046288.html