Fernando Torres

[Lee]

Anyway... How I see it.

We bought one of the best young players in the world with lots of (largely unfulfilled) potential and with us, he became the best striker in the world for two or three seasons. We were ecstatic. We loved him.

He peaked, requested a transfer to a club with a better chance of winning trophies (we had not long been bought by FSG after the nightmare period of H&G) and we got a record fee for him. A bit of blow to us all (OK - that's an understatement in some cases). Where was the loyalty? He was deserting us in an our of desperate need.

Much wailing ensued. Probably because he went to a direct rival instead of a Spanish one. His achievements, his spectacular, important, vital goals were wiped from the collective memory. He was banished.

He made a dreadful decision, seems to have regretted it ever since and he has regressed to a greater extent than any other player in living memory. Very quickly he became a shell of his former self and is now a laughing stock / object of sympathy depending on your point of view.

Each of those are fine.

But I just don't understand some of the vitriol still directed at him. I mean, some of the guys on here look desperately jilted at times.


Had he stayed, would his decline been as pronounced? Unlikely. But I have a feeling his peak was behind him. His pace had gone, as had his power, and more importantly, his head too.

He wanted out, we sold him for peak value, and he has not been worth anywhere near his fee since. We won. We cashed in. We have had the last laugh. Chelsea lost in that deal. Torres lost too.

Feel free to disagree with any of that. He's vile after all.

Any bitterness or resentfulness has long since gone.

He was absolutely amazing for us - incredible. Torres and Chelsea are terrible for eachother, we brought in Suarez and moved on, Torres got the trophies that he seeked (albiet very meaningless to him, I would think).

He's now just another footballer. I neither like or dislike him.

[McDermotX]

My irony measuring stick just snapped under the pressure of irony.

Aye, but don't mistake an easy jibe for wallowing.

[dom9]

It's kinda hard not to when you post so many.

[McDermotX]

Don't get so defensive around it dom,
I like the humorous tone of this thread, but if you think some on here sit clenched and grinding their teeth when talking about this fella, speaking for myself, you'd be surprised by how few times this joker enters my thoughts.
His complete fall from grace, where his partnership with Gerrard elevated him to world-class territory, has been undeniably spectacular and he bares little resemblance to that player, or even a professional top flight footballer for that matter.
This thread, by it's very existence, not to mention it's title, is a focus point for all matters relating to him. It's hardly someone else's fault if he's providing such wonderful material for keeping the tone of this thread in the manner that it is.
If some want to come on and eulogise about what a player he was for us over two seasons, that's fine. But to be honest, the only thing that may reduce the popularity of this thread will be if he stops playing like a sap.

To be honest, this is probably the longest time I've spent on a post in this thread......usually no more than a few seconds, but hey ho.

[dom9]

Don't get so defensive around it dom,
I like the humorous tone of this thread, but if you think some on here sit clenched and grinding their teeth when talking about this fella, speaking for myself, you'd be surprised by how few times this joker enters my thoughts.
His complete fall from grace, where his partnership with Gerrard elevated him to world-class territory, has been undeniably spectacular and he bares little resemblance to that player, or even a professional top flight footballer for that matter.
This thread, by it's very existence, not to mention it's title, is a focus point for all matters relating to him. It's hardly someone else's fault if he's providing such wonderful material for keeping the tone of this thread in the manner that it is.
If some want to come on and eulogise about what a player he was for us over two seasons, that's fine. But to be honest, the only thing that may reduce the popularity of this thread will be if he stops playing like a sap.

To be honest, this is probably the longest time I've spent on a post in this thread......usually no more than a few seconds, but hey ho.

I'm not being defensive about it. I am providing some balance however.

You don't have to agree with that, and that's fine. But to accuse me of either crying about it (Norbs) or getting defensive (you) is pretty inaccurate.

And re the bit in bold, yep, definitely a case of quantity of posts over quality in your case in this thread.

[McDermotX]

Meoww......

[dom9]

Woof.

[vlahka]

My manc friends have gotten horribly annoying since van gaal. Yesterday saying liverpool are the reason for Torres' bad form because we overplayed him and wore him down. Gave them a huge write up showing he played a crapload less games for us compared to what he does at chelsea, and you know, the whole benitez never playing the same team more than once which they also mocked us over. But nope, typical united fan style said he refused to read the wall of text I sent. And they call us clueless.

[SK]

Anyway... How I see it.

We bought one of the best young players in the world with lots of (largely unfulfilled) potential and with us, he became the best striker in the world for two or three seasons. We were ecstatic. We loved him.

He peaked, requested a transfer to a club with a better chance of winning trophies (we had not long been bought by FSG after the nightmare period of H&G) and we got a record fee for him. A bit of blow to us all (OK - that's an understatement in some cases). Where was the loyalty? He was deserting us in an our of desperate need.

Much wailing ensued. Probably because he went to a direct rival instead of a Spanish one. His achievements, his spectacular, important, vital goals were wiped from the collective memory. He was banished.

He made a dreadful decision, seems to have regretted it ever since and he has regressed to a greater extent than any other player in living memory. Very quickly he became a shell of his former self and is now a laughing stock / object of sympathy depending on your point of view.

Each of those are fine.

But I just don't understand some of the vitriol still directed at him. I mean, some of the guys on here look desperately jilted at times.


Had he stayed, would his decline been as pronounced? Unlikely. But I have a feeling his peak was behind him. His pace had gone, as had his power, and more importantly, his head too.

He wanted out, we sold him for peak value, and he has not been worth anywhere near his fee since. We won. We cashed in. We have had the last laugh. Chelsea lost in that deal. Torres lost too.

Feel free to disagree with any of that. He's vile after all.

I really don't think anyone hates him. At least not anymore. It was understandable right after his transfer but his decline has really made it easier to deal with it, as opposed to him being a big hit at chelsea.

It's pity now, don't relly know what happend to him, yes he lost his pace but he should have been able to adapt to a new style of play, he should have been retrained to be more of a target man/poacher, but he tries to play the same way he did before, and has become a parody of himself.

[RichC]

Anyway... How I see it.

We bought one of the best young players in the world with lots of (largely unfulfilled) potential and with us, he became the best striker in the world for two or three seasons. We were ecstatic. We loved him.

He peaked, requested a transfer to a club with a better chance of winning trophies (we had not long been bought by FSG after the nightmare period of H&G) and we got a record fee for him. A bit of blow to us all (OK - that's an understatement in some cases). Where was the loyalty? He was deserting us in an our of desperate need.

Much wailing ensued. Probably because he went to a direct rival instead of a Spanish one. His achievements, his spectacular, important, vital goals were wiped from the collective memory. He was banished.

He made a dreadful decision, seems to have regretted it ever since and he has regressed to a greater extent than any other player in living memory. Very quickly he became a shell of his former self and is now a laughing stock / object of sympathy depending on your point of view.

Each of those are fine.

But I just don't understand some of the vitriol still directed at him. I mean, some of the guys on here look desperately jilted at times.


Had he stayed, would his decline been as pronounced? Unlikely. But I have a feeling his peak was behind him. His pace had gone, as had his power, and more importantly, his head too.

He wanted out, we sold him for peak value, and he has not been worth anywhere near his fee since. We won. We cashed in. We have had the last laugh. Chelsea lost in that deal. Torres lost too.

Feel free to disagree with any of that. He's vile after all.

Good post

[Venton]

Yes, the vitriol is a bit much. The problem with Torres was that he was a bit of a badge-kisser which made it worse. At least with Suarez you knew what the arrangement was pretty much from the start so there were no illusions on either side.

[Tee]

Yes, the vitriol is a bit much. The problem with Torres was that he was a bit of a badge-kisser which made it worse. At least with Suarez you knew what the arrangement was pretty much from the start so there were no illusions on either side.

Sorry but that is wrong. Torres was never ever a badge kisser, in fact he even reiterated Inan interview that he never kissed the LFC badge in his time here. By contrast Luis showed very early on just how much that shirt and badge meant to him. He genuinely loved liverpool and kissed the badge quite a few times.

We loved Torres and it was unconditional, defended him for every poor showing or clear lack of effort. The difference between him and Luis is like chalk and cheese so when Luis left this summer I was devastated (as I was with Torres when he left) but I could not begrudge him this move after the blood and sweat he shed for that liver bird.

Torres on the other hand walked out at a time the club and fans desperately needed loyalty and belief in turning things round at a troubled time for the club. He just never had the stomach for the fight and I can unashamedly say I enjoy his every failure.

[EwarWoo]

Torres on the other hand walked out at a time the club and fans desperately needed loyalty and belief in turning things round at a troubled time for the club. He just never had the stomach for the fight and I can unashamedly say I enjoy his every failure.

End of the day he'd gone ****, we were better off shot, and he did us a favour. Not his fault we wasted the money.

Hard to be bitter long term really.

Getting rid was a fantastic bit of business.

I don't care what he does either way these days, but I do admit I take some pleasure in the fact that Chelsea paid us so much for him when he was clearly past it.

[jono]

End of the day he'd gone ****, we were better off shot, and he did us a favour. Not his fault we wasted the money.

Hard to be bitter long term really.

Getting rid was a fantastic bit of business.

I don't care what he does either way these days, but I do admit I take some pleasure in the fact that Chelsea paid us so much for him when he was clearly past it.

That's the buzz I get out of this as well. I take more pleasure in what his loss of form means to those plastic fans and club, not in what it means to him.

[dom9]

Sorry but that is wrong. Torres was never ever a badge kisser, in fact he even reiterated Inan interview that he never kissed the LFC badge in his time here. By contrast Luis showed very early on just how much that shirt and badge meant to him. He genuinely loved liverpool and kissed the badge quite a few times.

We loved Torres and it was unconditional, defended him for every poor showing or clear lack of effort. The difference between him and Luis is like chalk and cheese so when Luis left this summer I was devastated (as I was with Torres when he left) but I could not begrudge him this move after the blood and sweat he shed for that liver bird.

Torres on the other hand walked out at a time the club and fans desperately needed loyalty and belief in turning things round at a troubled time for the club. He just never had the stomach for the fight and I can unashamedly say I enjoy his every failure.

Jilted is definitely the word.