Fernando Torres has identified the sale of Liverpool's "engine", Xabi
Alonso, as one of the principal reasons for the club's struggles this
year. The Spanish striker also said the club's current team were not
strong enough mentally to overcome a poor start. Yet despite his
damning analysis he said Liverpool could recover with "a vengeance",
with Rafael Benítez as manager.
In a frank assessment of a miserable season at Anfield, in which
Champions League qualification is in jeopardy and when doubts have been
raised over where Torres, Steven Gerrard and Benítez will be next term,
the Liverpool striker blamed last summer's transfer strategy for much
of the club's problems.
Torres admits to witnessing parallels between Liverpool and Atlético
Madrid, the boyhood club he left in frustration in 2007, and cites the
£30m sale of Alonso to Real Madrid, Alvaro Arbeloa's £3.5m move to the
same club and Sami Hyypia's transfer to Bayer Leverkusen as causes of
the club's failure to build on last season's second-placed finish in
the Premier League.
In an interview with the Spanish sports magazine Don Balon, Torres
said: "There have been various important factors, like the fact that we
were so far off the top of the table so quickly. That killed us
psychologically and has stopped us changing the situation. After that,
injuries hit us pretty hard and we have felt that a lot. After a good
season last year, the team needed certain reinforcements and keep the
squad together, but circumstances dictated that we had to sell players
and everything got messed up.
"The sale of Arbeloa, Hyypia and Alonso was an important loss. Alvaro
was a player who did a vital job for us, always played to a high level
and his flexibility was a huge bonus. Sami may not have played every
week but he was a 10 out of 10 on and off the pitch, bringing calm to
the ground and having everyone's admiration.
"And Xabi … players like Xabi are very rare. He was the team's engine
and you know that when you change an engine, it takes time to work
again."
The Europa League represents Liverpool's last chance of silverware this
season and Torres, who will be fit to face Benfica in the quarter-final
second leg at Anfield tomorrow, concedes there are similarities between
recent disappointments and his ultimate disillusionment at Atlético. He
added: "It's difficult to compare [the two clubs] because the level of
expectation and the sort of objectives we have are totally different,
as much in a personal sense as a collective one. But, yes, you could
say that there have been certain situations that look similar, above
all in this last year."
Torres's comments may heighten speculation over his Liverpool future,
although the 26-year-old has repeatedly said that he wants to stay at
Anfield, providing the squad is strengthened this summer. The striker
believes Benítez will remain as Liverpool's manager and does not
consider the club to be in terminal decline.
"Rafa signed a five-year contract last summer because he wants to
improve the club. So I think that this new era of Rafa's is only just
starting," he said. "Big clubs in Europe always go through difficult
spells where it appears as though there is no light at the end of the
tunnel. But because they are big clubs, they always come back and they
do so with a vengeance. It is just a matter of time."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/07/fernando-torres-liverpool
Alonso, as one of the principal reasons for the club's struggles this
year. The Spanish striker also said the club's current team were not
strong enough mentally to overcome a poor start. Yet despite his
damning analysis he said Liverpool could recover with "a vengeance",
with Rafael Benítez as manager.
In a frank assessment of a miserable season at Anfield, in which
Champions League qualification is in jeopardy and when doubts have been
raised over where Torres, Steven Gerrard and Benítez will be next term,
the Liverpool striker blamed last summer's transfer strategy for much
of the club's problems.
Torres admits to witnessing parallels between Liverpool and Atlético
Madrid, the boyhood club he left in frustration in 2007, and cites the
£30m sale of Alonso to Real Madrid, Alvaro Arbeloa's £3.5m move to the
same club and Sami Hyypia's transfer to Bayer Leverkusen as causes of
the club's failure to build on last season's second-placed finish in
the Premier League.
In an interview with the Spanish sports magazine Don Balon, Torres
said: "There have been various important factors, like the fact that we
were so far off the top of the table so quickly. That killed us
psychologically and has stopped us changing the situation. After that,
injuries hit us pretty hard and we have felt that a lot. After a good
season last year, the team needed certain reinforcements and keep the
squad together, but circumstances dictated that we had to sell players
and everything got messed up.
"The sale of Arbeloa, Hyypia and Alonso was an important loss. Alvaro
was a player who did a vital job for us, always played to a high level
and his flexibility was a huge bonus. Sami may not have played every
week but he was a 10 out of 10 on and off the pitch, bringing calm to
the ground and having everyone's admiration.
"And Xabi … players like Xabi are very rare. He was the team's engine
and you know that when you change an engine, it takes time to work
again."
The Europa League represents Liverpool's last chance of silverware this
season and Torres, who will be fit to face Benfica in the quarter-final
second leg at Anfield tomorrow, concedes there are similarities between
recent disappointments and his ultimate disillusionment at Atlético. He
added: "It's difficult to compare [the two clubs] because the level of
expectation and the sort of objectives we have are totally different,
as much in a personal sense as a collective one. But, yes, you could
say that there have been certain situations that look similar, above
all in this last year."
Torres's comments may heighten speculation over his Liverpool future,
although the 26-year-old has repeatedly said that he wants to stay at
Anfield, providing the squad is strengthened this summer. The striker
believes Benítez will remain as Liverpool's manager and does not
consider the club to be in terminal decline.
"Rafa signed a five-year contract last summer because he wants to
improve the club. So I think that this new era of Rafa's is only just
starting," he said. "Big clubs in Europe always go through difficult
spells where it appears as though there is no light at the end of the
tunnel. But because they are big clubs, they always come back and they
do so with a vengeance. It is just a matter of time."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/07/fernando-torres-liverpool
