Are we starting to see a different Fernando Torres? Source: AFP
That flash of blonde hair in the red jersey, that's not him anymore.
That kid who at 19 became captain and figurehead at his famous Spanish club. Nope. Gone.
From Atletico Madrid to Liverpool and Chelsea. Fernando Torres career has regressed from what we knew it as, but is it progressing into something more meaningful?
Torres has never won a league title. FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Euro Champs, World Cup? More ticks than a swamp. But a League championship? Nada.
Join Adam, Mark Rudan and Mark Bosnich on Matchday Saturday, Fox Sports 1 HD. The team are on at 5pm (EDT) as usual, then break at 10.15pm after the A-League before returning at 11.15pm with Bozza and Robbie for the countdown to Newcastle v Chelsea, kicking off at 11.45pm.
All times EDT.
- A-LEAGUE
- Friday: Western Sydney Wanderers v Adelaide, 7.30pm, Fox Sports 1 HD
- Saturday: Perth v Sydney FC, 5.30pm; Newcastle v Central Coast, 7.30pm; Fox Sports 1 HD
- Sunday: Brisbane v Melbourne Heart, 5pm, Fox Sports 1 HD
- Monday: Melbourne Victory v Wellington, 7.30pm, Fox Sports 1 HD
Kick Off, 6.30pm (EDT) Friday: Patrick Zwaanswijk joins Tara and Harps to preview the round.
Shootout, 7.05pm (EDT) Sunday: William Gallas gives his first television interview since signing with Perth Glory; Bruce Djite and Michael Bridges join Adam and Boz in the studio, and there will be a cross to the Mirror's Darren Lewis in England.
Saturday morning
- Barcelona v Espanyol, 6.55am, Fox Sports 2 HD
Saturday night/Sunday morning
- Chelsea v Newcastle, 11.35pm, Fox Sports 1 HD
- Fulham v Manchester United, 1.50am, Fox Sports 1 HD
- Viewers' Choice: West Bromwich Albion v Crystal Palace; West Ham v Aston Villa, Stoke City v Southampton, Manchester City v Norwich
- Hull v Sunderland, 1.50am, Fox Sports News
- Arsenal v Liverpool, 4.25am, Fox Sports 1HD
- Rayo Vallecano v Real Madrid, 5.55am, Fox Sports 3 HD
Sunday night/Monday morning
- Tottenham v Everton, 12.25am, Fox Sports 1 HD
- Cardiff v Swansea, 2.50am, Fox Sports 1 HD
Yet the way Jose Mourinho is using him, and thinks of him, suggests this version of Torres, the most laughed at and at the same time pitied striker in world football could propel his side in a role as under-appreciated as Bear Grylls' cameraman.
Last Sunday's win against Manchester City encapsulated all there is to Torres in 90 minutes of frustration, bewilderment, brilliance and most tellingly, hard graft.
Frustration with the miss in the 29th minute. How the top tier ended up with the ball after Torres had time to count how many panels were on the damn thing.
Then bewilderment followed, as Torres turned into an unplayable force for 15 minutes, the highlight of which had him burning around Gael Clichy as if the French left back had just got back from a buffet lunch with Gerard Depardieu.
Second half, Torres just ran. And ran, and ran. Jose Mourinho loved it.
He brought Sammy Eto'o off the bench, but not to replace Torres, and sure enough, the Spaniard kept running, right past Joe Hart and Matija Nastasic's improv comedy routine to slot home the winner.
Praise flowed, led by Mourinho.
"I had a big surprise with Fernando from the day I arrived which is the way he works," said Jose.
"If he doesn't score is very, very positive for the team because the way he works for the team is very, very positive because our team is not a physical team… we need a player like him because the people that play behind him are players based on technique and creativity".
OK then, can Chelsea actually win the league that way, with the nimble likes of Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Mata etc scoring the bulk of goals as Fernando completes his transformation from graceful matador to a charging bull?
Recent history says no. Of the last 4 seasons, 3 times the title winner had the leading scorer. Only Manchester City is the exception, though Sergio Aguero with 23 goals was 3rd on the list, supported by Edin Dezko (14 goals) and Mario Balotelli (13).
50 million pounds!! 50 MILLION POUNDS!!
Quite the price for a battering ram, but one suspects Roman Abramovich views football differently to most, which is fair enough when you have your own 767.
Torres is some sort of project for the Russian. He tried to get him in 2003, and 2006, before third time lucky, bingo, on that crazy January night in 2011.
It wasn't a transfer fee. It was a bounty.
Last year, he opened up about his first 18 months at Stamford Bridge, which resulted in 12 goals from 67 appearances and amusement for anyone not a Chelsea fan.
"I had team-mates who didn't care if the team won or lost because they were not playing," Torres said last year about his dark start in West London.
"I never wanted to be like that. [But] one day I discovered that I was like them, that it didn't matter it we won or lost if I was not playing. I wasn't part of the group."
Now he very much is and the price tag is irrelevant, for he isn't the player Chelsea thought they were getting for 50 mill, and they've come to accept the fact.
Criticism, sympathy, adulation, whatever it is from outside Mourinho's dressing room, Torres is without care too.
"There has been an overreaction about everything", he said 3 weeks ago.
"Overreact when I did a miss or if I have a red card or I hit the crossbar instead of scoring a goal… with me good things are looking so-so and bad things are looking really bad."
Thus, he has come to terms with what he is.
It's the rest of us who has to get used to this version of Fernando Torres.
01 Nov, 2013
-
Source: http://www.news.com.au/national/the-fernando-torres-of-old-might-not-be-returning-but-are-we-seeing-glimpses-of-something-different/story-e6frfkp9-1226750962887?from=public_rss
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
