Torres hails perfectionist Benitez

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres says they key to manager Rafa Benitez‘s success is his insistance that everything is done exactly right and that players understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.

As the Spanish international striker goes on a few weeks holiday before pre-season training begins, Torres has praised the gaffer for making him a more professional and better player.

The 25-year-old said, “Rafa concentrates on the professional side of things. He tries to improve every minor detail and movement you carry out during the course of a game, and he also explains the reasons behind his decisions.

“He’s obsessed that you understand what you are doing and why. He’s not happy that you do things just because he tells you that something has to be done.

“He says, ‘Do it like this. Do you understand why you are being told to do so? No? We’ll go through it again then’.

“I remember when I signed for the club people were questioning me as a goalscorer. I received criticism because I wasn’t getting goals.

“The first thing he told me was that I was signed to score goals. Benitez is adamant that I live in the area because that’s where you get goals.

“That was the first thing he told me, the wing is for the wingers, and that the striker should be focused on the two rival centre-backs.”