Fernando Torres’ exit from Liverpool Football Club should have marked a sad day on in the history of the club. Instead, his shameful and impatient pursuit of money and perceived success marked the day when an idol transformed into a figure of hatred.
Torres will rue the day when he turned his back the fans who supported him when was at his lowest point and made excuses for his indifferent form when many other fans wouldn’t have.
As many have said already, what really cuts with Liverpool fans is the manner in which he conducted his transfer to the capital, spitting in the face of the club who were prepared to take a chance with him. Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho both turned their noses up at a serious move for the striker, considering him to be not prolific enough for the Premiership.
Had Torres quietly decided he would like to move on and thanked Liverpool for all they had done, the realists among us might have respected his decision.
Yet by choosing to go to the moral polar opposite of a club like Liverpool is maybe what grates most about Torres’ transfer.
One thing Torres will never experience again is the thrill of walking out on a massive european night at Anfield (and they will return) as a Liverpool player. Even his Chelsea teammates talk about how frightening it is to experience as an opposition player, Torres can now only look forward to the inevitable venom aimed towards him from The Kop on his return (the songs have been written already) rather than the adoration he has reveled in during the past three seasons.
The Kop are famous for greeting their own on their return playing for opposition clubs. During Torres time at Liverpool, we were believed to be just that, a true red with the liverbird engraved on his heart. Yet who would have thought it would be Ryan Babel who was the most respectful and courteous on his exit.
TIA columnist Aaron Cutler perfectly summed up LFC fans feeling towards Torres when quoted the Barcelona fans reaction to Figo making the switch to bitter rivals Real Madrid – “We hate you because we loved you so much“.
I propose LFC fans recreate this banner for the match on Sunday or Torres return to Anfield next season. Hopefully the team and the fans can give him a swift what he has really given up on and off the pitch.
Rather than dwell on what is now the past, LFCs quick movement swooping for the potentially lethal combination of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll show FSGs shred business and sporting nous.
Suarez’s pace, ingenuity and goal-scoring threat coupled with a battering ram of a striker in Andy Carroll has the potential to be one of the most formidable strike-forces in England and with time on their side both being on the right side of 25.
Comparisons to Kevin Keegan and John Toshack would not be unfounded as both players possess eerily similar attributes to their predecessors.
Such a partnership would see Dalglish revert back to the 442 (on paper) formation that brought him so much success, pass and move football, players interchanging, simple but very effective.
Steven Gerrard could also be given a new role, one similar to what Peter Beardsley played when he was at the club.
Many point to the fact that Gerrard is more effective higher up the pitch but with two players up top for opposition defenders to deal with, he should pose even more of a threat.
By playing a deeper role he will be arriving later in the box giving defenders less time to nullify him as a threat, something that often happened when he was playing with Torres as part of a front two, he was marked to closely and therefore become isolated from Torres.
Liverpool are on the rise; the past few years that blighted the club are old news, we have new owners who are willing to invest, a squad of hungry players who crucially want to play for the club, a talented manager and an encouraging youth set-up.
I for one I’m looking forward to seeing the new look Liverpool in action and forgetting about Fernando Torres as quickly he forgot about us.
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