That same run, that same rush, that same result... that's Torres! May 19 2008
HE ended the season the way he began it – as a record breaker. And in between, Fernando Torres gave reason to believe Liverpool had found themselves a worthy successor to past Anfield striking greats.
Eyebrows were raised when Rafael Benitez made his fellow Spaniard the club’s most expensive signing by completing a £21million transfer from Atletico Madrid last summer.
Yet from the moment Torres clinically dispatched his first goal in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea back in August, it was evident this was money well spent.
And how. Torres ended the season with 33 goals, 24 of them coming in the league to shatter Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record for most Premier League goals in a debut campaign by a foreign player.
There was also the small matter of becoming the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in 1996 to net 20 league goals in a season.
On top of that, Torres also equalled a 46-year-old record by netting in eight consecutive home league games, and became the first Anfield player to do so while in the top-flight of English football.
So it’s inevitable, and thoroughly deserved, that Torres should be named the Daily Post’s Liverpool player of the season.
The Spaniard was named man-of-the- match 11 times in Liverpool’s 59 games, holding off the challenge of skipper Steven Gerrard with 10 and midfielder Javier Mascherano with seven.
Indeed, ask any Liverpool supporter for their team’s three most influential players, that triumvirate would invariably trip straight off the tongue.
Such has been Torres’s impact, comparisons have already been made with the likes of Fowler and Kenny Dalglish although the Spaniard, in typically modest style, refuses to get carried away.
“I will try to do even better next season,” says Torres. “This is only my first season at Liverpool and I want to play better for many more seasons yet. So far I’ve had one good season but Kenny and Robbie have had six, seven, eight or 10 good seasons at Liverpool. It’s different.
“When I have finished my career then maybe that will be the moment to talk about these things but not now. It’s too early.
“It’s important to me that the fans think highly of me and if they’re saying these things then I would say ‘thank you, but not yet’.
I think they love me and I love them. It’s great when kids and their granddads come up to me in the street and say ‘you’re the best’.
“I was with Kenny Dalglish the other day and you could see in the faces of the people how much of a hero he is, 20 years after he finished his career. I want everyone to remember me in 20 years’ time.”
Surprisingly, Torres was named man of the match just once in Liverpool’s first 21 games – the Carling Cup win at Reading in which he scored a hat-trick – but the awards soon came regularly.
The final accolade, against Manchester City earlier this month, was enough to hold off the challenge of Gerrard, with whom Torres has formed such a telepathic understanding.
As with Torres, the majority of the skipper’s awards came between October and January at a time when Benitez’s side needed strong on-field leaders given the chaos that was unravelling behind the scenes.
This, too, was when the ever- dependable Jamie Carragher came to the fore, four of his five awards arriving in the same period.
But even the centre-back was ultimately outshone by the indomitable Mascherano, who underlined why Benitez was so keen to wrap up his £18million permanent transfer.
The Argentine proved the man for the big occasion, man of the match in the goalless league draw at Chelsea and taking the honours in both legs of the Champions League tie with Italian champions Inter Milan.
Liverpool’s other new arrivals also proved their worth. Yossi Benayoun earned four accolades – two on the strength of hat-tricks against Besiktas and Havant and Waterlooville – while Martin Skrtel was the pick in the home Champions League ties against Arsenal and Chelsea.
Free transfer Andrei Voronin, unfairly made a scapegoat by sections of the Liverpool support, helped ease the pressure on Torres early in the campaign with a clutch of impressive performances.
By contrast, Ryan Babel’s recurring inability to last a full 90 minutes and his chief role as an impact substitute meant that, despite his 10 goals, he is still waiting on his first man-of-the- match performance.
The absence of John Arne Riise, Steve Finnan and Xabi Alonso from the list indicated fading forces that could be on their way out of Anfield.
Jermaine Pennant is also likely to find himself elsewhere next season, but hinted at what might have been were it not for a mid-season absence with a stress fracture by claiming five awards, concentrated at the beginning and end of the campaign.
Dirk Kuyt and Sami Hyypia both had their dips in form over the year, but remained consistent enough to claim seven awards between them, Hyypia in particular responding to the arrival of Skrtrel while Kuyt often excelled in Europe.
Torres, though, will be the one aiming for a second player of the season award on the bounce next year.
HE ended the season the way he began it – as a record breaker. And in between, Fernando Torres gave reason to believe Liverpool had found themselves a worthy successor to past Anfield striking greats.
Eyebrows were raised when Rafael Benitez made his fellow Spaniard the club’s most expensive signing by completing a £21million transfer from Atletico Madrid last summer.
Yet from the moment Torres clinically dispatched his first goal in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea back in August, it was evident this was money well spent.
And how. Torres ended the season with 33 goals, 24 of them coming in the league to shatter Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record for most Premier League goals in a debut campaign by a foreign player.
There was also the small matter of becoming the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in 1996 to net 20 league goals in a season.
On top of that, Torres also equalled a 46-year-old record by netting in eight consecutive home league games, and became the first Anfield player to do so while in the top-flight of English football.
So it’s inevitable, and thoroughly deserved, that Torres should be named the Daily Post’s Liverpool player of the season.
The Spaniard was named man-of-the- match 11 times in Liverpool’s 59 games, holding off the challenge of skipper Steven Gerrard with 10 and midfielder Javier Mascherano with seven.
Indeed, ask any Liverpool supporter for their team’s three most influential players, that triumvirate would invariably trip straight off the tongue.
Such has been Torres’s impact, comparisons have already been made with the likes of Fowler and Kenny Dalglish although the Spaniard, in typically modest style, refuses to get carried away.
“I will try to do even better next season,” says Torres. “This is only my first season at Liverpool and I want to play better for many more seasons yet. So far I’ve had one good season but Kenny and Robbie have had six, seven, eight or 10 good seasons at Liverpool. It’s different.
“When I have finished my career then maybe that will be the moment to talk about these things but not now. It’s too early.
“It’s important to me that the fans think highly of me and if they’re saying these things then I would say ‘thank you, but not yet’.
I think they love me and I love them. It’s great when kids and their granddads come up to me in the street and say ‘you’re the best’.
“I was with Kenny Dalglish the other day and you could see in the faces of the people how much of a hero he is, 20 years after he finished his career. I want everyone to remember me in 20 years’ time.”
Surprisingly, Torres was named man of the match just once in Liverpool’s first 21 games – the Carling Cup win at Reading in which he scored a hat-trick – but the awards soon came regularly.
The final accolade, against Manchester City earlier this month, was enough to hold off the challenge of Gerrard, with whom Torres has formed such a telepathic understanding.
As with Torres, the majority of the skipper’s awards came between October and January at a time when Benitez’s side needed strong on-field leaders given the chaos that was unravelling behind the scenes.
This, too, was when the ever- dependable Jamie Carragher came to the fore, four of his five awards arriving in the same period.
But even the centre-back was ultimately outshone by the indomitable Mascherano, who underlined why Benitez was so keen to wrap up his £18million permanent transfer.
The Argentine proved the man for the big occasion, man of the match in the goalless league draw at Chelsea and taking the honours in both legs of the Champions League tie with Italian champions Inter Milan.
Liverpool’s other new arrivals also proved their worth. Yossi Benayoun earned four accolades – two on the strength of hat-tricks against Besiktas and Havant and Waterlooville – while Martin Skrtel was the pick in the home Champions League ties against Arsenal and Chelsea.
Free transfer Andrei Voronin, unfairly made a scapegoat by sections of the Liverpool support, helped ease the pressure on Torres early in the campaign with a clutch of impressive performances.
By contrast, Ryan Babel’s recurring inability to last a full 90 minutes and his chief role as an impact substitute meant that, despite his 10 goals, he is still waiting on his first man-of-the- match performance.
The absence of John Arne Riise, Steve Finnan and Xabi Alonso from the list indicated fading forces that could be on their way out of Anfield.
Jermaine Pennant is also likely to find himself elsewhere next season, but hinted at what might have been were it not for a mid-season absence with a stress fracture by claiming five awards, concentrated at the beginning and end of the campaign.
Dirk Kuyt and Sami Hyypia both had their dips in form over the year, but remained consistent enough to claim seven awards between them, Hyypia in particular responding to the arrival of Skrtrel while Kuyt often excelled in Europe.
Torres, though, will be the one aiming for a second player of the season award on the bounce next year.
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