Finally someone tells Torres to "man the fuck up"

[Ryan]

Good job Rafa. I've been banging on about this for a while. Get it nipped in the bid before it turned into something more serious...

Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez tells Fernando Torres to toughen up

• Liverpool striker must focus more, says manager
• Club make £1.5m bid for AEK Athens' Sotirios Kyrgiakos

Andy Hunter The Guardian, Wednesday 19 August 2009 Article history


Rafael Benítez has told Fernando Torres to accept the consequences of being a marked man after making the frank admission that Liverpool's record signing is distracted too easily by intimidation.

Torres has shown an increasing tendency to confront opponents or argue with match officials over the past 12 months and was involved in several run-ins with Tottenham Hotspur players, notably Tom Huddlestone, during Sunday's 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane.

Benítez believes Torres's problems arise purely from the verbal or physical abuse meted out by rivals. The Liverpool manager is so concerned by the success of those tactics, however, and a growing consensus within the game that the striker can be put off his formidable stride, that he has taken the 25-year-old aside and ordered him to rise above the provocation.

"I have told him that he has to stop this," Benítez said. "He knows he has to improve this aspect of his game. He has to be completely focused on his football and he knows that the way forward is to respond to any intimidation by scoring. Sometimes it is not easy to deal with everything opponents do, but he knows he must deal with it in a different way."

Yet Benítez himself could be in trouble with the Football Association for his reaction to events at White Hart Lane. The Spaniard mocked the referee Phil Dowd in his post-match press conference and claimed the fourth official, Stuart Attwell, at 26 years old, was too young for the top level. Benítez will be asked to explain his comments before any possible charge is made.

Torres's home debut for Liverpool against Chelsea in August 2007 was notable not only for his first goal at Anfield but for how he responded to John Terry's attempted coercion with icy detachment. The transformation since, believes Benítez, stems from opponents recognising the threat posed by the Liverpool striker and a loss of focus that his manager is adamant will be corrected.

"In his first season he was really focused and I think he will do that again now," Benítez said. "He knows he has to improve a little bit in these things. He is a star and the defenders are really worried about him, but that is part of the game now."

Temperament aside, Torres's form was also a worry for the Liverpool manager at Spurs, although Benítez has no lasting doubts on that score and has cited Spain's involvement in the Confederations Cup in June as an unnecessary disruption to the striker's pre-season programme.

"He is physically fit, but match fitness is something that you get when you play games," explained the manager. "He only arrived with us on 19 July, we had the trip to Asia and he was playing 15 minutes, half an hour or 45 minutes. Then we had three days off and he played against Espanyol. We probably haven't had all the players together for more than one week, so it hasn't been easy.

"The problem we had was the Confederations Cup which is a very, very important tournament," Benítez said with more than a hint of sarcasm. "For a month the players were playing in a fantastic and important tournament."

Liverpool have an opportunity to recover from the Spurs defeat tonight when they play Stoke City at Anfield, with Torres pledging to attack from the start against a team that held Benítez's team to two goalless draws last season. "We couldn't win against them, so we are waiting for a very defensive team," the Liverpool striker said. "They will try to score from set pieces or from a long ball, but we have to be offensive and go from the first minute until the end to try to score. And if we can score in the first minute I am sure we can win."

Martin Skrtel is an injury doubt for Liverpool having suffered a hairline fracture of the jaw in a collision with Jamie Carragher at White Hart Lane, while his fellow central defender Daniel Agger has been ruled out for three more weeks with a back problem.

Benítez is continuing his search for defensive reinforcements and last night made a £1.5m bid for Sotirios Kyrgiakos of AEK Athens, who value the Greece international at £3m. The Liverpool manager is understood to have only £2m left to spend this summer, despite making a profit on deals during 2009. With not even the money he raises sure to be reinvested in the Liverpool squad, he is unlikely to sanction further sales, ending Hertha Berlin's hopes of re-signing Andriy Voronin on a long-term deal.

"We can't sell any more players as the Premier League is very demanding," he said. "We have some players injured now and if we lose any more then we won't have many options. It's important to keep the squad and try to find solutions."

 

[Dirkus_Circus]

Well done Rafa, time to sack up Nando.

 

[Roopy]

Dream partnership ... Torres and Inzaghi.

Imagine that.... endless pouting and hand gestures and offsides.

 

[gareth_thomas]

everytime he gets tackled i fear he has broken something

 

[cobrastatus]

Loved this:

"The problem we had was the Confederations Cup which is a very, very important tournament," Benítez said with more than a hint of sarcasm. "For a month the players were playing in a fantastic and important tournament."

 

[Ryan]

[quote author=cobrastatus link=topic=35318.msg927556#msg927556 date=1250650944]
Loved this:

"The problem we had was the Confederations Cup which is a very, very important tournament," Benítez said with more than a hint of sarcasm. "For a month the players were playing in a fantastic and important tournament."
[/quote]

Yeah, thought that was quite good.

 

[Roopy]

[quote author=gareth_thomas link=topic=35318.msg927554#msg927554 date=1250650625]
everytime he gets tackled i fear he has broken something

[/quote]

Same here.

Every time the camera is on him he's always wincing or looks like he's in pain. :-[

 

[Rafiagra]

He always seemed to be crocked after every challenge on Sunday and was just laying motionless.

He needs to realise that making the fans shit themselves every time he does it just isnt on.

 

[Ryan]

99.9999999% of the time, he's on the ground after fuck all contact anyway.

 

[keniget]

He's generally only been like this when short of match fitness / sharpness and frustration gets the better of him.

 

[rage]

if anything he looked too exposed upfront on his own as gerrard went deeper and deeper looking for the ball. i wonder when rafa is gona take lucas aside and remind him his brazillian?

 

[Frogfish]

Hmmm reverse psychology perhaps ? Surprising thing to actually say to the press so maybe this is actually an attempt to distract defenders by getting them to try to employ these tactics !

 

[doctor_mac]

[quote author=Rafiagra link=topic=35318.msg927580#msg927580 date=1250663515]
He always seemed to be crocked after every challenge on Sunday and was just laying motionless.

He needs to realise that making the fans shit themselves every time he does it just isnt on.
[/quote]

It's not just that, it gives his opponent a psychological boost. Ledley King and co must have felt like supermen, the way Torres, the best striker in the world, was wilting before them. I much prefer the Torres who wound up Terry just by not being intimidated.

 

[Ossi]

[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=35318.msg927589#msg927589 date=1250665163]
[quote author=Rafiagra link=topic=35318.msg927580#msg927580 date=1250663515]
He always seemed to be crocked after every challenge on Sunday and was just laying motionless.

He needs to realise that making the fans shit themselves every time he does it just isnt on.
[/quote]

It's not just that, it gives his opponent a psychological boost. Ledley King and co must have felt like supermen, the way Torres, the best striker in the world, was wilting before them. I much prefer the Torres who wound up Terry just by not being intimidated.
[/quote]

Agreed.

Agger out for 3 more weeks. He´s injured 99.99% of the time goddammit.

 

[Ryan]

[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=35318.msg927589#msg927589 date=1250665163]
[quote author=Rafiagra link=topic=35318.msg927580#msg927580 date=1250663515]
He always seemed to be crocked after every challenge on Sunday and was just laying motionless.

He needs to realise that making the fans shit themselves every time he does it just isnt on.
[/quote]

It's not just that, it gives his opponent a psychological boost. Ledley King and co must have felt like supermen, the way Torres, the best striker in the world, was wilting before them. I much prefer the Torres who wound up Terry just by not being intimidated.
[/quote]

Exactly.

As I said, it's not a major issue so I'm glad Rafa's onto this early-stye.

The way he made Jagielka look like Franz Beckenbaeur last year in the Cuop was fucking mortifying.

 

[koze]

To be fair, Jagielka is one of the best defenders in the league.

 

[cochyn]

Even so he is no Beckenbauer and would have preferred to see nando man up and tear him a new one!!

 

[Squiggles]

Rafa's right on this, Torres just wasn't mentally with it against Spurs, and it's been that way against other teams in the past.

It's not a massive problem but it's certainly room for improvement in his game.

It's surprising that Benitez would air this criticism so publicly, though - where's the "Carra needs to stop charging into our players"? and the "Babel needs to stop playing like a cunt"? 

Anyway, I guess it shows the maturity and intelligence of Fernando Torres to be able to deal with it, as well as highlights his importance to the team, because if we're not playing well, we need Fernando more than ever.

 

[cochyn]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927670#msg927670 date=1250673849]
Rafa's right on this, Torres just wasn't mentally with it against Spurs, and it's been that way against other teams in the past.

It's not a massive problem but it's certainly room for improvement in his game.

It's surprising that Benitez would air this criticism so publicly, though. Where's the "Carra needs to stop charging into our players?" and the "Babel needs to stop playing like a cunt"?

I guess it shows the maturity and intelligence of Fernando Torres to be able to deal with it, as well as highlights his importance to the team, because if we're not playing well, we need Fernando more than ever.
[/quote]

perhaps that's what are ryan needs because the current tact sure ain't working!!!

 

[Squiggles]

Babel would just hang himself.

I know he's not worth much to us any more, but in times like this every penny counts.

 

[spider-Neil]

players are effected by confidence just like everyone else. look at the difference between drogba of last year and this year. All torres needs is a goal to get back into the groove.

 

[Squiggles]

This is not a confidence issue, though.

He never has seemed short of that.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927692#msg927692 date=1250675153]
This is not a confidence issue, though.

He never has seemed short of that.
[/quote]

when he's 'in the mood' he stays on his feet more and becomes a bully.

 

[Paddy]

Tonight will be very interesting to see how he responds.

 

[Squiggles]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927693#msg927693 date=1250675231]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927692#msg927692 date=1250675153]
This is not a confidence issue, though.

He never has seemed short of that.
[/quote]

when he's 'in the mood' he stays on his feet more and becomes a bully.
[/quote]

I dunno, I think that's when the team's playing well as a whole and he's sniffing chances.

It's his temperament when he's isolated and man-marked that he needs to work upon.

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927704#msg927704 date=1250675836]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927693#msg927693 date=1250675231]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927692#msg927692 date=1250675153]
This is not a confidence issue, though.

He never has seemed short of that.
[/quote]

when he's 'in the mood' he stays on his feet more and becomes a bully.
[/quote]

I dunno, I think that's when the team's playing well as a whole and he's sniffing chances.

It's his temperament when he's isolated and man-marked that he needs to work upon.
[/quote]

nope, I think it's a confiedence thing. look at the manu away game last season and the manu away game the season before last. in one he was in the mood in the other he was really put of by vidic and rio kicking lumps out of him.

 

[Oncy]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927707#msg927707 date=1250676065]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927704#msg927704 date=1250675836]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927693#msg927693 date=1250675231]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927692#msg927692 date=1250675153]
This is not a confidence issue, though.

He never has seemed short of that.
[/quote]

when he's 'in the mood' he stays on his feet more and becomes a bully.
[/quote]

I dunno, I think that's when the team's playing well as a whole and he's sniffing chances.

It's his temperament when he's isolated and man-marked that he needs to work upon.
[/quote]

nope, I think it's a confiedence thing. look at the manu away game last season and the manu away game the season before last. in one he was in the mood in the other he was really put of by vidic and rio kicking lumps out of him.
[/quote]Yes. That has NOTHING to do with confidence Neil.

 

[Squiggles]

Ok

 

[spider-Neil]

[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=35318.msg927708#msg927708 date=1250676120]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927707#msg927707 date=1250676065]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927704#msg927704 date=1250675836]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927693#msg927693 date=1250675231]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927692#msg927692 date=1250675153]
This is not a confidence issue, though.

He never has seemed short of that.
[/quote]

when he's 'in the mood' he stays on his feet more and becomes a bully.
[/quote]

I dunno, I think that's when the team's playing well as a whole and he's sniffing chances.

It's his temperament when he's isolated and man-marked that he needs to work upon.
[/quote]

nope, I think it's a confiedence thing. look at the manu away game last season and the manu away game the season before last. in one he was in the mood in the other he was really put of by vidic and rio kicking lumps out of him.
[/quote]Yes. That has NOTHING to do with confidence Neil.
[/quote]

so if it's not confidence what is it?

 

[Oncy]

[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927712#msg927712 date=1250676213]
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=35318.msg927708#msg927708 date=1250676120]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927707#msg927707 date=1250676065]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927704#msg927704 date=1250675836]
[quote author=spider-neil link=topic=35318.msg927693#msg927693 date=1250675231]
[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=35318.msg927692#msg927692 date=1250675153]
This is not a confidence issue, though.

He never has seemed short of that.
[/quote]

when he's 'in the mood' he stays on his feet more and becomes a bully.
[/quote]

I dunno, I think that's when the team's playing well as a whole and he's sniffing chances.

It's his temperament when he's isolated and man-marked that he needs to work upon.
[/quote]

nope, I think it's a confiedence thing. look at the manu away game last season and the manu away game the season before last. in one he was in the mood in the other he was really put of by vidic and rio kicking lumps out of him.
[/quote]Yes. That has NOTHING to do with confidence Neil.
[/quote]

so if it's not confidence what is it?
[/quote]Petulance. He's basically allowing the defenders, situation, team mates etc to excuse himself to be half arsed and moody.
I doubt for one second he thinks 'Vidic and Rio have me here, im not confident'
He's confident as fuck, he's just a bit sulky.