Would Torres have declined even if he stayed at Liverpool?

now we all know the story - player moves to the premier league, becomes a sensation scoring goals all over the place, tearing apart some of the best defences in the world.
player makes a big money move to a higher level club and....declines?

my question is at 26 years of age, did this move kill the career of a world class talent or was he already past his peak and ready to decline whether he left anfield or not?

discuss.

Reply 1

somemightsay888

20

He was already visibly declining when talk of a sale approached. I think if he stayed though he wouldn't have become the joke he is now, it'd have been a steady but graceful decline instead of the hard embarrassing one he's experienced

Reply 2

username1315644

17

Yeah, his pace which one of his main assets was gone before he left Liverpool.

Reply 3

trrr

13

Lol, he was declining before he joined us.

Reply 4

UnWise

12

Not as quickly as he did. At least Liverpool played to his strengths.

Reply 5

Zerforax

21

He lost his pace and his confidence in his body. You could see it in his last 6 months to a year at Liverpool.

I don't think his confidence dropping and the pressure on him by signing for Chelsea for 50mil would've have happened so quickly if he had stayed at Liverpool.

Let's not forget he would've played next to Suarez who would have put plenty on a plate for him too.

Reply 6

Mackay

17

Yeah his head had gone by the time he'd left Liverpool. Chelsea not playing to his strengths proved a catalyst for his decline, but he was on a one way journey downwards in 2011. His pace had decreased akin to Owen's, and he wasn't the same player without that blistering first ten yards. It's such a shame, because on his day, he really was one of a handful of strikers in the world that could be unstoppable.

He and Suarez, both in their prime, is a hell of a prospect.

Reply 7

AnharM

21

I didn't see/don't remember seeing much of Torres the last few months before he joined Chelsea, so I can't comment on this. I will say that, after his injury, I think he didn't trust his body enough to run at full pace, and give 100%.

Reply 8

Aky786UK

19

Yes, definitely. He was on the slope before he left for Chelsea despite scoring against his new employers in November 2010 IIRC with two goals but the bottom line is that the knee injury he suffered in the closing moments of the 2010 WC final pretty much ended the Torres we all saw from 2007-2009. It killed his pace, confidence. I don't think he ever adjusted to that and felt he could return to this glory days, then joining Chelsea for a British record, not really fitting their style, the pressure etc took its toll. TBF to him, he seemed to perform better in Europe where the pace and demands were less. He should have just become a guy who slept in the box for goals but his confidence seems to have deteriorated to the point he felt more comfortable running the ball in the wings and assisting and working hard than fearing to be in the box and try and score goals.

He was declining anyway. For his first 2 seasons at Liverpool he was arguably the best striker in the world, would dread seeing us come up against him because he always tore Vidic (arguably the best defender in the world at the time) a new one. After that it started to go downhill. Nobody could believe it when Chelsea offered £50m for him, I don't believe for one second that Ancelotti authorised it.

Reply 10

Louis.

16

Original post by Aky786UK

Yes, definitely. He was on the slope before he left for Chelsea despite scoring against his new employers in November 2010 IIRC with two goals but the bottom line is that the knee injury he suffered in the closing moments of the 2010 WC final pretty much ended the Torres we all saw from 2007-2009. It killed his pace, confidence. I don't think he ever adjusted to that and felt he could return to this glory days, then joining Chelsea for a British record, not really fitting their style, the pressure etc took its toll. TBF to him, he seemed to perform better in Europe where the pace and demands were less. He should have just become a guy who slept in the box for goals but his confidence seems to have deteriorated to the point he felt more comfortable running the ball in the wings and assisting and working hard than fearing to be in the box and try and score goals.

It was an injury before the World Cup wasn't it? Villa, from the left, scored all of Spain's goals in that tournament. Torres was woeful throughout, ended up being dropped towards the end.

I think he played unfit at the World Cup and that killed him. Haven't checked but it wouldn't surprise me if his injury at the full time whistle was an aggravation of the previous injury. The injury at the whistle ruining his career is a better story but it's probably a myth, a bit like the Solskjaer 1999 celebration "injury".

Reply 11

Mackay

17

Original post by sr90

He was declining anyway. For his first 2 seasons at Liverpool he was arguably the best striker in the world, would dread seeing us come up against him because he always tore Vidic (arguably the best defender in the world at the time) a new one. After that it started to go downhill. Nobody could believe it when Chelsea offered £50m for him, I don't believe for one second that Ancelotti authorised it.

Agreed. Reeks of Abramovich.

Reply 12

Aky786UK

19

Original post by Louis.

It was an injury before the World Cup wasn't it? Villa, from the left, scored all of Spain's goals in that tournament. Torres was woeful throughout, ended up being dropped towards the end.

I think he played unfit at the World Cup and that killed him. Haven't checked but it wouldn't surprise me if his injury at the full time whistle was an aggravation of the previous injury. The injury at the whistle ruining his career is a better story but it's probably a myth, a bit like the Solskjaer 1999 celebration "injury".

Not sure if there was a specific injury before the WC but I think he was struggling with injuries during that season before the WC. Knee injury might have been caused due to rushing back but hey, he got a medal.

Yeah Torres was an Abramovich signing, like Shevchenko was. Ancelotti got sacked partly because he the Drogba/Torres combo was unworkable.

Reply 13

Louis.

16

Original post by Aky786UK

Not sure if there was a specific injury before the WC but I think he was struggling with injuries during that season before the WC. Knee injury might have been caused due to rushing back but hey, he got a medal.

Yeah Torres was an Abramovich signing, like Shevchenko was. Ancelotti got sacked partly because he the Drogba/Torres combo was unworkable.

(assuming playing unfit at the World Cup did cause his decline, and he'd have been pre-2010 levels if he missed it)

I wonder if it was worth it.

A) Be part of the first Spanish World Cup winning side, but going from one of the leading strikers in world football to a laughing stock. Albeit a laughing stock who has won major trophies.

B) Miss the World Cup and what should have been the finest moment of your career, but have another 3/4 years of being a fantastic player, and all the individual respect that comes with that.

Reply 14

MagicNMedicine

20

Torres had already declined and his sharpness had gone.

Torres at his best, wasn't so much a player with out and out pace that was good at running behind defences (like a young Michael Owen, Craig Bellamy), the key thing was his speed off the mark and his acceleration, his positioning was good but he was able to steal a yard on defenders from different positions and nip in with the killer strike.

Once the explosive acceleration was gone he was a much more limited threat and he wasn't ever really able to remodel himself as a player.

However you have to say that for all the "lets all laugh at Torres" stuff, he was the biggest winner from that transfer. He had already gone in to irreversible decline but he landed himself both an enormous contract and also ended up a Champions League winner, which he wouldn't have got with Liverpool.

For Liverpool, to move Torres on when they did and bring in Suarez when they did was a masterstroke. They had managed to get top value from a once great player that Chelsea hadn't realised was going in to decline, but they also managed to pick up a player in Suarez that people knew was good, but hadn't realised was potentially the best striker in the world. I would have said Suarez' reputation at the point he signed for Liverpool was similar to Sanchez when he signed for Arsenal this summer.