Fernando Torres was one of the greatest strikers in the world. Fernando Torres was born in Spain on March 20th 1984. His nickname is “El Niño” which means “The Little Boy”. The nickname is inspired by Torres´s grandfather´s devotion to Atletico. Torres is mostly known for his time at Liverpool, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid. Torres has played in the biggest leagues in the world (Spain, England and Italy). Torres has been in the spotlight for most of his professional life and has had many triumphant moments, but also, difficult moments. In this article I will go through Fernando Torres’ career.
Atletico Madrid - Youth Career
Fernando Torres started his career playing for Atletico Madrid. Torres spent his youth career from 1995-2001. He signed his first professional contract merely at the age of 15, in 1999. It was very clear that Torres was going to have a very successful career. It seemed like his potential had no limits. His first important youth title came in 1998 when he was just 14 years old when Atletico won a tournament comprised of under-15 teams from Spain and Europe. Torres was voted the best player in his age group the next year, in 1999.
Atletico Madrid
2001-2002
Torres made his first team debut for Atletico on May 27th 2001 against Leganés. A week later after his debut he scored his first goal for the first team. Some youth players, when they get their debut for the first team, start out with a bang and make an instant impact on the squad, whereas other players need some time to adapt properly on the big stage. Unfortunately, that was the case for Torres. In his first season, Torres scored only 6 goals in 36 appearances in the Segunda Divisón. Although Torres might not have had had his best season for Atletico, he was never the less a part of a team that earned a promotion to La Liga by winning the Segunda Liga.
2002-2003: Atletico tradition In his first season for Atletico in the La Liga, in 2002-03, he scored 13 league goals in 29 appearances. At the time, the three main teams in Spain were Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia. These teams had great players in every position, whereas Atletico did not have the same depth and financial budget to form a league competitive squad. However, Torres is a part of a long time Atletico Madrid tradition of having fantastic strikers (Aguero, Falcao, Forlán, Diego Costa, Griezmann). Torres’s performance caught the attention of many teams but the most notable one was Chelsea. In 2003, when Russian businessman Roman Abramovich was just starting to build his super-club, he had a 28 million pound bid for Torres rejected. In total, Torres finished the season with 13 goals in 24 games.
2003-2004: 19 year old captain
His second season was definitely an improvement to his already great performances as Torres scored 19 league goals in 35 appearances. He was the joint third highest goal scorer in the league that season. Despite his young age, Torres had shown signs of confidence and leadership on the pitch. These signs were enough to convince the manager to give Torres the captain’s band, only at the age of 19. After continuing performing well for numerous seasons for Atletico, there were a lot of speculations weather he would join another club. Eventually, Torres made a rumored 25 million pound move to Liverpool. It is told that the Liverpool player, Luis García, was a part of the deal, as he made a move to Atletico at a similar time as Torres’s arrival. Fernando Torres made 244 appearance and scored 91 goals for Atletico Madrid.
Liverpool
Liverpool Arrival
In the summer of 2007, Fernando Torres was officially a Liverpool player. He was given the nr. 9 jersey which had been previously been worn by Liverpool legends such as: Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler. Torres expressed his gratitude by saying: “The fact that Liverpool are giving me the number nine jersey just goes to show the confidence they have placed in me, when considering those who have worn that shirt before me," (LiverpoolFC.wikia.com).
2007-2008: Great start
Torres´s time at Liverpool was when he was at his absolute best. He made his competitive debut in a 2-1 win against Aston Villa. It did not take long for Torres to prove himself in the Premier League. His first goal for Liverpool came against Chelsea, the club that had shown interest in him for years, in a 1-1 draw on the 19th of August 2007. His first hat-trick came against Reading on the 25th of September (my birthday) 2007.
2007-2008: Record Breaker
Torres became the first Liverpool player in over 20 years to score 20 goals in a season. He broke numerous records in his first season in the Premier League, the most notable ones being: Becoming the first Liverpool player to score a Hat-Trick in two consecutive games for Liverpool since 1946, and the most goals scored in a debut Premier League season by a foreign player (record previously held by Ruud Van Nistelrooy), by scoring 24 goals.
2007-2008: Gerrard and Torres
Torres was a breath of fresh air for the Liverpool fans who had been waiting for a quality striker all these years. Torres was exactly type of player that Liverpool needed to form a partnership with Steven Gerrard. According to a Liverpool Echo article, Torres said that Gerrard was by far the best player he has played alongside with. That´s a strong statement coming from a player who has played with some of the greatest players in the history of football (Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Ramos, David Villa etc.). Torres added, when talking about Gerrard: “He was everything I need on the pitch, all in one player!”. Torres finished the season with 33 goals in 46 appearances.
2008-2009: Impressive...most impressive
His second season was very impressive and he was still the great player Liverpool fans fell in love with in his debut season. However, this season was the start of an injury problem that would impact Torres´s carrer forever. At the start of the season he picked up a hamstring injury in a goalless match against Aston Villa. That injury kept him out of the squad for two to three weeks. Although most Liverpool fans missed his presence on the pitch they were not too worried about how much this injury would affect him the coming years. Torres came back from his injury with a bang. He was a part of a Liverpool team that defeated Marseille in the Champions League and, shortly after, Torres scored two goals in the Merseyside derby in a 2-0 Liverpool victory.
Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool
The most famous game of the season was Liverpool´s 4-1 victory against reigning Premier League champions, Manchester United, at Old Trafford. United scored the first goal of the game with a penalty scored by the Portuguese super-star, Cristiano Ronaldo. After that, things went south for the Manchester club. Eight minutes after Ronaldo´s goal, Torres masterfully snatched the ball off of the Serbian centre-back, Nemanja Vidic, and scored past Van der Sar. 1-1. Gerrard mad it 2-1 from a penalty, Fabio Aurelio scored a beautiful free kick, making it 3-1, and late game substitute, Andrea Dossena, absolutely killed the game by scoring a beautiful lob that left Van der Sar completely frozen. Most people think of Torres´s goal when they think of Liverpool´s historic victory against United.
Liverpool 4-0 Real Madrid
One of Liverpool´s greatest performances in the Champions League came in the 2008-09 season when they defeated Spanish super club, Real Madrid, 4-0 on Anfield in the Round of 16 (second leg) in The Champions League (UEFA.com). Liverpool had an absolutely fantastic starting team with players like: Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Jamie Carragher, Pepe Reina, Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard. Rafa Benitez clearly formed a squad that was able to amaze the fans throughout the world. This game is a perfect example of how great the Liverpool squad was that season. Fernando Torres was one of the best players in the game (arguably, the best). Torres scored the first goal of the match and displayed some incredible skills on the field. There are two moments in the game that define Torres as player. First one was when he got passed Fabio Cannavaro, a World Cup champion, with some incredible skills. The second moment was when he scored the first goal of the game by showing great strength and determination. Torres finished the season with 17 goals in 38 appearances.
2009-2010: FIFPro World XI
Torres´s 2009-10 season was quite impressive. He signed a new contract and it looked like everything would progress smoothly for the Spanish player. He was still giving great performances for the team and earned individual awards for his contribution and performances. He was named in the FIFPro World Pro XI for the second consecutive season in December 2009 and was still a crucial part of the squad and still making an effort to compete for major trophies. He finished the season with 22 goals in 32 appearances.
2010-2011: Liverpool End
In the 2010-11 season, new Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, claimed that Torres was not going to leave the club. However, despite the manager´s claims, this was, sadly, going to be Torres´s last season for the Reds. His final goals came in a 3-0 win against Wolves on the 22nd of January 2011. Despite having expressed his loyalty and commitment to Liverpool, Torres handed in a transfer request in January after Liverpool rejected a 40 million pound bid for the Spanish striker. His transfer request was rejected because of Liverpool´s willingness to keep the World Cup winner among their ranks.
Transfer Record
Torres eventually made a 50 million pound move to Chelsea on Deadline day (31st of January 2011). This transfer broke a British record and made Torres the 6th expensive player in football history. Fernando Torres left Liverpool scoring 81 goals in 142 games (LiverpoolFC.wikia.com): Unfortunately, he did not win any trophies for Liverpool, but he was still a part of a club that accomplished a lot in the domestic league and Champions League. 📷
Chelsea
Major Trophies
Torres´s career at Chelsea was more successful than his career at Liverpool as a team player, rather than as an individual player. Torres finally got what he deserved and won the FA Cup and Champions League.
2010-2011: Rough Start
Torres arrived at Chelsea on Deadline Day in 2011 and was brought on to replace the incredible Chelsea striker, Didier Drogba. Torres´s start at Chelsea was, mildly said, disappointing. People were in awe that a striker that was so prolific and confident had somehow completely lost his mojo so quickly. It is hard to say what had happened to Torres, but as was mentioned before, Torres had suffered from numerous injuries that made him fragile and affected his sharpness and his way of playing. After 734 minutes, Torres finally scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 3-0 win against West Ham (Goal.com).
2011-2012: (Chelsea vs Barcelona)
In his second season for Chelsea he finally managed to win major trophies by winning the FA Cup and Champions League. One of his most famous goals came against Barcelona in the semi-finals when he completely secured Chelsea a trip to the finals. Technically, Torres´s goal was not necessary for Chelsea to go through because of an away goal. However, Barcelona was pressing and pressing and pressing on and it looked like they were eventually going to score, so Torres´s goal for Chelsea was a huge relief for Chelsea fans. Chelsea then eventually won the Champions League by defeating Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out.
2012-2013: Europa League Champion After the 2011-12 season; Torres had one thing that he wanted to win so desperately...The Premier League. Unfortunately, like his former team-mate Steven Gerrard, Torres is on the list of great players who have never won the Premier League. Torres still suffered from a major goal drought, one time having not scored in 11 hours of game time. Torres was receiving a lot of criticism for his performances for the Blues. It seemed like Torres was only scoring in the big games for Chelsea after having scored for Chelsea against Barcelona in the previous season, and then scoring in a 2-1 win against Benfica in the Europa League final the next season. Torres won his third major trophy for an English team, all coming from his time at Chelsea. Despite his winning of major trophies, Torres was not as important for Chelsea as he was for Liverpool. He did not form a partnership with any player and he did not feel as confident as he did when he played for Liverpool. Torres had this to say about his time at the London club: “When I was at Chelsea, I did not start well for a few reasons. We won almost everything I wanted to win. But maybe that was not enough for me. “ (GiveMeSport.com)📷
2013-2014 and “That” game
The game that Torres felt really bad for Liverpool was in Chelsea´s 2-0 win against Liverpool on Anfield on the 27th of April 2014. This was Liverpool´s most important game of the season because of its importance in the title race against Manchester City. This game is mostly known when Steven Gerrard “slipped” and gave Chelsea a 1-0 lead shortly before half-time. Throughout the game Chelsea were incredibly defensive and Mourinho was harshly criticised by football fans (especially Liverpool fans) for his “park the bus” tactic. Torres had a chance to score Chelsea´s second goal of the game in stoppage time but he unselfishly gave it to Willian who scored and made it 2-0 and therfore absolutely crushing Liverpool´s hopes and dreams of finally winning the league title in 24 years. Torres showed great sympathy for the Liverpool fans and players (especially Steven Gerrard) . According to BBC´s Football FocusProgramme, Torres said: "I felt so sorry for Stevie,” The Spaniard added: “We didn't have chances to win the Premier League and Liverpool were so close.”
2013-14: Chelsea End
The 2013-14 season was Torres´s last season for Chelsea. Torres, as usual, was not getting a lot of playing time for Chelsea because of the arrival of the former Barcelona star, Samuel Eto’o. His time at Chelsea was disappointing and he did not make the same impact on the Chelsea squad as he did for the Liverpool squad. Due to the 50 million pound price tag combined with his underwhelming performances for Chelsea, Torres is considered a flop. Fernando Torres made a move to the former Italian giants, AC Milan on a loan move.
AC Milan
Uneventful stay
Many felt Torres´s move to AC Milan was a wise choice due to the different pace and style of play in Italy that would suit the then 31-year old striker better. However, his stay in Italy was incredibly uneventful and it seemed like Torres never managed to fully express his style of play for the AC Milan squad. He played 10 games and scored 1 goal for the Italian club. His move to AC Milan was made permanent on December 27th 2014 but he was loaned to his childhood club, Atletico Madrid, on January 5th 2015.
Atletico Madrid Return
Arrival
Torres joined Atletico on a loan move before being bought permanently on July 5th 2016. When Torres was unveiled on Stadium de Calderón approximately 45.000 Atletico fans greeted the club legend and former captain. It´s ironic that Atletico´s manger, Diego Simeone, used to play alongside Torres at Atletico when Torres was the captain of Atletico. Obviously, Torres is incredibly respected in Madrid and he was incredibly happy to join the team that gave him the opportunity to play professionally.
100th goal for Atletico Madrid
Although Torres has not gained the same form he did when he started out at Atletico, he is still, never the less, giving decent performances for the club. Fernando was originally given the number 19, however, after the departure of the Croatian tall-man Mario Mandzukic, Torres was given the legendary number 9 shirt. Torres scored his 100th goal for Atletico in his 295th appearance on the 6th February 2016 and scored his 100th league goal for Atletico in February 2017.
Champions League Final 2016
Torres was obviously happy to win a major trophy like the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, but he felt like it would be more personal if he´d win a major trophy with Atletico, the club that he grew up with. In the 2016 final, Atletico made it through to the finals against Real Madrid. This was Torres´s chance to win a major trophy for his boyhood club. Unfortunately for Torres, Real defeated Atletico in penalty shoot-out, completely devastating the Atletico players and, especially, Torres himself. Despite that, Torres has been pretty happy to play for Atletico again.
What next?
In total, Torres has scored 33 goals for Atletico ever since his return in 141 appearances. That's not a bad goal to game ratio for a club that has a player like Antoine Griezmann playing in the same position as Torres. It is unclear weather Torres will be an Atletico player for a long time. According to a report by The Sun, Torres wants to make a Premier League return, with Newcastle most likely being the next destination for the Spaniard.
International career
International Youth Career
Fernando Torres has had one of the most successful international careers in the history of football. He played for all of the youth international teams and eventually made his international debut for the senior team in 2003, only 19 years old. His call to the senior squad was well deserved as he had been a crucial player for Spain´s U-19 team that won the European Championship in 2001. Torres scored the only goal in the final, was the top goal scorer of the tournament and was voted as the best player of the tournament.
World Cup and Euros
In the 2006 WC, Torres was the top goal scorer alongside fellow team-mate, David Villa. Torres was a part of an incredible Spanish national team that was absolutely impossible to stop. In 2008, Spain won the Euros, two years later, in 2010, Spain won the World Cup in South Africa, and two years after that, in 2012, Spain won the Euros for the second consecutive time. At the time, Spain had some of the greatest players in football. Players like: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa and, of course, Fernando Torres. Torres´s most famous moment playing for the Spanish national team was when he scored the only goal in the 2008 final against Germany. He made an impressive run and chipped the ball past Lehmann, the German goalkeeper. Torres has made 110 competitive International appearances, scoring 38 goals. Weather he will be called for the 2018 WC or other future International competitions is unclear.
Conclusion (and some personal thoughts)
Fernando Torres is a fascinating player who has had an interesting career. Torres is a Champions League winner, World Cup winner and was frequently named in FIFPro XI teams at his time playing for Liverpool. As a Liverpool fan who grew up watching Torres play every week, I absolutely adored Fernando Torres. I wanted to be like Torres in every single way. I have a Fernando Torres long-sleeve Liverpool jersey and a Torres Chelsea jersey with his autograph on it. I had the honour of watching him play against Everton on March 30th 2008. In that game he scored the only goal of the game. When Torres left, I was not mad or upset at him like most Liverpool fans were. I always wanted him, and I still want him, to succeed in his career. As was mentioned before, Torres´s future is currently pretty unclear, but it is most likely that he will leave in the summer. When he retires, some people will remember him as a fantastic striker while others might remember him as a Chelsea flop. I will alway remember Torres as one of the players who made me love Liverpool Football Club and football, in general, even more.
PHOTO: Taken from the writer´s Facebook page
Main source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Torres
Post by: Ólafur Hálfdan Pálsson
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