The Ballad of El Niño
He was standing in the box. The ball rolled towards him through several oblivious sentinels. He took one touch. Pressure came on. He took a second touch, six yards out. He poked his right foot at it like he had done so many times before with great success. The ball received this prod, spinning forward from his boot, but unlike so many times before the shot slowly curled inches wide of the post.
Fernando Torres was left bewildered, a look of impish misunderstanding sliding off of his face. He had the chance to push Chelsea past Norwich, but the game finished 0-0 and Torres will know that the score line could have been very different had he taken his gilt-edged opportunity. If they had won it would also have kept Chelsea within three points of 3rd placed Tottenham Hotspur.
It has now been 17 matches, both domestically and internationally, since El Niño sent the ball into the net, and you can see why.
His shoulders are hunched; his touch has deserted him and heavy weighs the price of £50m.
Singing players is always a gamble, particularly if Financial Fair Play can be flaunted in an haughty act of purchasing a single player for a vast sum of money. There is no guarantee that there will be a return on your investment. £50m represented payment for past achievements and potential, but it was the act of a businessman with no intention of recouping his outgoings.
Since then Torres has failed to live up to his billing and looks destined to be labelled one of soccer’s greatest transfer flops. Even if he scores 15 goals in the second half of this season it would not represent good value for money. It would also not herald Torres’ return to the top.
Can a player ‘lose it’?
Perhaps this is measurable in Torres’ case because strikers are given credit for how many goals they score. This season Torres pales in comparison with other front men. Rooney has 13 goals. Aguero 14. Ba 15. Van Persie 19.
As it stands Torres has 2 league goals in 2011/12. Last season he scored 10.
His best record with Liverpool? In 2007/08, his debut season, he scored 24 league goals and 33 goals all together.
You could say he appears to have lost it.
Some players never reach the dizzy heights of superstardom, banging in goals as fans from all over the country talk of how good they are. Torres had that, though, and it looks like he might never get it back.
Maybe he has genuinely lost something. At 27 years of age the Spanish striker should be in his prime, but he is longingly plodding about up front. Golfers get the yips, constantly having different problems with a swing that had no kinks in years gone by. Baseball players say they find holes in their swing and if they lose part of it, they’ll never get it back despite how many tricks they try.
Some suggest that for Torres it is a confidence issue. When he was at Liverpool he single-handedly won games. Manager Rafa Benitez knew this and so played him, even when he was hurting, to get the most out of him. He was rushed back from knocks and strains, pointed at goal and told to run.
In 2010 he was played 22 times and he scored 18 goals. Benitez made use of his skills, even as he was said to be exhausted and in need of knee surgery. He played in fits and starts, but was subsequently made to play in the summer, forming a strike pairing with David Villa for Spain.
He won a World Cup, but he scored no goals. He looked haunted and tired on the field and he seemed unfazed when hauled off to change shape or allow Villa time alone with Iniesta and Silva flanking him.
He may have never fully recovered from this taxing period. He returned to the English Premier League looking disinterested. He chased some chances, but he only showed glimpses of the cool he had exuded in his pomp. He moved to Chelsea for big money. He took up a different challenge.
Now he snatches at chances and misjudges touches, working towards a next move that was instinctive for the Torres of ’08. His luck looks to have run dry. He needs a fillip. If rumours are to be believed he is doing extra sprint work; extra ball control sessions; extra footwork; extra striking practice.
In the games you struggle to see where those sessions have gone.
Maybe it has all evapourated, but for a man used to global shirt sales and awards for his goal scoring exploits it may be time to do one of two things: move back to the continent away from the mounting pressures; or concede that he is spent and see out his contract with Chelsea, enduring the jibes and the feelings of regret.
As the ball trickled past the post on Saturday I couldn’t help but feel for The Kid…
One Rant to “The Ballad of El Niño”
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
FEATURED PARTNERS
- A Real Narnia Wardrobe
- Megan Fox's Ever-Changing Face Through The Years
- This Font Is Impossible
- Joba Chamberlain -- Trampoline Injury Threatens Baseball Career
- NFL Star Will Blackmon -- If Football Doesn't Work Out, I'll Just Model
- Denver Broncos -- Tim Tebow Gear Is SELLING OUT!
- Not In Miami? Get Your Ultra Music Festival Live Stream On Right Here, All Weekend Long
- Fight Breaks Out During Maryland-North Carolina Lacrosse Game
- Cornell Band Mocks Michigan By Playing Michigan State Fight Song
Torres is looking more like the player of old every passing week. Scoring goals is all about confidence, and if he can get on a roll and slot a few chances, it is a different Torres we are looking at. Benitez is to blame for the loss of confidence, playing him injured, allowing him to become ineffective and lethargic. A move to the continent sees a return of one of the best strikers in the world. In England? I agree- he looks spent.