Of Liverpool, Torres, Mourinho, and Spurs: Why do I watch so much soccer?

I'm a fickle fan.  When I first started paying way too much attention to European soccer five years ago, thanks in large measure to my passionate dislike of my job at that time, I committed myself to Fulham Football Club.  The team had a veritable truckload of Americans on the team with Kasey Keller in goal, Brian McBride as striker and captain, along with new recruit, Clint Dempsey.  The team also picked up Eddie Johnson, who promptly lost any semblance of ability and was loaned out to a team in Wales.  Around that same time period, Liverpool dropped off a wheelbarrow of cash in Madrid to sign Fernando Torres.  I had been a big fan of El Nino since the 2006 World Cup where he scored an awesome goal or two.  Suddenly I was torn.  My favorite player or my newly picked team?  

Another thing happened at the same time.  I was introduced to the world of Jose Mourinho.  The Special One is no ordinary manager.  He is manager's manager.  If Chuck Norris had a teacher, it would be Jose Mourinho.  Mourinho is a master of the press and a master of mind games.  He manages players brilliantly.  He earned the respect of Sir Alex Ferguson, longtime manager at Manchester United.  Mourniho demanded your attention and you either love him or hate him.  He took a small Portuguese club to the pinnacle of European Club Soccer (losing Tim Howard his job as ManU keeper in the process), went to Chelsea FC and led them to the top of the Premier League, and then went to Internazionale and won the Champion's League again.  Now he is at Real Madrid and you know what?  I finally really care about Real Madrid.  Kent is a massive fan and I always wanted to care about the team, but felt like a Yankee's bandwagoner because Madrid is soccer's most expensive team.  Now, with Mourinho leading the club, I want them to win.  I'm suddenly a fan.

So, back to my fickle fandom.  I've realized that the drama and personalities are what makes the game so intriguing.  It is really this way in every sport (think NFL and Brett Favre -- we're obsessed with a 40 year old washed up QB!) but it is especially true for me and soccer.  I don't have a true team to obsess over because I don't live in Europe so I adopt personalities and drama.  I love the underdog story and the outsized personalities.  It's what makes the game interesting.  So, I'll continue to be fickle.  I'll pull for Fulham, but pay more attention to Torres.  I'll check the score of the Fulham game as I relish another insane Spurs game (what an insane team!  Does Harry Redknapp actually do anything?)  I'l feel a bit guilty, but I'll enjoy it.  

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On the Same Page As Though We Were Related

Fernando Torres came out today and admitted he is infatuated with me just as much as I with him. He didn't quite phrase it like that, but he did say that Liverpool should sign Valencia striker David Villa. Which is exactly what I said a couple weeks ago. So maybe he isn't infatuated with me per se, but we are definitely on the same page. If that page is a mutual understanding of the Liverpool needs, why couldn't it encompass a mutual admiration for each other?

On a related note, one of the comments (that wasn't about another commenter being an idiot) to the ESPN article mentioned how this could all just be part of the Torres exit strategy. And it's a interesting theory. I am skeptical if Torres will even come back this season. He's out until early March at the earliest. With the World Cup this summer, he's not going to risk further injury. He's going to limit himself for the rest of the season. Also, I don't really think Villa and David Sliva are for sale. Not for a price that Liverpool or any team can really afford anyways. Valencia is sitting comfortably in third place and actually only a couple points behind Real Madrid for second. If they hold on, they will qualify for the Champions League next year and boost their revenue.

Basically, this could just be Torres covering his bases. If Liverpool doesn't finish in the top 4, he may want out but doesn't want to seem like the bad guy, yet he wants to play for a contender. He makes these statements now, then he pulls the "I wanted to stay at Liverpool, but they didn't want to spend the money to compete and make necessary changes, so I'm forced to leave for a contender" card later and justifies his way out. Not saying that is what is going on here, but it's possible. Remember that Fernando Torres and I are related. He's my tio. We get each other.

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The Beginning of the End?

In last week’s FA Cup game against Reading, Fernando Torres injured or re-aggravated his groin. Whatever he did to it, he is sidelined for 6 weeks. It’s a tough loss for Liverpool and I see their season going one of two ways:

1. The team plays better without Torres, rallys together because they know their backs are against the wall and they can't depend on their star players, they string together some lucky victories and get some breaks and actually move up in the standings over the next 6 weeks. Torres comes back, regains his form, brings sexy back and Liverpool somehow lands in the top 4 when all is said and done at the end of the season.

OR, and in my opinion more likely:

2. This is the knock-out blow. Liverpool slides in the standings without Torres and Steven Gerrard (also injured). Once Torres realizes the season is lost, he turns his focus to the World Cup. With Liverpool out of contention and Spain a legit contender, if not favorite, to win this summer, he never really comes back because he doesn’t want to aggravate his injury prior to the World Cup this summer. 6 weeks turns into 8 or 9...or 12. In the meantime, things go from bad to worse for Liverpool. They don’t finish in the top 4, Benitez gets fired, Torres and Gerrard flee over the summer for contenders and the city catches on fire. It might not be that bad. The city probably won't catch on fire.

I love Torres and would love to see Liverpool regain their form and finish at the top of the table. And even though that is possible, I just don't see it happening. Is this the beginning of the end? I hope not...but think so.

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Fernando Torres - "Get off of Me"

So I don't mean to constantly post about Liverpool, but it's hard when the enigma that is Liverpool continues. Just when they appear to be dead in the water, they come back and take a 2-0 win over Manchester United, without Steven Gerrard. Not sure what to make of the team exactly, but Fernando Torres' first goal was a beauty. The pass from Benayoun that split the two defenders to set up the goal was picture perfect. Midfielders earn their paychecks with passes like that. Torres received the pass, took a touch and nailed a rocket into the top of the net. An amazing goal. Not sure if it qualifies as a "golazo" but it was a great goal and did arguably save Liverpool's season.

The best part about the goal in my opinion was Torres' strength on the ball. Rio Ferdinand was running side by side with Torres and Torres just completely out-muscled Ferdinand and got his shot off. A classic "get off of me" moment. You could tell Ferdinand was trying desperately to get him off the ball, but to no avail. For a game that is plagued with having a reputation of players being weak and flopping all the time, its always nice to see a forward shake a defender instead of falling and hoping for the penalty. Not that Torres has never flopped, I'm sure he has, but as demonstrated in the Euro 2008 final and against Ferdinand, he is capable of dropping defenders. Every other forward not named Drogba is capable of shaking defenders instead of flopping. Not sure if I should say "flopping." Every time someone falls, it's not a flop. But I'm sure some forwards could stay stronger on the ball and I wish they would do it more because it embarrasses the defender and creates a great "get off of me" goal. Just look at Ferdinand's response after the goal. All he can do is just walk away with his head down. He knows he got abused.

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He's bringing sexy back

We are now six weeks into the English Premier League season and Fernando Torres is hitting his stride and looking as dominant as any other striker in the league. He already has 8 goals in the premier league which is more than half of the goals he had all last season (14). Granted, last season was somewhat a disappointment for Torres. After being traded to Liverpool from Atletico Madrid, he had a stellar debut season for Liverpool in 07/08 by netting 24 goals. He was the sexy young spaniard, El Nino, and he made a quick impact on the EPL. He then capped that off with a European Cup win with Spain in the summer. Granted, David Villa was the striker who really shined for Spain in that cup, but its hard to forget about Torres' goal in the final. He just abuses the defender and muscles his way into position to get the perfect touch before the goalie gets there.

Which is why he is scary good again this season. He is just abusing defenders. He's not like some forwards that know exactly where to be at the right time and they just 'pick up the scraps' and tap in all of the deflections. Think Raul or Ruuuuud van Nistelroy. Brilliant strikers that just have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Rarely will they 'create their own shot' or hit a rocket from 25 yards out. I'm not even sure if Raul can kick the ball 25 yards. But somehow, he is in the right place at the right time and he scores goals, hence the reason he's still on the pitch after all these years.

Torres is more like a basketball player where he literally heads in the 18 yard box and 'posts-up' and waits for Gerrard, or Kuyt, or Benayoun to feed him the ball. And he has so many turn around and one-on-one moves that it doesn't matter how he gets the ball, he can and does abuse defenders all game long. Take the game two weeks ago against West Ham. Torres' first goal when he gets the ball and is facing the defender and just goes at him one-on-one, beats him in the space of about 8 yards and uses a nice toe punch over the goalies head. (Here are the highlights from the game. The goal comes at the 2:30 mark). The goal is remarkable not just because you rarely see the toe punch anymore, a lost soccer skill and art form, but also because his speed and ease of getting around defenders and getting to the goal.

Torres has the same speed and ease when his back is to the goal and he turns and shoots. Its not like he's playing pick up in the park with some slow 40 year olds. He's up against premier defenders (well, as premier as you can get with Hull) and he is making them look slow. Once any player turns, if they can get the defender to freeze, they have maybe half a second to get their shot off before the defender is back in position or at least can get a leg to block the shot. And Torres is able to get that shot off with such little time. Here is his first goal against Hull City. His move is good, but its more that he makes his move and gets the shot off before the defenders can get back in front of the ball.

Liverpool was looking shaky at the beginning of the season. They had an opening day loss to Tottenham. That loss looked bad until people started realizing that it might be the year of the cock and that the Spurs are somewhat legit. Will they finish in the top 4? Probably not, but they are by no means a push over. Liverpool really just looked lost for the first couple of games and like they didn't have an offensive game plan and no magic or inspiration to their play. Things are really coming together in the last couple of weeks. They still have pretty serious defensive issues which will be discussed in another post, but their offense is firing on all cylinders. Gerrard is a rock and the foundation and Kuyt and Benayoun are legit playmakers that can come at you from all angles. They are coming together and starting to create magic because they have someone to create it with. A nice pass or through ball only looks as good as the guy receiving it. When that guy can put the ball in the back of the net, then the pass is that much better and amazing. Liverpool seemed lost and without a plan, but now their game plan is simple: feed The Kid the rock. Simple, yet pretty effective.

The real test will come on Sunday when Liverpool travels to Samford Bridge to take on Chelsea. Chelsea is coming off a bad loss to Wigan and won't want to lose two games in a row, especially at home. Look, I said Torres' is bringing sexy back, but he's pretty much already proven in the first six games that the sexiness is already back. But if he and Liverpool can go into Samford Bridge and knock off Chelsea, then not only is the sexiness back, it might also be your best bet for how to lift the Trophy at the end of the season.

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