by rednasca » Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:06 am
Liverpool supporters: stop embarrassing your club.
Liverpool supporters, here`s some advice: stop it. You are embarrassing yourself now.
That goes for all that coven of Liverpool 'legends` who have been wheeled out. Tommy Smith, John Aldridge, Phil Thompson, Mark Lawrensen. Give it a rest guys. You are not really a credit to your club.
You like to portray yourself as the bestest fans in the World. 'Best, fairest, most knowledgeable` I remember one person saying, tongue nowhere near cheek. But this week you Liverpool fans have shown the opposite: ungrateful, petty. Spiteful. Small-minded. Fernando Torres left the building. Get over it. Come on, you know why he did it, secretly you can understand. You don`t have to sympathise, but you UNDERSTAND why he left Liverpool for Chelsea.
So please, let`s not hear more of your poorly-articulated indignation. John Aldridge, do you think that your case is made any more potent when you inform us that your 5 year-old grandson refused to wear his Torres shirt over the weekend? Phil Thompson, were you a credit to your club when you called in to Sky and launched into a tirade that could only be charitably described as 'embarrassing`?
And those are only the nominal grown-ups. The bloggers don`t even have the restraint of intelligence. So the one who penned an entire piece declaring that the only reason why Torres went to London was because he was threatened by the Russian mafia, please bear in mind that once it`s up on the internet, it`s out there. You are never going to able to take that down.
Then there was the blogger who posted that Fernando Torres was a SCUMBAG because (get this guys) he changed the background of his personal website. Barely 36 hours after arriving at Chelsea, that website now has a blue background, whereas before it was red. ARE THERE NO DEPTHS TOO LOW FOR THIS JUDAS????
Please guys, if you want to salvage any of your reputation, you might have to behave with a bit more of that quality which you like to tell us is the quintessence of Liverpool: dignity. Fernando Torres left Liverpool for Chelsea. He made a rational calculation: at his age he has a better chance of winning stuff at Chelsea than at Liverpool. That`s a fact, even you guys know that. At 26, should he be impervious to that hunger for success?
Fernando Torres gave 3 ½ pretty good years to Liverpool. For much of that time he was one of only 2 good players in your squad. Even that was not enough to win anything. In that time, Torres has won a European Championship and a World Cup. Ironically, had he stayed at Atletico he`d have 3 titles. But at Liverpool, well his club trophy cabinet is bare.
You lot are saying that the decision to go to Chelsea showed that he never really cared about Liverpool. What on earth makes you think that`s the case? That`s just an ex-post justification that holds no water whatsoever, an intellectual fallacy. By all accounts, Fernando Torres really did love Liverpool. He loved the club, he loved the city, he loved the fans. He was sincere when he said that. The fact that he chose to leave for Chelsea changes not the feelings that he had for most of that period, it actually made the decision to leave even more difficult. Don`t try to rewrite history or the guy`s feelings by portraying him as hypocritical.
We learn, via his PA, that Torres was already unhappy over the summer. CAN YOU BLAME HIM, Liverpool fans? Out of the Champions League, and in a period of institutional turmoil, Liverpool FC were a mess. The manager with whom he had a particular rapport had just been sacked (and rightly so). In his place, a rather unknown quantity had been signed, who inaugurated an era of mediocrity by bringing in, well, Paul Konchelsky. Liverpool fans were pessimistic. Why should Torres have been in a different state?
And yet, despite that unhappiness, Torres stayed. He had asked the club to sell him, especially since Chelsea had already come knocking in July. But - and here`s the thing - he didn`t leave. Torres listened to what the club directors were saying when they pointed out that the club was being sold and that Torres` departure could end up destabilising the club even more. He was asked to stay not only to facilitate the sale but also to see what the new regime would bring. And Fernando respected that. He stayed over the summer.
Liverpool fans, stop portraying Torres as 'disloyal`. You ask more of him than you would possibly be prepared to give. Torres didn`t insist on being transferred first time around … for the good of your club. And he gave it a chance.
But the least that you can say is that the new regime didn`t really fulfil its promises. Liverpool FC are actually further than ever to moving to a new stadium. The Hodgson era will go down as a disaster for Liverpool. One of the reasons why it was so poor is that Hodgson had no idea how to get the best out of Torres. It wasn`t the striker`s fault that he wasn`t banging them away, it was the lack of service that Hodgson`s tactics were bringing him. That`s why Torres` body language was so poor. Liverpool, frankly, had not fulfilled their promises. Torres was looking at another season outside of Europe`s top competition if he stayed at Liverpool, at least. It is more likely that Liverpool will be years and years without playing in the Champions League. Why should such a good player hang around? Out of loyalty? Really, is that what you expect of him, Liverpool fans?
So who can blame Fernando Torres for leaving? Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard (the latter hardly the best person to lecture on loyalty): they are local lads. Torres isn`t. He loved Liverpool, but at 26 years old, why should his career as a footballer be dragged down by being associated with a club that wasn`t going places?
And yet, despite what you fans are saying, even the circumstances of his departure showed a certain respect and affection for Liverpool. It turns out that, over the last month, even though the club knew that Chelsea were interested, even though they knew that Torres wanted to leave, they nevertheless asked everyone to hush it up. Liverpool asked for 'maximum discretion` from everyone concerned because they were in the process of finalising discussions with Ajax to purchase Luis Suarez. Liverpool feared that, if the sale of Fernando Torres leaked out, Ajax would have immediately hiked up the price of the Urugayan striker. So Fernando did exactly that, waited until the discussions with Ajax were finalised. It was only then that Chelsea tabled their offer. After that, we know what happened: Liverpool rejected the first offer, and Torres had no choice but to table a transfer request.
Liverpool fans might like to bear this into account before they chunter on with guff like 'Fernando Torres is a fake and a fraud who has spat in the faces of Liverpool supporters` (actual words of John Aldridge). If your club had been better, he would have stayed. If your club had met the promises they made to the player, he also would have stayed. As it was, even the way that he left displayed a rather different narrative to the one you are spreading: Fernando Torres tried to do things nicely, in a way that respected Liverpool`s needs. Liverpool, on the other hand, treated Torres quite badly. They forced him to engineer the move. Please bear in mind that had Torres` discretion until the final weekend of the transfer window probably saved you £5 million in the price of Luis Suarez. It also probably netted you an extra £10 million on the sale of Fernando Torres. All that because Fernando respected Liverpool`s wishes.
Honestly guys the way you are behaving is like a lover spurned. And yet you understand fully why he took the opportunity to play at a higher level. And please, don`t cite only selectively the words that he used in his interview with Chelsea TV as 'proof` that he never really liked Liverpool. Read the full interview, he makes clear that the decision to leave Liverpool was very difficult for him. He also makes clear that he has nothing bad at all to say about Liverpool or the time he spent there.
Let`s quote the guy: "I only have good words about Liverpool. They made me a top player and gave me the chance to play at the top level. I will never say anything bad about Liverpool. I have been very happy there but now the history is different and I am playing for Chelsea." That`s hardly insulting about Liverpool.
When he talks about playing Liverpool this weekend, here are Fernando`s exact words. "It is like destiny. It is not perfect but if I have the chance to play, I will do my best and hopefully I can score." Hopefully I can score: because that`s his job, for all that he liked Liverpool, he has new employers now. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO SAY: "I really hope I don`t score"?
When he says that he`s moved 'one of the biggest clubs`, please, think about the context. He didn`t actually say that Chelsea are bigger than Liverpool. He`s just joined Chelsea, who have broken an English record price to bring him in. And he says "I am joining a team that is at the top level. There is not another level after Chelsea." Look at the words: he isn`t saying that Chelsea are 'better` than Liverpool. Or bigger. Just that Chelsea are at the top. Where Liverpool are, well that`s up to you to judge.
Really Liverpool fans, you have every right to feel hurt that Fernando Torres left your club. But you understand why he did that. Please, stop taking it out on the guy. He`s the same player that you idolised before. Don`t soil those memories by suggesting that actually he wasn`t that good. Or that he didn`t care about Liverpool. Be gracious about his departure, because Torres really did care about Liverpool: the club, the city and the fans.
And for the love of God, stop being so bitter and ungrateful.
итгэл, найдвар хэзээ ч бөхөхгүй, мөхөхгүй...