Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

conceding too much space, what would a coach’s advice be to a defender who needs to close down a striker like Fernando Torres?
     
    ‘Nowadays, it’s no longer like it once was when you attached yourself to a striker and didn’t let him breathe throughout the whole game. I would play a one-against-one but try to minimise it. Today, no. Today one talks of units, and the defensive unit should work in the best possible way, it should be perfectly synchronised like a precision timepiece to close down strikers like Torres.’

In a list of the world’s best strikers, where would you put Torres?
     
    ‘Amongst the top ones, amongst those who cause panic, such as Drogba, Berbatov and Ruud (Van Nistelrooy). Torres is definitely one of the strongest strikers in Europe – he’s young, he plays in a set-up like Liverpool, he’s in the Spanish national team, and he’s still got so many areas in which to improve.’

Which areas?
     
    ‘He should improve his technique in the one-against-one. Torres relies on his speed but when you have a defender in front of you, you have to go past him and not through speed alone. Take Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi or Ronaldo in his better moments. They home in on you, skip past and they’re away. This is still missing in Torres, even if he has the quality and the skills to be able to do it. His best weapons? His bursts of speed, those 10 to 15 metres in which he launches himself at the back of the defender and his overwhelming physical power. Even when he makes a mistake, he gets to the ball ahead of everyone else. Another thing he does that I like is that he doesn’t give up when his opponents have the ball. In the match with Liverpool, for example, I will always remember two recoveries of the ball he made – one from Sergio Ramos and the other from Heinze. There, you really saw the strength of a striker. You saw that he wanted to win. But beyond the goals and the games, it’s an important message to the whole team. He shows the spirit of the centre forward. As a defender, I would like my strikers to be doing that.’

Who does Torres resemble?
     
    ‘Perhaps Ruud Gullit for his running abilities and his strength. I remember Ruud had fantastic acceleration. He was a player who would start from a long way off and could play at various points along the line of attack.’

Torres said some time ago that in a few years, to complete his career, he would like to play in Italy and try Serie A. What do you think of that?
     
    ‘After his English experience, I think he’d have some difficulties, because of how football is lived in England, because of how it is organised. We (in Italy) are the opposite (to England) – ugly grounds, lots of disputes and fans with little sporting culture. And there they don’t go away from home on training camps. With us, you hardly need to start losing before everyone has to go off to a training camp. Things go badly and immediately they sack the manager. That’s typical Italian-style. I’m Italian, I’m proud of my country and of our football but I have to admit that, today, the English teams have an undeniable superior physical strength, technique and financial backing. The Premier League is the best league in Europe, even if the Italy manager, Marcello Lippi, says that the maximum expression of football is not the (domestic) league, or the Champions League but the national side and, at the moment, the most important national side is Spain.’

Talking of national sides, how do you view the chances of champions Torres & Co. in the next World Cup?
     
    ‘One can’t deny that they are favourites. They are champions of Europe, they have a generation of fantastic young footballers. But the tournament is outside Europe and the favourites almost never get to the final. The World Cup is another thing altogether, where so many factors depend on the luck of the draw. But certainly, to achieve the run of victories they’ve had, with qualification already in the bag, allows you to have, as they say here, “mas confianza” (“more confidence”).’

Chapter 30
Manchester United 1 Liverpool 4
     
    14 March 2008
    Good afternoon and welcome to Old Trafford …
    The stadium is full and we have just been informed that there is a crowd of 75,569. This match tops the bill for the 29th day of action in the Premier League. The meeting is due to kick off shortly, at 12.45pm. Top of the table Manchester United are playing host to the Reds, who are joint third in the