Fernando Torres is usually bang on target – and he certainly was after his hat-trick against Hull City on Saturday.
Rather than basking in the glory of his outstanding individual achievements, the Spaniard was right to point out that it’s winning the major trophies that really matters in a player’s career.
Which is why Torres can’t yet be talked of in the same terms as the true Liverpool greats – even though for me he is the best striker in the world at the moment.
When you think about the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, they are the only players who are on the same kind of level and they’re not out-and-out centre-forwards. If you’re talking about leading the line and finding the back of the net, I’m convinced Torres has no equal in the world game.
But in terms of playing for Liverpool, it’s all about the medals. Which is why Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush are the ultimate Anfield legends.
And you can’t put Torres in the same bracket as them at the moment.
You can say that he has the potential to be up there and could possibly even surpass them one day – but he has to be in a team that delivers.
Dalglish and Rush both have the League Championship and European Cup medals to back up their outstanding individual achievements.
Torres is scoring a lot of goals, but he knows himself that they will prove to be nothing but consolations if they don’t lead to Liverpool getting their name on the big trophies once again.
So next question: what are the chances of that happening in the near future?
Well, in terms of the title the maintaining is that Liverpool are well up there and giving themselves a chance. They made a bad start but it’s still only September and they seem to have got over those early shakes.
Besides, as much as those two early defeats to Spurs and Aston Villa were a setback, I think more surprise defeats could be in store for the leading clubs throughout this campaign.
Villa and Spurs, along with Manchester City, seem better equipped to be a threat to the top four this time and Manchester United and Chelsea have already been rocked by sides you would expect them to turn over.
In short, whoever wins the league this year is probably going to lose more games than usual anyway and that kind of trend will only play into Liverpool’s hands after that stuttering start.
And if proof were needed that people got a bit carried away wiring them off after three games then it arrived in the shape of Chelsea’s performance at Wigan on Saturday.
For a team that is flying on the back of eight straight wins, they were made to look awful by Wigan, especially in defence. They normally do the basics so well at the back – their defending from set pieces was particularly poor.
But it just goes to show that if you knock off for 90 minutes in this league, no matter who you play, you will get done.
I can only think that Chelsea must have sat in the dressing room before the game thinking they had won. If so, then it really bit them on backside.
But it’s a complacency, coupled with a huge dent to their confidence, that will only give Liverpool even more encouragement when the sides meet on Sunday.
Rather than basking in the glory of his outstanding individual achievements, the Spaniard was right to point out that it’s winning the major trophies that really matters in a player’s career.
Which is why Torres can’t yet be talked of in the same terms as the true Liverpool greats – even though for me he is the best striker in the world at the moment.
When you think about the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, they are the only players who are on the same kind of level and they’re not out-and-out centre-forwards. If you’re talking about leading the line and finding the back of the net, I’m convinced Torres has no equal in the world game.
But in terms of playing for Liverpool, it’s all about the medals. Which is why Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush are the ultimate Anfield legends.
And you can’t put Torres in the same bracket as them at the moment.
You can say that he has the potential to be up there and could possibly even surpass them one day – but he has to be in a team that delivers.
Dalglish and Rush both have the League Championship and European Cup medals to back up their outstanding individual achievements.
Torres is scoring a lot of goals, but he knows himself that they will prove to be nothing but consolations if they don’t lead to Liverpool getting their name on the big trophies once again.
So next question: what are the chances of that happening in the near future?
Well, in terms of the title the maintaining is that Liverpool are well up there and giving themselves a chance. They made a bad start but it’s still only September and they seem to have got over those early shakes.
Besides, as much as those two early defeats to Spurs and Aston Villa were a setback, I think more surprise defeats could be in store for the leading clubs throughout this campaign.
Villa and Spurs, along with Manchester City, seem better equipped to be a threat to the top four this time and Manchester United and Chelsea have already been rocked by sides you would expect them to turn over.
In short, whoever wins the league this year is probably going to lose more games than usual anyway and that kind of trend will only play into Liverpool’s hands after that stuttering start.
And if proof were needed that people got a bit carried away wiring them off after three games then it arrived in the shape of Chelsea’s performance at Wigan on Saturday.
For a team that is flying on the back of eight straight wins, they were made to look awful by Wigan, especially in defence. They normally do the basics so well at the back – their defending from set pieces was particularly poor.
But it just goes to show that if you knock off for 90 minutes in this league, no matter who you play, you will get done.
I can only think that Chelsea must have sat in the dressing room before the game thinking they had won. If so, then it really bit them on backside.
But it’s a complacency, coupled with a huge dent to their confidence, that will only give Liverpool even more encouragement when the sides meet on Sunday.
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