Sunday, January 03, 2010

John Aldridge: Fernando Torres’ Aston Villa Strike Can Transform Liverpool FC Season

A season can change on one pivotal moment and hopefully Fernando Torres’ winner at Villa Park will be it for Liverpool.

We rode our luck a bit and Pepe Reina produced a couple of great saves but it was a fighting performance.

We still have to play better but it was a massive win and the spirit we showed was very pleasing. Hopefully it will restore the belief that seemed to have gone missing.

We’re in a mini league with four teams for fourth place and we’ve got to get our heads down and fight like we did against Villa.

There’s a lot of work to do and we’re going to have to hit a tremendous run of form to finish in the top four.

The problem we’ve got is that Manchester City will spend big this month, but at least on the back of two wins there is light at the end of the tunnel.

It’s vital we keep grinding out positive results away. Our home form has been similar to last year with us only two points worse off now compared to this stage last season.

However, before the Villa game we were 13 points worse off on our travels. We’ve been so disappointing away but the win at Villa should be a real confidence boost.

Torres only got one chance but he showed his class and stuck it away, making him the fastest player in the club’s history to reach 50 league goals. It only took him 72 games and I’m delighted for him.

In comparison I got to a half century in 83 games, while it took Ian Rush 84 and Robbie Fowler 88.

The three of us all played with fantastic players around us. We had creative wide men who provided us with a lot of service.

Torres hasn’t had that and apart from his understanding with Steven Gerrard he’s had to do most of it on his own.

Robbie and I both took penalties and Rushie also took a few, but Torres doesn’t - which really puts into perspective what a magnificent achievement it is.

He’s been a great signing for the club and hopefully he’ll be here for many years to come.

One newspaper in particular has been stirring things up, suggesting Torres may move on next summer. It’s been bad enough being a Liverpudlian in recent months and the last thing we need is scaremongering

Torres has said how much he loves playing for the club and living in the city but I’d love to see him come out and quash the latest rumours.

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