Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Mark Lawrensen: Fernando Torres Treatment A Big Clue To How Rafa Benitez Sees His Liverpool Future

I wish I could answer the questions as to why Fernando Torres was taken off at Birmingham on Sunday – but I for one have given up trying to guess.

Preserving players early in the season is one thing – but doing it in April just doesn’t make sense.

No wonder Steven Gerrard was scratching his head.

I hate harking back to the old days because that’s exactly what they are – old. But if Rushie had been subbed after 65 minutes of a game we needed to win back in the 1980s there would have been a mutiny.

And Torres is the modern day Ian Rush – the one player who you need on the pitch when you are chasing a winning goal.

Yes, he might have been having an off day but looking at the way Liverpool pressed late on, he would have only needed to stand there and swing his leg at the ball to have an impact.

He would surely have buried the couple of chances David Ngog had when he came on to replace him.

But the most baffling thing about the decision to haul him off was, if you really need to wrap him in cotton wool and make sure he doesn’t do any long term damage, why didn’t that happen in Portugal on Thursday night?

There were only eight minutes left when Torres made way for David Ngog that night and by the time he came off he had been kicked from pillar to post.

Taking him off would have been justified on that occasion because he was getting no protection from the referee and the Benfica defenders were having a field day.

That would have been the time to give Torres the safety of the bench.

As it is, the 2-1 defeat Liverpool suffered still, for me, gives them a 60/40 chance of qualifying at Anfield, as long as they don’t concede an away goal.

One thing is for sure, after missing half an hour of action at St Andrew’s, Torres should be flying!

But the other thing I really don’t get about the whole tiredness argument is, why not send Ngog on for someone else and give Torres some help? Ease the burden on him a bit.

If you have someone who can do the running and occupy defenders, then Torres can just stand around and be as worn out as he likes, all he needs to be there for is to add a finishing touch.

That’s all you need in such a finely-balanced game and I’ve lost count of the times a decision by Benitez has jeopardised his side having the best chance of winning a game.

When your own captain is looking at the number board in utter disbelief, you know you’ve got problems.

Gerrard was playing really well, had scored a great goal and he knows that when he is in the mood he and Torres can destroy a team in an instant.

So what conclusions are we supposed to draw from all this? Is it that Benitez wants to go all out to win the Europa League rather than push for fourth place? A fourth place that he has already ‘guaranteed’?

After failing to deliver on that, success in Europe is an absolute must if you’re going to make sacrifices elsewhere for it.

Of course, if we do win the trophy then great, happy days. But how are we going to attract top quality players to the club for next year if we are not in the Champions League?

Or maybe Rafa knows that come the summer that won’t be his problem – and if he does go he will at least have gone out with some silverware.

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