Few foreign players have adapted better - or as quickly - to the unique demands of top-flight football in England than Fernando Torres. In his first season, after arriving at Liverpool 12 months ago, he scored 33 goals in all competitions.
Yet as the prolific Spain striker ponders how he can improve next season, having set the bar so high, he is swift to pay tribute to the part that Rafael Benítez played in his rapid and spectacular progress. Without the intense guidance of the Liverpool manager, Torres maintains, he might not have made such an immediate impact.
“There are days when you think: ‘My God, this guy [Benítez] doesn't let you breathe',” Torres, a £20.2million buy from Atlético Madrid, said. “At times like that, you don't realise that all he wants is for you to improve.
“When you are in a team where things are going mostly well, players tend to relax. But you must always push yourself. Never become complacent; you try to do your best every single day. At a club like Liverpool, you can't sit back after scoring 20-odd goals and say: 'Well, that's it.' After you score 20, Benítez is at you during the next training session and stays on top of you all day, all week.
“He tells you to go off on your own and do new exercises. I want to progress in life, not relax, not be complacent, and you need someone close to you telling you to keep at it. It is impossible to do it otherwise. We don't always fancy someone that close but, in the long term, I am sure that everybody will thank him for it.”
Torres, 24, carried his form into the international arena this summer, scoring two goals as Spain were crowned European champions. His second goal - a trademark effort embracing power and pace - was enough to see off Germany 1-0 in the final in Vienna.
If Benítez's influence has been great, Torres has also reaped the benefit of playing alongside Steven Gerrard, the England midfield player. He has watched Gerrard closely - on and off the pitch - and used the Liverpool captain as an example of how to deal with life in the goldfish bowl that is Merseyside.
“I really admire Steven,” Torres said in an interview in Champions, the official magazine of the Uefa Champions League, said. “I know the pressure he is under every day, everybody talking about him all day long. In the changing-room, in the pubs, in the stadium. I've heard people say he should be stronger, have a stronger personality. I know by experience how difficult it is to deal with that because Liverpool is a huge club. And he's at another level, of course.
“People look at you from a distance and challenge you with their eyes. All that happens to Steve every day and he copes with it, everything that is expected of him all the time. He's always under tremendous pressure to perform and everyone looks to him to show leadership, to lift the team.
“He's a great example, and those of us who have been in a similar situation know how difficult it is to handle. It's incredible the way he carries himself regardless of what is going on around him. I'd love to be captain of another team one day and Steve has shown me how to be a great leader.”
During a career of many highs, Torres has had to endure his lows, too, particularly before his move to Anfield. He would turn to Olalla, his girlfriend, for sympathy and advice. “She has had to suffer much disappointed ranting and moaning, especially when I was at Atlético,” Torres said. “Now, she is also having a good time herself.
“She knows how to calm me down when I haven't been able to see the way out of the tunnel or wake me up when I've been sleeping. She pushes me when I need to be encouraged. The person that lives with you is sometimes the only one capable of helping you up when you don't realise how down you are.”
