Are you having a laugh? FSW praises Torres’ ‘amazing’ ability to clear the ball
Although interim manager Rafael Benitez, who enjoyed a successful relationship with the player during their time at Liverpool, has had a few words to say about the Spanish striker.
Benitez was quoted in the Telegraph:
“He scored a lot of goals in training today. He is a great player and if he is the right positions they will play with him and if he’s not they won’t.
“It’s not just scoring goals. If you analyse the corners (against us) he was amazing, two or three times clearing the ball. He was helping the team defend. But as a striker you want him to score goals.”
It seems to me as though the man is scraping the barrel with this one and is looking for any excuse possible to praise a man that has made little contribution since he arrived. Heard plenty of players and managers commenting on how a player looks in training, but never seen one defend a goal-shy forward by remarking on his amazing finishing abilities when it doesn’t count.
Didier Drogba was much more gifted when it came to defending the penalty area during set-pieces and, more importantly, he scored plenty of goals…it was his job. Going from a man like that to Torres is saddening and I don’t think Benitez should be insulting anyone’s intelligence by lauding his ability to clear the ball two or three times when he’s missing sitters at the other end of the pitch.