Benitez who bought Torres from Atletico Madrid in 2007 to Liverpool where the striker went on to score a total of 81 goals in 142 apperances has the chance to work with the striker once again.
Torres' great talent was obvious to everyone as he made his progress through the youth ranks at Atletico Madrid after joining the club in 1995. He starred for Spain in the 2001 European Under-16 Championship and scored the only goal in the final against France and finished as the leading goalscorer with seven goals in six games and was voted the best player of the tournament. The following season Torres scored six goals in 36 matches as he established himself in the Atletico team that won promotion to La Liga. Torres shone again on the international stage in the summer of 2002 at the European Under-19 Championship when he again scored the only goal in the final and ended as the tournament's leading goalscorer with four goals in four games and yes... was voted the best player.
Torres showed his promise by scoring 13 goals in 29 games in his first season in the top-flight, but it was in the 2003/04 season when Torres became a 19-year-old superstar. He scored 19 league goals in 35 games and made his full international debut on 6 September 2003 against Portugal. "I was captain in Atletico at 19, playing in the same team as Demetrio Albertini who won three Champions Leagues and Sergi Barjuan from Barcelona, who had won everything, and they were 32, 33, "Torres said. "I was a kid as captain, so I wasn’t the real captain, just a kid learning from them." Torres proved his worth in his first World Cup in 2006 with three goals in four matches but the Spanish team were on their way home after losing 3-1 to France in the last 16. Torres had been a key player at underachieving Atletico Madrid all his career and needed a new challenge. He had scored on average a goal every 2.6 games in 244 appearances for the club, a total of 91 goals. Rafa Benítez and Liverpool's new American owners showed their intent for the 2007/08 season by splashing out a club record fee of £20.2 million for the exciting Spaniard. Surely a coincidence he was paraded at Anfield on 4 July, USA's independence day? A lot of responsibility was placed on Torres' young shoulders in Madrid, but at Liverpool he wasn't the only one responsible for the success or lack thereof. It is hard to know which adjectives or superlatives to use to describe Torres' first season in English football. He announced himself to the Anfield public by scoring a beautifully-taken goal against Chelsea. He would score similar goals at Marseille and at Tottenham, by dropping his shoulder and easing past a defender before placing his shot immaculately into the far corner of the goal.
Torres playing for Liverpool against Middlesbrough on 23 February 2008, against whom he scored a hat-trick
He was named the Premier League Player of the Month for February 2008,during which he scored four goals in four appearances, including a hat-trick against Middlesbrough on 23 February 2008.This hat-trick and another in a 4–0 victory over West Ham United on 5 March 2008 meant he became the first Liverpool player since Jack Balmer in November 1946 to score a hat-trick in successive home matches.Later in March, after he scored a 47th minute header against Reading at Anfield, becoming the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season campaign to score 20 league goals in a season. In April, he scored another Champions League goal, this time against Arsenal in the quarter-final second leg, as Liverpool advanced to the semi-final.This goal took him onto 29 goals for the 2007–08 season in all competitions,eclipsing Michael Owen's personal record for goals in a season.On 11 April 2008, it was announced Torres had made a six-man shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, which was eventually won by Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.The Spanish international was also nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year Award, which was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal and was named in the PFA Team of the Year.In May, he finished second to Ronaldo for the FWA Footballer of the Year award.
On 4 May 2008, Torres scored a 57th minute winner against Manchester City, which equalled the consecutive Anfield league goal record of eight games set by Roger Hunt. After scoring his 24th league goal in the final game of the season, a 2–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, he set a new record for the most prolific foreign goal scorer in a debut season in England, eclipsing Ruud van Nistelrooy's 23 goals.He ended the season in joint second place with Emmanuel Adebayor in the race for the Premier League golden boot.Torres was subject to media speculation that Chelsea were willing to pay £50 million to sign him but Torres responded by saying it would be "many years" before he left Liverpool.Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks also negated the idea of a transfer, saying he would not allow Torres to leave the club at any price.
Torres did not finish his debut season with a winners' medal for his club, but on the international scene however, it was quite a different story. Torres travelled to the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland as part of a talented squad that included his Liverpool teammates Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Alvaro Arbeloa. Torres played in all five matches as his country progressed to the final in Vienna. He proved he was the man for the big occasion by scoring a brilliant winner in the first-half. He had now scored winning goals in European championships' final at three different levels - Under-16, Under-19 and now senior - all of them ending 1-0, an incredible record. Liverpool's new favourite "Number Nine" had a stop-start season in 2008/09. Niggling injuries curtailed his progress and at the turn of the year Torres had only scored five goals in 16 matches, including a brace in away victories against Everton and Manchester City. Torres was determined to make up for lost time in the second part of the season and scored 11 goals in 22 matches when the title was Liverpool's to lose, which they unfortunately did.
In 2009/10 Fernando's goals-per-game ratio in Premier League matches was his best yet, 18 from 22 matches. In so doing, he became the fastest Liverpool player to reach 50 League goals. Frustratingly he missed almost as many matches as he played in, as Liverpool gained 23 less points in the League compared to the previous season. The major test of whether Liverpool could match Torres' ambitions did not come with a change of ownership or even a change of manager. It came when Chelsea tried again to prize him away from Anfield in the January 2011 transfer-window. It hardly came as a surprise when Torres handed in a transfer request as he had been looking very unhappy in the red shirt in the last few months. On the day the window closed Torres was at Melwood in the morning but in the evening he was in London signing for defending Premiership champions after a £50million deal have been agreed by the two clubs.
Many onlookers suspected that Chelsea would find it difficult to accommodate Drogba, Anelka and Torres in the same team and so it proved. The fourth most expensive player in history made his Chelsea debut against his former club Liverpool early in February 2011. Carragher and Agger snuffed out any threat from their former teammate and the Spaniard was substituted shortly before Meireles scored the only goal of the game for the visitors.
Torres would have to wait until 23 April to score his first Chelsea goal and by the end of the season it was still his only goal from 14 Premier League matches and four Champions League matches. The massive transfer fee seemed to be a real millstone around his neck, but his performances for Chelsea in the second half of the season were really no different to those for Liverpool in the first half of the season. Torres continued to struggle to score goals in the 2011/12 season, netting only six times from thirty-two Premier League fixtures. His goals-per-game ratio was slightly better in cup competitions and he did finally get his first winners' medals at club level. However, his contribution to Chelsea's cup double was small as he was an unused substitute against Liverpool in the FA Cup final at Wembley and was only brought on as a substitute a few minutes from the end of normal time in the Champions League final in Munich.
At Chelsea Torres never seem to find his feet,at the depth of his Chelsea malaise under Ancelotti - the manager who signed him for £50 million - he scored just once in 14 games.
His stats where hardly improved under Andre Villas-Boas, for whom he scored just twice. But under Roberto Di Matteo, Torres was apparently on the mend. His shooting accuracy reached 59% . He enjoyed his best performance under Di Matteo at Chelsea.
Many argue that the reasons Torres did so well at Liverpool are as follows; At Liverpool 69% of Torres' goals, a total of 56, were engineered by defence-splitting passes, in most instances from Steven Gerrard or Xabi Alonso a service he doesn't seem to receive at Chelsea, and at his arrival at Liverpool he was the only recongnised striker even though they had Robbie Keane and Andry Voronin and he was in a team with a Spanish like background thanks to theSpaniards in the team both as playing and non playing staff. So Torres was well at home, in contrast to Chelsea where the majority of players are used to the English way of life.
The Steven Gerrard factor played a very key role in the success of Fernando Torress at Liverpool. Gerrard was at the very peak of his career then, he carried the weight of Liverpool on his shoulders with so much passion that anyone playing ahead of him on the pitch had no choice than to deliver, because his form is and will always be infectious, a major ingredient Torres didn't find at Chelsea.
Another important argument people put up, is the influence of Didier Drogba, Drogba was the key figure at Chelsea as at the time Torres came in with a heavy price tag, and with Drogba in charge there was no way there could be two captains in one Ship. Not until the departure of Drogba, Torres never seemed to be the shadow of his old self.
With all this above factors still missing at Chelsea I don't see Benitez performing any instant miracle on Fernando Torres to make him rediscover his scoring boots unless Benitez is given the opportunity to shape the team the way he wants during the January transfer windows.
And that brings me to the conclusion that "Not even Benitez can save Torres" he has to save himself or else..........
Did i hear someone ask "How can He save himself"? That is a story for another day.
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