dodojojo

Here's the Marca Q&A in English (from Torres' site). Fernando Torres: “I would give anything to do the double†Torres The Spain and Chelsea striker spoke exclusively to newspaper MARCA. The forward’s interview, which touched a range of subjects, took over the first four pages of the daily publication. Torres spoke of the reasons behind his move to Stamford Bridge, the mano-a-mano between Barcelona and Real Madrid, and how he hopes that Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero does not join their local rivals Real Madrid. - You have been in London now for 2 months. How are things progressing? Little by little. It’s a big change, a big city…and I’m still sorting things out. It’s been very busy but I’m happy here. - Is this the step-up your career that is going to lead to domestic title success? You never know. When I left my house in Spain for the first time, I thought that would be the definitive move. But time proved me wrong. You never know if it is going to be your last chance, so you must give your all to try to make your dreams come true. I know have five and a half years ahead of me to fight for what I want to achieve.†- Are your dreams any closer? I believe that they are. The city and the club have everything I need. A lot of thought went into this decision. It wasn’t a rushed decision, as I had taken it while ago. - When exactly? In the summer in which Xabi Alonso left I started to wonder. I had the best three years of my career at Liverpool. I thought I was at the best club around, one that would win things with time. But when Xabi and Mascherano left, and before them Crouch and Arbeloa, when reinforcements didn't arrive, I started to wonder if Liverpool was the club its history suggests or if it was in fact a selling club. They told me they would not sell anyone and I turned down an offer from Chelsea in the summer. I understood Liverpool's reasons for not wanting to sell me, even though I knew I was letting an opportunity go by – one that might not come back again. The club was not the same, it wasn't heading in the direction I thought it should head in and I could see that a change was needed. - Where you always sure the club would be Chelsea? What other teams could I have gone to? I couldn't go to Manchester United out of respect for Liverpool. Or Real Madrid, because of my past. I don't think Barcelona needed anyone. I didn't like the idea of Italy. Chelsea were the only club left. There was only one option. In fact, I thought there were no options at all until Chelsea appeared with just twenty days to go. And then suddenly one day, 20 days before the end of the January transfer window, the opportunity appeared. I didn't expect it; it was like a light bulb coming on in a long, dark passageway. I thought that the six months left at Liverpool this season would feel like three years. This time I got a second chance. - Who did you speak to at Liverpool? When I heard of Chelsea’s interest in me, I spoke to the club’s Sporting Director and I asked to meet with all the coaching staff to tell them that I wanted to leave. My teammates knew nothing. I wanted to be honest. If others haven't been honest, that's not my problem. - What was happening at the club? I knew I was an idol at the club but it was no longer the same. There was also the departure of Rafa Benítez and the club was in chaos with the sale. There was so much said, so much talk about projects, but then nothing. It reminded me of Atlético Madrid: great history, lots of ideas but without money you need time. And I didn't have much of that. - Did you feel that you were let down? Football is not a sport populated by honest people. You can't tell the truth or be up front with people. It's a business and no one is friends. - Real Madrid were in the market for a number ‘9’. Would you have considered joining them? No. Never. It was never an option. There was only one choice and that was Chelsea. There was no team on the horizon until Chelsea came for me out of the blue. - Where you affected by the events that took place at the Liverpool when you decided to leave? I just want to say again that I was honest. I know the transfer wasn't handled in the best way but I was honest. If anyone used the press, it wasn't me. I was straight and I have a clear conscience. - What is Abramovich like? Roman does not live here. But when I have seen him at games or at training he is been very approachable, very different from what some people think. He acts and behaves just like the next person at the club. He’s very down to earth.†- Have you chatted? Yes, but it was a private conversation. - Four games without a goal. How are you adapting? Well I never thought that it would be easy. At Liverpool it also took time. You need a couple of months to settle, especially if you join a club mid-way through a season in February. - Did you expect the English press to be so hard on you? I don’t know what they are saying. I’ve only had internet at home since Wednesday and I don’t really follow the press here. I normally keep up to date with the Spanish press. As for my free-time, my children take up most of it. - A defeat in your debut at home to Liverpool of all teams. These things happen. We lost and have to accept it. - And what about Chelsea? Chelsea have proven that they have top-class players throughout the squad. There’s plenty of strength in depth and the club will always be competing for silverware. The owner also invests in the club if needed. - Were you surprised by the atmosphere in the dressing room? I have been surprised by the atmosphere in the dressing room, considering there are so many stars. There is more of personal relationship and jokes between players than there was at Liverpool. There, it was much more serious. Here, you don't have to prove you are a professional. That's just taken as read. Off the pitch you can conduct your own life but the demands when you play are maximum. - Which player has been looking after you? Benayoun. We were in contact a lot during the final hours before the deal was signed. - What about the Chelsea fans? Unbelievable from day one. They want me to score my first goal almost more than I do! The fans get right behind their players. - Was the sole reason behind your move to Chelsea is to win titles? Yes, that’s the only reason. - Which title would you prefer to win, the Premier League or the Champions League? Definitely the Champions League. After winning the World Cup and the European Championships is the biggest prize you can win. I would also love to win the Premier League as it’s a great competition, and I’m sure that I will win at least one. You can never tell with the Champions League. - Is the feeling in the dressing room that the Champions League is the one title that has eluded them? They came within one penalty of winning…. so you can imagine how much they want to win it. It’s almost as if the Champions League title was snatched away from them. - Who are Chelsea’s main rivals for the title? Depends on the draw. Schalke, Tottenham and Shakthar could all be placed in the same side of the draw… Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United are probably the biggest threats, but last year Barcelona were favourites and they went out. Over two-legs I am not too sure, but right now, Barcelona are the team playing the best football. - What would you give to win the double this season? Whatever it takes! - Is it fair to say that the Spanish and Scottish leagues are two very similar competitions? Not at all. The two top clubs in both leagues stand out from the rest. They win their matches thanks to the way they play and not because the other teams are not good enough. They set a remarkable pace which is hard for other teams to follow. Just look at how many points they have won so far this season. It’s not that Seville FC, Valencia or Atletico Madrid are playing worse than before, it’s that Barcelona and Real Madrid for example have improved on last year. - Are Barcelona worthy of their seven point lead over Real Madrid? Yes. Just like Mourinho pointed out, the Barcelona team have been together for a while now. Who are they missing? who can come in to improve the current team? - You? I don’t think so. I don’t think that they can be improved. Ibrahimovic arived and Barcelona were not a better side, and they still play just as well aftre Et’oo left. Players can come and go but the team maintains it’s high standards. What can you do to improve Barcelona?†- What legacy has Mourinho left behind at Chelsea? He is very love here. He made this club a winner. People are very fond of him here as he took Chelsea to new heights. A quick look at Manchester City proved that it’s not an easy task. He has left his mark at the club, even at training there are still reminders of Mourinho. - Would you like to be managed by Mourinho? [smiles]. It’s going to be difficult. But I would love to work for the best in the game like Guardiola, Wenger, Ferguson… they all hold the secret to success. Mou has proven that he can be a success with or without money. And that’s something I admire. - Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi? I’d love to have both players at Chelsea. They are capable of some unbelievable things and they are both key players for their respective sides. The two of them are head and shoulders above the rest. Messi has won a lot of titles with his club and Cristiano could also have won just as many. I’m not too sure which of the two players people would prefer.†- And what about Atlético Madrid? Not the best of years after doing the double… It’s hard to repeat the success of last year. They have managed to hold onto their most important players. When I was at the club, I only played in the Intertoto, we didn’t even qualify for the UEFA Cup. The club is now fighting to qualify for the Champions League. I would have loved to have been playing for the club during a ‘crisis’ like this! Some might not see the bigger picture, but these are better times for Atlético. It’s important to try and take small steps forwards instead of steps in the wrong direction. - Can you imagine an Atletico Madrid without Sergio Aguero? As a fan I would say one thing, but as a footballer, I would say that the player has to be happy. If he needs to move on, and deserves the opportunity, then the club should lower his asking price. They could always put the price up if he doesn’t deserve to move on. The club would have to thank him for his services and try to look for someone else to replace him. There’s no point hanging on to an unhappy player, even if it is Sergio Aguero. - Would it matter which club he joins? Just like the next Atlético Madrid fan, I wouldn’t like him to sign for Real Madrid. But I wouldn’t turn against him if he did. Whatever he decides will be the right decision. If a player like Aguero wants to leave, it’s because the club is improving slower than the footballer. If the club is constantly improving, and the team is getting stronger, Aguero would stay. The problem in today’s game is that no other club can compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid. - Are you going to hang-up your boots at Atlético? That question should be for someone else, but if it was down to me, I’d love to. I don’t know if I’m ever going to return to the club as a player of in a different role. I’m never going to close that window of opportunity. I will always be there for the club.

He may well miss Spain, it's home after all, but the article reads like tabloid fodder--I know, shocking. He, like Pepe Reina, has said that he wants to play PL and it's the league for him for the foreseeable future. And in this week's interviews with Marca and Confidencial, both mention they were interviewing him at the Wyndham Hotel in Chelsea, not far from his apartment. He even talks about the drive being about 40 minutes to Cobham without traffic. Maybe the apartment is a temporary arrangement as he's looking for the right footballer's mansion, but he's not at the hotel anymore. His family is with him also as he talks about being preoccupied with his kids and taking them to the park. His family moved as Luis Suarez bought Torres' Liverpool house.

I agree with your first point, it's why I was wary of the Drogba and Torres partnership from the beginning. It's simply two players who want to play the same position even if they have different playing styles. A part of me would love to see Chelsea go 4-5-1 or 4-3-2-1 against Copenhagen and see how Torres does. I think you'd see a much more instinctive and incisive Torres. But of course it'd be crazy to install a radically different formation with only a quarter of the season remaining. The compromise is to probably go back to Anelka-Torres because it looked like they have some understanding. Your second point about nobody pass to him, it's not nobody but how about one or two players who don't seem too bothered to? Maybe they aren't running onto the pitch and thinking 'yep, i'm going to swerve Torres' but in the heat of the game, their resentment or dislike of the player influences their decision-making? It's still an issue even if it's only one player who's doing this. One open goal can be the difference against a team with greater quality than Blackpool.

I'm not asking for charity--Lampard made the right decision for the 3rd goal and no player should be given a penalty just to break his duck--I think Torres would be mortified getting his first goal in those circumstances. But when you see a player unmarked and in front of goal multiple times in the space of 10-15 minutes of a game and he doesn't once receive the ball, then I don't think it's huge ask for his teammates to pass him the freaking ball. Either the teammates really do need to improve their field vision and spot an easy scoring opportunity for the team and not just for themselves. Or they're being deliberately obtuse and that's an even bigger problem. '33

Torres isn't very good at penalties and shouldn't take them anyway.

Thanks, much appreciated. Based on your open minded, clever, fast witted and intelligent post about Torres' scoring at Liverpool, I'll be happy to hear little from you.

That's true and how you flogged him. But what's your point? So now that he's not the only striker, he doesn't need service?

No, you've misunderstood my point. Torres can create because he's got a very clever football brain and is of course, quite skilled. But he's not skilled in the way that Ronaldo and Messi are, he can't create from a long way off. He needs help from the midfield to get the ball to his feet somewhere near the postal code of the penalty box. From that point, he can score and many times, the strikes were beauties. Or he can play something clever to someone running into the box. I haven't seen this happen much at Chelsea. I've actually seen Torres open, unmarked and ultimately, bypassed by his own teammates. At Liverpool, he actually got the pass.

Unfortunately if you're striker on 5 game run of not scoring, most people don't notice that. Maybe against Copenhagen, he'll truly play badly but pop up to toe in a goal and then we won't have to hear about him not scoring anymore. I'm peeved because I do feel he's actually done some very good work but he's not gotten enough opportunities around the goal. He can't score wide left, 30 yards away from goal. What really tick me off about this match is that it was clear that some of his own teammates have very little interest in passing him the ball. Fair enough, he's the new boy and perhaps undeservedly walked into the first XI but that's not his fault is it? There is some very odd and dare I say it, unprofessional behavior and it's pathetic.

So Torres' goals were tap ins? Easy sitters over three years? He was Inzaghi for Liverpool was he? That's such utter crap and you really need to keep it on RAWK or any other LFC site. I remember comments from LFC fans about how varied Torres goals were and how few of his goals were easy sitters. I guess they all changed their assessment of those goals once he left? He's a pure striker, he's not a wide player, he's not a #10, he's not a second striker. He's the very tip of the spear and these type of players need the ball played up to them, preferably somewhere in the vicinity of the box. And then you let the striker show his quality. That's what Torres did at Liverpool and please don't tell me anything different. Like he just hung around the goalkeeper and imitated Dirk Kyut? BS. I guess Fernando Torres should apologize at this point to everyone for not being a different kind of striker. Pity he can't change his game now that he's almost 27. He's not at his very best and he has blown some chances like any other striker (none of them being tap ins) but seriously in the last two games he's had minimal chances. It doesn't help that it looks like some of his own teammates can't be bothered to pass him the ball when he's clearly in open space in the box no less.

Tortilla, I hear ya, I hear ya. When I read some of the diatribe against Torres, it makes my blood boil. Then I let it go because the over the top hatred by some Liverpool fans just do not warrant any effort to combat. Like it was said to Nicholson in a movie, “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown.†They’ll rail on and on about how he left and trot out some silly reasons—honestly, do they think Liverpool had no idea Torres wanted to go to Chelsea until he handed in his transfer request? We now know Chelsea had made a bid in the summer of 2010 and that Torres wanted to go but it was rejected. So the club had long known he didn’t want to be around for this season. At the end of the day, they were always going to be mad at him because quite simply he left them, period. Like any club, Liverpool wants to jettison players and not the other way around. But Torres had the temerity to walk away before they could rubbish him and that’s what really hurts. And the fans and their “legends†are clearly acting out that hurt.

Aldridge was at LFC for a whole two years. FFS, step off the drama queen train already. How many teams did he play for?

No, no, absolutely not. I meant that many believed Chelsea would create many more scoring chances for Torres than at Liverpool. I think that belief has so far been wrong. Not questioning the move after 2 games. I think next season's the one to really judge Torres, but he does need to do well enough to keep CFC within 4th this season of course. I think CL qualification has to be the top priority now, even over winning the FA. And with the CL, the team has to compete of course, but realistically I don't see much success when you have Real and Barca in play.

Another Torres fan here and watching him yesterday drove me to despair. What a time for his touch to let him down so badly. Honestly believe if he could master his touch, he would be up there with Ronaldo and Messi because he's so athletically gifted. I don't think Ancelotti can be blamed for too much as a sharp Torres would have given Chelsea a 0-2 lead. Then again, I guess he could be blamed for tactics that didn't to much without Torres. Nando was moving around quite well and on his day, he'll do well with one or two opportunities. The depressing thing is that the thought was that he would get more chances with a move to Chelsea but it's been so wrong. I do think Ancelotti made a big mistake taking Torres off though.

Torres should be in the middle. There's a reason he's always played there for Liverpool and Spain.

Agree with this. Subbing Torres singled him out for attention yet again and emphasized the circus atmosphere. He should have walked off at the end of the game with his teammates. I don't know if there was anyone Ancelloti could have brought on to improve the service. Very frustrating to watch. Torres wasn't great but I'd have left him on since he hadn't played earlier in the week and he's got a bit more pace than Drogba at this point.