*Official* English Football Season 2015-16

[Uppercut]

Stevie had a serious injury at the end of the 08-09 season (the Rafa title run season) and Torres was injured for a lot of that season. The next season Gerrard was basically playing with pain killers just to be on the pitch and in some ways Torres had lost his explosiveness. He still had a decent record but it was clear for a lot of Liverpool fans that he was never gonna be the same again. When Chelsea came for £50m, it was far too much.

Yeah he'd definitely been bad for long enough that the talk was of Chelsea "taking a gamble" on him getting back to his best. I think even at the time a lot of us thought that was unlikely given his style of play, although I guess not many realised just how bad he had gotten. But he's hardly the first striker to peak at 23 and be passed around for big money for the rest of his career- even just looking at Liverpool it had already happened to Fowler and Owen. Each time they ran through the whole list of excuses for past-it strikers in their late 20s, the "out of position, team style doesn't suit him, lacking confidence, just needs one to go in off his arse, just needs an arm round his shoulder, form is temporary class is permanent" treatment that Rooney now gets.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah he'd definitely been bad for long enough that the talk was of Chelsea "taking a gamble" on him getting back to his best. I think even at the time a lot of us thought that was unlikely given his style of play, although I guess not many realised just how bad he had gotten. But he's hardly the first striker to peak at 23 and be passed around for big money for the rest of his career- even just looking at Liverpool it had already happened to Fowler and Owen. Each time they ran through the whole list of excuses for past-it strikers in their late 20s, the "out of position, team style doesn't suit him, lacking confidence, just needs one to go in off his arse, just needs an arm round his shoulder, form is temporary class is permanent" treatment that Rooney now gets.

In seriousness though, those three you mentioned never declined like Torres. To the same degree I mean.

 

[Johnners]

Fernando Torres' 81 Goals for Liverpool

 

[flibbertyjibber]

In seriousness though, those three you mentioned never declined like Torres. To the same degree I mean.

The decline of Torres has to be the quickest a player has gone from world class to pub league that I can remember. He was simply brilliant at Liverpool then as others say he just went and that was before Chelsea bid for him. Liverpool did brilliantly out of the deal as they signed Suarez who made them a fortune and was a vital player too (we will ignore Carroll) and kept them up there as challengers.

Lets not forget Torres was up there with the likes of Henry, Cantona, Bergkamp and Zola as foreign players who had made an impact over here. The injuries meant his lasted for a shorter period of time but he was that good.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah he'd definitely been bad for long enough that the talk was of Chelsea "taking a gamble" on him getting back to his best. I think even at the time a lot of us thought that was unlikely given his style of play, although I guess not many realised just how bad he had gotten. But he's hardly the first striker to peak at 23 and be passed around for big money for the rest of his career- even just looking at Liverpool it had already happened to Fowler and Owen. Each time they ran through the whole list of excuses for past-it strikers in their late 20s, the "out of position, team style doesn't suit him, lacking confidence, just needs one to go in off his arse, just needs an arm round his shoulder, form is temporary class is permanent" treatment that Rooney now gets.

Pretty much spot on, except Rooney peaked at 18 and has been running on fumes for over a decade now.

Fowler's is the hardest decline to explain for my quid; his game was more about instinct and positional sense than Owen or Rooney. He never had their pace to lose so could have had a Sheringham/ Bergkampesque later period, even if he wasn't blessed with their passing abilities.

 

[vcs]

Fernando Torres' 81 Goals for Liverpool

Just look at the quality and assurance of those finishes. How do you lose that overnight? Also found it weird how his hair went from blond to black by the end.

The decline of Torres has to be the quickest a player has gone from world class to pub league that I can remember. He was simply brilliant at Liverpool then as others say he just went and that was before Chelsea bid for him. Liverpool did brilliantly out of the deal as they signed Suarez who made them a fortune and was a vital player too (we will ignore Carroll) and kept them up there as challengers.

Lets not forget Torres was up there with the likes of Henry, Cantona, Bergkamp and Zola as foreign players who had made an impact over here. The injuries meant his lasted for a shorter period of time but he was that good.

Yes, he reminded me of the Brazilian Ronaldo at times. They would have won the league in 2008-09 had he stayed fit for 30+ games. He was right up there with Cristiano in terms of quality for those 2-3 seasons, the only difference being that Cristiano was a machine in terms of fitness. Also scored the winner for Spain in the Euro 2008 final.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I genuinely loved Torres, he was so ****ing good to watch. Never missed a Liverpool game when he was there and was genuinely hurt by how bad he got at Chelsea. Scored some absolute gems, #3 and #1 from this video still vivid in memory. Wish he was still great and wish he was a blue.

 

[cpr]

The LVG philosophy, waste a quarter of a billion on injury prone stars so the club has no choice but to play the youngsters. WAG.

 

[cpr]

Haha. wonder what odds I can get on 8-2 now?

 

[Agent TBY]

Unbelievable.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Leicester are in dreamland with these scores.

Arsenal choking against an injury ravaged side is so Arsenal.

 

[duffer]

Dunno why I bother anymore. This is so demoralising.

 

[vcs]

Arsenal are so useless. Love Wenger but he's just not been good enough in these kind of games for a long time now.

 

[Furball]

Just shocking defending for both goals.

 

[vcs]

Same for Welbeck's goal.. they have a lifeline now.

 

[cpr]

Got to feel a bit sorry for Will Keane, had a mare with injuries through the years, lost a year with a broken leg IIRC. Gets recalled from loan, scores 5 v Norwich in the reserves (couple of them beauties too), then gets injured when he's 2nd in line for the team, letting Rashford in for the next game....

 

[vcs]

That's a brilliant goal.

EDIT : Huge deflection.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Great play by Rashford in the lead up to it. Awful defending by Arsenal again though.

 

[vcs]

LOL, brilliant game this. Ozil scores now.

 

[Cabinet96]

Arsenal have nothing in possession. What does Wenger do in training?