Who do I think is the best player in the world?
As a Liverpool fan, there is only one player in my heart: a player who moved to a club to win what he treasured but will never be the same as he was at Anfield. A player with passion, with dignity, with heart. A player who knows what it feels like to be treated like trash. A player who has the power to lead whoever he plays for to glory: Fernando Torres, El Nino, El Matador, the Darling of the Kop.
Why him you may ask? Why not someone more reputable like Rooney or Ronaldo or Messi? Why not last season's golden boot winner RVP? I'll tell you why. None of this players made themselves in to what they are, they were always brilliant players. Torres is a player who worked hard from the start. He pushed himself to the limit and pushed himself even further when his team needed him. He led Atletico Madrid from the darkness in to global recognition. Could you believe that? Ten years after watching them from the stands, he captained them to becoming a title-challenging team, at the age of twenty-one. He needed to move, he wasn't enjoying his football. Where did he go? Not Chelsea or Arsenal, who were desperate to sign him but to Liverpool, where he knew he made the right choice.
What made him special in Liverpool? Was it his goal-scoring ability? Or his off-the-ball runs? What about his passionate celebrations? No, it wasn't any of these. It was what he stood for. He embodied everything that the club stood for: passion, desire, hunger. He was a Red through and through. He fell straight in to that small category of players: Gerrard, Carragher, Reina, Alonso and more recently Skrtel.He gave evrything for the club but eveentually he could give no more. His time was up. He needed to get away from the contreversies, the "new era", the heart-breaking dissapointment and the troubled dressing-room. He needed to release his frustration in to the world and to carve his path in pastures new. He moved to a club all so different but passionate none-the-less: Chelsea Football Club.
Chelsea is a trophy winning team, they are in a much better place than Liverpool. He struggled at the start, Fernando. People's expectations were too high for him in my opinion. Was he really challenging for a starting role with the great Didier Dorgba? Or was he being tought a lesson in football-the pricetag doesn't make the player. His confidence was gone. All of what he embodied at Atletico and at Liverpool were burried in the back of his mind. He wasn't in a good place. He learned soon enough that regardless of the media's view on his performances, he would always be felt at home by the supporters of the club he played for.
The De Matteo reign of the 2011/2012 season broguht back that confidence that he once embodied. He was El Matador. When he scored that goal in the Nou Camp, you could see the fire burning brightly in him. He was back. He wasn't El Nino anymore, he became El Heroe. He continued on to claim the Euro Championship 2012 Golden Boot. So far this season, he has three goals and a number of assists in four games. A great tally for a great player.
Is he really at his perfect best though? Is he still the number one striker in the world? Maybe he is, who are we to judge? All I know is that he left a part of his heart at Anfield.
As a Liverpool fan, there is only one player in my heart: a player who moved to a club to win what he treasured but will never be the same as he was at Anfield. A player with passion, with dignity, with heart. A player who knows what it feels like to be treated like trash. A player who has the power to lead whoever he plays for to glory: Fernando Torres, El Nino, El Matador, the Darling of the Kop.
Why him you may ask? Why not someone more reputable like Rooney or Ronaldo or Messi? Why not last season's golden boot winner RVP? I'll tell you why. None of this players made themselves in to what they are, they were always brilliant players. Torres is a player who worked hard from the start. He pushed himself to the limit and pushed himself even further when his team needed him. He led Atletico Madrid from the darkness in to global recognition. Could you believe that? Ten years after watching them from the stands, he captained them to becoming a title-challenging team, at the age of twenty-one. He needed to move, he wasn't enjoying his football. Where did he go? Not Chelsea or Arsenal, who were desperate to sign him but to Liverpool, where he knew he made the right choice.
What made him special in Liverpool? Was it his goal-scoring ability? Or his off-the-ball runs? What about his passionate celebrations? No, it wasn't any of these. It was what he stood for. He embodied everything that the club stood for: passion, desire, hunger. He was a Red through and through. He fell straight in to that small category of players: Gerrard, Carragher, Reina, Alonso and more recently Skrtel.He gave evrything for the club but eveentually he could give no more. His time was up. He needed to get away from the contreversies, the "new era", the heart-breaking dissapointment and the troubled dressing-room. He needed to release his frustration in to the world and to carve his path in pastures new. He moved to a club all so different but passionate none-the-less: Chelsea Football Club.
Chelsea is a trophy winning team, they are in a much better place than Liverpool. He struggled at the start, Fernando. People's expectations were too high for him in my opinion. Was he really challenging for a starting role with the great Didier Dorgba? Or was he being tought a lesson in football-the pricetag doesn't make the player. His confidence was gone. All of what he embodied at Atletico and at Liverpool were burried in the back of his mind. He wasn't in a good place. He learned soon enough that regardless of the media's view on his performances, he would always be felt at home by the supporters of the club he played for.
The De Matteo reign of the 2011/2012 season broguht back that confidence that he once embodied. He was El Matador. When he scored that goal in the Nou Camp, you could see the fire burning brightly in him. He was back. He wasn't El Nino anymore, he became El Heroe. He continued on to claim the Euro Championship 2012 Golden Boot. So far this season, he has three goals and a number of assists in four games. A great tally for a great player.
Is he really at his perfect best though? Is he still the number one striker in the world? Maybe he is, who are we to judge? All I know is that he left a part of his heart at Anfield.
