Liverpool FC Forum

[Toffeehater]

RAFA: WHY I SIGNED TORRES AND NOT OWEN
Paul Eaton 08 March 2008

afael Benitez today revealed Michael Owen was one of his potential new recruits last summer - but that Fernando Torres was always top of his wish list.
Torres takes on Owen's Newcastle at Anfield this afternoon looking to become the first player in Liverpool history to net hat-tricks in three successive home games.

And despite being urged by senior players to bring Owen back to Merseyside in the summer, Benitez is delighted to have instead signed a player who is now just two goals short of 20 in the league for the Reds during his debut season.

"In the summer, Michael was one of the names on the list of strikers we were pursuing, but Fernando was always top of that list, and the one we wanted above all others," Benitez said.

"When you talk to Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher they say what a great player Michael is, and they wanted him, because he is a great finisher and a good striker.

"But Torres was our top choice because he was young, because he is very quick and he has such potential. He had all the conditions we wanted, and we are very, very happy with our decision.

"When Michael is fit he is one of the best forwards in the world. But we thought that maybe Nando was younger, quicker and could do what we wanted, which was to run behind defenders from deeper, and play for the team. It was not just my decision to buy Fernando, the scouting department were looking at a lot of strikers.

"They saw the pace and ability and hunger of Torres. Michael is great but we are happy that Torres is here.

"He has so much potential, and he is still learning. He knows he can improve, he knows he must get better, but the good thing is he is such a nice lad, so down to earth and he wants to improve and get better.

"He was the main player at Atletico, but he doesn't want to be the superstar. He is humble and he has a lot of good people around him, his family, his girlfriend who all have good ideas about his future."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N159099080308-0818.htm

[Ace Ventura]

So what i take from that is that Owen is desperate to come back, so he got his mates to put a good word in.
Owen is still (when fit) a top top striker and will always score goals, but on the salary he is on we would need him to be playing 90% of games, sadly i very much doubt he is capable of that or i would still have him back as an option (we know Rafa loves options/possibilities  )

[Toffeehater]

i think we will find out today , how deadly a striker owen is and how good is he against us . Last match , he was very lively and should have scored at elast 2 goals , sad to say he did not . I wish owen all the best and i would take him back , if he was fit and did not get injured easily , funnily after he left us , he ahs been hampered by injuries and if he does come back to us who's to say taht the injuries might subside

[account deleted by request]

Yeah , I would have signed both if we had the money, but I am more than happy with Torres at the moment. I think Owen has missed the boat now and unless he "does a Fowler" and comes back on the cheap for a couple of years he will have to suffer at lesser clubs.

[Ace Ventura]

Its a shame but also quite funny. Who would of thought when he left in the summer of 04 for Real Madrid (possibly the most glamourous club side in the world) that he would of 4 years later have done fook all, been languishing up in the north east on a treatment table.
And that during that same period we would of been winning the champions league, FA cup and getting to another champions league final.
Everyone does things they regret in life but with Owen its one of the all time monumental mistakes the minute he agreed to sign for Real Madrid.
He must be looking at Gerrard and Carragher and be so envious and even jealous.

[LegBarnes]

Its a shame but also quite funny. Who would of thought when he left in the summer of 04 for Real Madrid (possibly the most glamourous club side in the world) that he would of 4 years later have done fook all, been languishing up in the north east on a treatment table.
And that during that same period we would of been winning the champions league, FA cup and getting to another champions league final.
Everyone does things they regret in life but with Owen its one of the all time monumental mistakes the minute he agreed to sign for Real Madrid.
He must be looking at Gerrard and Carragher and be so envious and even jealous.

yes and i feel the way he left his contract to almost run out ment we got fook all for him 6 mil i think should have been 15-18 mil at the time i never forgive him for that to do that to a club that made you what you are is a disgrace.

[kazza]

Its a shame but also quite funny. Who would of thought when he left in the summer of 04 for Real Madrid (possibly the most glamourous club side in the world) that he would of 4 years later have done fook all, been languishing up in the north east on a treatment table.
And that during that same period we would of been winning the champions league, FA cup and getting to another champions league final.
Everyone does things they regret in life but with Owen its one of the all time monumental mistakes the minute he agreed to sign for Real Madrid.
He must be looking at Gerrard and Carragher and be so envious and even jealous.

yes and i feel the way he left his contract to almost run out ment we got fook all for him 6 mil i think should have been 15-18 mil at the time i never forgive him for that to do that to a club that made you what you are is a disgrace.

Remember too it was Ericsson that sugested he moved to a "bigger club" to improve his international play and then dropped him from the England team when he was dropped by Madrid.

He made his own decisions and now he must deal with it. I'll take him on the cheap but will not go looking for him.

Torres has more potential.

[ivor_the_injun]

Rafa certainly made the right call, which is a call many supporters wouldn't have  made if presented with the options. It's always good to hear him being upfront about a decision like that, and to be honest it wouldn't surprise me to see the two guys playing together in a season or two. I think they'd be a phenomenal combination.

[Leonmc0708]

I am more than happy with Torres

Dont get too excited.

[Sabre]

I still like Owen at his best more than Torres this season.

This must not be understood as I don't appreciate what Torres is doing, he's doing a outstanding season. This just means that Owen had been one of the strikers that impressed me most in all my life as a football fan. In Madrid he played very well when he was allowed to.

But as Bad Bob says somewhere else, Rafa has to receive some credit for getting spot on the Torres signing. The number of goals of Torres in Spain didn't back the decission. Torres, yesteryear, was not in the first choice of Spanish squad for upfront. He has earned that position this year in Liverpool. Torres has triumphed in a club that are used to an excellent standard when it comes to strikers (Rush, Aldo, Owen). Credit for Torres, but credit aswell to Rafa for getting this one right.

I just hope Torres will keep delighting us next seasons.

[The_Rock]

If we were to compare Torres with Owen at this very moment....Torres is no doubt the better player. We would have had a more dismal season if rafa had signed Owen instead of Torres (thank god for that).

Owen is half the player without his pace....no comparison with torres IMO

[Sabre]

Of course, it's obvious RIGHT NOW and even last season, Torres is better than Owen. My comparison is when I've seen the best of both. But I want to make clear that Owen's quality was not only about his pace.

The one question I'd like to make to Rafa is, ok, Torres was a better one than Owen. But wouldn't it have been possible to buy them both, instead of Voronin, for instance?

I guess that's where money comes into the equation. To have Torres-Owen, or Henry-Etoo in the same squad you need money. Owen would have been cheaper than the last two, anyway.

[kazza]

I still like Owen at his best more than Torres this season.



I just hope Torres will keep delighting us next seasons.

Owen at his best was years ago, he was 19, light framed and very quick. He had bags of confidence and in fact would take the penalties although we still had Fowler (best finisher in the game).

As he grew up he bulked up and lost his most important asset which was his speed (a couple of hamstring injuries did not help). He could still finish, but without the speed he was no longer in the top tier merely a very good player. I think that Owen is the more clever player.

Torres' atributes are more about pace and power which will only increase as he grows and add to that that his finishing will improve he will be world class (I hope). Owen is still very good but Torres has more potential.

[The_Rock]

Yes sherlock, Owen's quality is not only about pace....its a combination of pace + finishing + good 1st touch + anticipation.

But pace is what differentiated him from other great strikers. Not all strikers have all the 4 qualities....Once Owen loses his pace, he become less effective. So although pace was not his only quality, it did help him score so many of his goals for us... and i doubt he will score with the same frequency now like he did seasons ago when he had awesome pace....

As for signing owen... it will be a step back. When manure and chelsea sign tevez and anelka who are in their prime..it would be a mistake to sign owen who is on his way down.

[Sabre]

Don't forget the ability Owen had to select the run that made most harm. He started to lose his marker in the precise moment with the precise timing, Watson.

No doubt that with less pace or injuries he's lost part of his game, but I don't think it was the key part.