Liverpool FC Forum

[sully0182]

no, still in his camp actually (though just about), just reacting to the amount of people who dare to criticise el nino

[Fauxy]

Torres is just unbelievable.. the lad is on 160k a week he could be sitting at home drinking wine from grapes that were hand picked by jesus christ.

But instead he decides to put an extra five hours training in to improve his fitness

[tubby]

Enjoy him while he is here people. There was an article in the Guardian today and Rafa was quoted as saying we might have tosell Torres if we finish outside the top 4 to meet financial obligations. Looks like Bascombe was right after all.

[The Good Yank]

Enjoy him while he is here people. There was an article in the Guardian today and Rafa was quoted as saying we might have tosell Torres if we finish outside the top 4 to meet financial obligations. Looks like Bascombe was right after all.

It's not like that article is some sort of revelation though is it?  I thought it was a forgone conclusion that if we don't make it into the Champions League we'd have to sell most of our big name players.

[tubby]

No not really, it wasn't as we were expecting new investment as per Chris Purslows comments recently.

But hearing it from Rafa is different. Although I think there is a motive to Rafa coming out and saying this. He knows full well if we have to sell Torres and Gerrard we are right up shits creek without a paddle so the owners will see their revenue tumbling.

[Fauxy]

Rafa doesnt quote specific players in the article and doesnt really point out that the players that may have to be sold will be our best ones...

Could have been talking about Dirk Kuyt for all we know.

[roberto green]

Rafa doesnt quote specific players in the article and doesnt really point out that the players that may have to be sold will be our best ones...

Could have been talking about Dirk Kuyt for all we know.

Probably the media trying to sh!t stir as usual.

[andy_g]

fu'ckin stupid article that was, for a change. benitez was saying that if we don't qualify for the CL next season then he would probably have to sit down with the owners and discuss the possibility of offloading some players.

press conclusion: we'll probably have to sell torres.

its about the easiest rumour you could put together. our most saleable, valuable asset, on (probably) the highest wage band would recoup/save us the most money. i don't believe for a moment the hysteria about him leaving if he's not playing CL football next season. if there is one thing we have learned about him apart from the fact that he is a superb striker, its that he is a genuine and honest footballer that has always dreamed of playing for LFC. you think he's going to jump ship so easily?

[andy_g]

and another thing.... (here you need to imagine me waving my finger in the air)

i don't believe that the media stir sh!t either, or that they have any kind of agenda apart from coming up with the most attention grabbing headlines with the least amount of effort.

[Number 9]

fu'ckin stupid article that was, for a change. benitez was saying that if we don't qualify for the CL next season then he would probably have to sit down with the owners and discuss the possibility of offloading some players.

press conclusion: we'll probably have to sell torres.

its about the easiest rumour you could put together. our most saleable, valuable asset, on (probably) the highest wage band would recoup/save us the most money. i don't believe for a moment the hysteria about him leaving if he's not playing CL football next season. if there is one thing we have learned about him apart from the fact that he is a superb striker, its that he is a genuine and honest footballer that has always dreamed of playing for LFC. you think he's going to jump ship so easily?

Bang on!

But the fuc'kin idiots on here always choose to believe the worst case scenario as usual...Oh we are gonna have to sell Torres and Gerrard....that wont benefit the owners one bit,it would only be a short term fix,and they would loose out in the longrun.LFC would be of no use to them if it were a mid table club and it would be worth a lot less without two of the best players in the world.They need to be in the C/L to pay their loans.
The reality is that if the club is in a dire mess financially come season end they will have to sell the club and if they try and sell the club without Torres and Gerrard they will get a hell ofd a lot less for it.

Anyone that buys the club will want it to be a magnet to world class stars...H and G know this.They need to keep the best players to draw buyers.No one will buy LFC and take on its debt without Gerrard and Torres because without those two....great players will not come.

I think their backs are against the wall and in a funny way being so sh'ite this season may be our saving grace!
Its gonna be great to see if what I suspect will happen comes true...I think their own greed will be their downfall.

A few offers a while back to them may seem a lot more tasty if come May someone waves a lifeline in their face and its a lot less than what they got offered before.

I hope Jim Bowing walks in and says this is what you could have won and gives them their BFH!!

[Espionage]

A friend told me "its all over the news, Rafa has admitted that he'll sell Torres and Gerrard if you dont finish in the top 4...."

Seriously, how sites can make those kinds of headlines and get away with it is beyond me. I hate the internet news business model. The number of clicks on their website gets them money, so what do they do? Make the most sensationalist title they can, and stretch the truth so that the story now applies to everyone. The sad thing is often I still find myself clicking on the articles regardless...

[bunglemark2]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Rafa is going back to the silly mindgames he played last season.

By playing up to and responding to such a question as that from a journalist, he is "directly" challenging the board to come out and say we will not sell our most important players.
Bearing in mind they are - in a business sense - the most lucrative assets the club has, it would be a no-brainer to sell them, realise the cash, and pay down the interest/loan.
But I think what Rafa is doing here is laying down the gauntlet, trying to get the club to insist they pair aren't going anywhere, and thus making sure the fans are behind the board. I think if they don't say that, Rafa's position becomes clearer to anybody with half a brain i.e. "I'm managing a club where I have no say in who's sold or who isn't; any cash raised from player sales is not reinvested; I'm given no cash for new players...."

[NANNY RED]

Well in Fernando lad

Torres: Liverpool must win the Europa League – and spend

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres believes the Reds must win the Europa League and secure a top four finish if they are to salvage their season – and has challenged the club’s owners to splash the cash or get left behind.

A shock defeat to Championship strugglers Reading in the FA Cup on Wednesday added to a succession of disappointments this term for the Anfield outfit, who have already been eliminated from both the League Cup and Champions League and lie 12 points adrift of Premier League leaders Chelsea.


But more importantly, Rafael Benitez’s side trail Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in the fight for fourth place, with failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League the primary concern on Merseyside.

And talisman Torres insists that finishing fourth and triumphing in Europe’s secondary competition is the only way the ailing Reds can save their struggling season.

"We didn’t want to win the Europa League at the start of the season but it’s a reality now," he told FourFourTwo.

"Now we have to win it. Anything less than winning the tournament would be terrible.

“If we do not win it then we have to say it’s been a very, very, very bad season in Europe. 

"We need to improve, we need to take responsibility and we need to get into the top four and win something. We have virtually no chance of winning the title now.

“Now we need to make the best of this situation."


Torres has seen his own season hampered by a thigh injury in recent months, and he was withdrawn after just 29 minutes against Reading with a knee problem that will keep him out until March.

But it's the team's stumbling progress that is causing Torres the most pain.

“It’s frustrating. We finished second last season; this season should have been a turning point for us – the chance for us to do something great.

"Manchester United sold Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo, while Chelsea didn’t sign anyone. But it hasn’t been."

Now Liverpool's No.9, who saw former Atletico Madrid mate Maxi Rodriguez join the Reds on a free transfer on Wednesday, has called on the club’s owners to dig deep and back Benitez to ensure Liverpool are back challenging on all fronts next season.

BLOG: Will Maxi be born again at Anfield?


“It’s now the owners’ turn,” Torres insisted.

“They have to sign players so that this does not happen again. If we want to compete with United and Chelsea we need a much, much more complete squad. We need more genuinely first class players and we can’t let our best players leave.”

Fernando Torres was speaking to FourFourTwo for next month's Strikers Issue, on sale

[stmichael]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Rafa is going back to the silly mindgames he played last season.

By playing up to and responding to such a question as that from a journalist, he is "directly" challenging the board to come out and say we will not sell our most important players.
Bearing in mind they are - in a business sense - the most lucrative assets the club has, it would be a no-brainer to sell them, realise the cash, and pay down the interest/loan.
But I think what Rafa is doing here is laying down the gauntlet, trying to get the club to insist they pair aren't going anywhere, and thus making sure the fans are behind the board. I think if they don't say that, Rafa's position becomes clearer to anybody with half a brain i.e. "I'm managing a club where I have no say in who's sold or who isn't; any cash raised from player sales is not reinvested; I'm given no cash for new players...."

yawn

[tubby]

Well in Fernando lad

Torres: Liverpool must win the Europa League – and spend

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres believes the Reds must win the Europa League and secure a top four finish if they are to salvage their season – and has challenged the club’s owners to splash the cash or get left behind.

A shock defeat to Championship strugglers Reading in the FA Cup on Wednesday added to a succession of disappointments this term for the Anfield outfit, who have already been eliminated from both the League Cup and Champions League and lie 12 points adrift of Premier League leaders Chelsea.


But more importantly, Rafael Benitez’s side trail Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in the fight for fourth place, with failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League the primary concern on Merseyside.

And talisman Torres insists that finishing fourth and triumphing in Europe’s secondary competition is the only way the ailing Reds can save their struggling season.

"We didn’t want to win the Europa League at the start of the season but it’s a reality now," he told FourFourTwo.

"Now we have to win it. Anything less than winning the tournament would be terrible.

“If we do not win it then we have to say it’s been a very, very, very bad season in Europe. 

"We need to improve, we need to take responsibility and we need to get into the top four and win something. We have virtually no chance of winning the title now.

“Now we need to make the best of this situation."


Torres has seen his own season hampered by a thigh injury in recent months, and he was withdrawn after just 29 minutes against Reading with a knee problem that will keep him out until March.

But it's the team's stumbling progress that is causing Torres the most pain.

“It’s frustrating. We finished second last season; this season should have been a turning point for us – the chance for us to do something great.

"Manchester United sold Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo, while Chelsea didn’t sign anyone. But it hasn’t been."

Now Liverpool's No.9, who saw former Atletico Madrid mate Maxi Rodriguez join the Reds on a free transfer on Wednesday, has called on the club’s owners to dig deep and back Benitez to ensure Liverpool are back challenging on all fronts next season.

BLOG: Will Maxi be born again at Anfield?


“It’s now the owners’ turn,” Torres insisted.

“They have to sign players so that this does not happen again. If we want to compete with United and Chelsea we need a much, much more complete squad. We need more genuinely first class players and we can’t let our best players leave.”

Fernando Torres was speaking to FourFourTwo for next month's Strikers Issue, on sale

You can always rely on Torres to talk sense.  Just a shame he is out for so long now.