Liverpool FC Forum

[tubby]

Have you been back to El Calderón?

No, but only because I haven’t been able to yet.

Are you afraid of that day?

-   No, why should I be afraid? Not everyone thinks like you.

[Scottbot]

At Atletico, I felt like the centre of gravity.  The team and the system was formed to suit me.  The question was always: Who will play next to Torres?

I think this comment is getting more ironic by the match!!!

[NANNY RED]

At Atletico, I felt like the centre of gravity.  The team and the system was formed to suit me.  The question was always: Who will play next to Torres?

I think this comment is getting more ironic by the match!!!

great minds think alike ay scott

[tubby]

The guy who was interviewing him was a right k.nob head.

[Paul C]

At Atletico, I felt like the centre of gravity.  The team and the system was formed to suit me.  The question was always: Who will play next to Torres?

I think this comment is getting more ironic by the match!!!

It is becoming the new "will we beat Blackpool" 

[Scottbot]

At Atletico, I felt like the centre of gravity.  The team and the system was formed to suit me.  The question was always: Who will play next to Torres?

I think this comment is getting more ironic by the match!!!

It is becoming the new "will we beat Blackpool" 

I bloody hope not mate! That question still hasn't been answered and the question got asked 3 years ago!!

[Sabre]

Fernando I of England (rough translation from El Pais, skipped the intro, that was a bit cheesy and how good we are the Spaniards)

How's everything? adapting well?

Little by little, I'm improving the knowledge about the language and the city. I live in the outskirts, but despite Liverpool has a huge extension, everything is quite handy. My house is near the airport, and from Melwood, which is where I'm more often. I rented a house first, but I decided to buy one. Now we're putting the furniture quickly, because my family is coming, and also the family of my girlfriend. We're going to be quite a lot and we need beds.

Are you homesick already?

No, I miss my friends, the team mates and the family, but I don't miss the city whatsoever. I still watch Atleti, all of the games, and I keep suffering... (Atletico fans are known as sufridores, the ones who suffer)

This year they seem to be suffering less

You suffer equally, only with more goals and upper in the table. I'm happy everything goes well for them.


Since you left they seem to be scoring a bunch of goals

This year's football proposal is more offensive, they concede and score a lot of goals, and they thrive because there's a lot of quality up front. Kun, Forlán, Raul Garcia, Maxi, Luis Garcia can score any time, now they only have to realise the defensive concepts have to be worked aswell. But the football bet is a nice one: they provide show and they enjoy in the pitch.

What differences have you found between Atleti and Liverpool?

Here they have a big club mentality, and in the key matches the team answers. This year we started the CL quite shaky, but we have recovered confidence, and the team is capable of doing three goals in five minutes. The difference is the mentality.

The club structure is that different compared to Atletico?

The squad is much bigger, but the everyone in the squad accept the rotations that the manager decides (deliberately highlighted for Bigmick, kidding ).

But the greatest difference is the culture, the internal organization. Rafa is the manager, he decides everything. They give him time, with a very long contract, and he demands what he needs. He has players and means to make the team as he wishes. He's the one who makes the signing ups. In Spain there are too many people taking decissions. The chairman, the football director, the technical secretary. Here everything is easier and straightforward.

Do you train more? I ask because you all look more skinny

Well, the trainins sessions are more individual and you play a lot of games (cups etc). The facilities provide you everything you need (it will happen the same thing when Atletico finnishes their new facilities) and you can't have excuses not to be in a good form. The forwards, the defenders, the midfielders have not the same constitution and physical capability, so you spend two days a week to strenghten your best attributes. You do jumps, you work the pace, and you improve physically in a short time. Plus, they do a thorough control of your diet, the fat, and all that.

I've read you spent a whole laboral day in Melwood

We go to Melwood at 9 am, we have breakfast all together, we train, and then we have lunch. It's not mandatory you have to stay for lunch, but they definitely preffer you stay because that way they control 2 out of  your 3 dairy meals.

And the everyday life is that different compared to madrid?

Here the people respect you in the street, you cannot compare that to Madrid. Most of the people greet you from some distance, as if they knew you all your life, but rarely approaches. They have a lot more respect than in Spain, and you can have a social life much more comfortably nobody disturbs you. It's not only me, it's an advantage everybody that plays here admits.

So, what you really couldn't stand in Madrid was the pressure of the fame

Sometimes you feel like being calm with the friends, drinking a cup in a terrace (pavement café?, very typical here).

I enjoy when I'm on my own or my people, that they don't disturb me too much. And that was impossible in Spain. That lack of privacy... there isn't that mentality of leaving you alone. Here for instance, if you're having lunch somewhere nobody interrupts your meal, nobody approaches. They wait until you finnish. It's another culture, another manners.

They have more respect... with the team aswell. In Spain the fans are more fanatic, if the team goes well, everything is ok, and if the team struggles, then everything is wrong. In Spain the oposition is whistled and booed to press them, here you receive claps when you play well in an away ground. It's impressive. The first time you're surprised: you win away and they say goodbye to you with claps.

If you play in Anfield you play with 15 players not 11. When you're having a bad game they support you even more and that makes you feel you have to give everything you have in the pitch. In Spain, it hurts when you hear whistles because you're not playing well. Here the club is above the players, people are proud of being Liverpool supporters, you go to the street and you see more than 100 shits any day, here the people have the head up no matter they've won or lost.

Anfield is impressive. From the outside it seems yet another tiny stadium but you enter and it's a show. It has that acoustic that frightens. It's a typical engish ground, normal in the outside, but it's very closed and the people push and press and that's great to play. It's especial as well because it's history. Now it's become a tad small and are going to construct a new one. But Anfield is so especial it's not going to be demolished, they're going to do a path from there to the new stadium...

Liverpool are a religion. It's much more than a business, it's a sentiment. The people are more worried about the history of success and tragedies the club has survived rather than money or the market.

Well in that, it sounds like Atleti[b]

Yeh, the people have things in common. That proud of being part of the teams, no matter they win or lose, always. Feel proud and get that to the limit.

[b]Do you know already the mythical Schankly (sic) sentences?

Yes, I know he's very important in the history of Liverpool. He said that no player can feel he's more important than the club, that the club is above everything. And that has got into everybody's heart. The most important players and managers that have served the club are grateful for having worn the red shirt. And no matter if they've been better or worse, people receive them as if they were part of the family.

The last game was full of veteran players the other day

The ex player have a close relationship with the supporters. People are friendly, very close to you, they're nice and very helpful, and it doesn't matter you're a legend or a newbie. When you walk in the street everybody looks at you as if you know them, the people even try to talk me in Spanish...

And what do the Everton fans tell you?

THe rivalry is healthier than in Spain. In match days the city is stopped, stands still, and both supporters have an incredible will to win. But in everyday life everything is pleasant, the Everton fans stop you and wish you luck "all the year but when you play against us".


And how's your english

At the beginning it was tough, I had to pay a lot of attention because I was clueless, not even in the pitch. The first goal is to learn the words of the game, otherwise you're lost.

How do you say "solo" (alone) in the pitch?

Time. It means you have time.

And "cuidado"? (be careful?)

Man on, it means you have a guy next to you. At the beginning, I said "be careful!" all the time and nobody understood me, of course. (  it happens to me in newkit all the time Fernando )

But in the team there's a lot of people that speaks spanish. We're 12, yes, but we try not to speak, because if we're caught, Benitez fines us. "English, please" he says. He always talks us in english, unless there's something you don't understand.


Despite there are more foreigners than english, I guess the english will rule, no?

Of course, it's an english team. And the captains are english, they're the ones they know the team better.

I've read you've learnt here what means to be a captain

<snip Atletico stuff>


Liverpool are well organised. Gerrard's been here for 10 years, Carraguer even more; They have a lot of experience and have been in the same dressroom of old players that have been aswell a lot of years in this dressroom. In Atletico I was captain with 19 years, that means something wrong have been done. And they put over my shoulders an extra weight, that if I could come back in time, I'd avoid it.

Too much of a weight?

Yep, too much responsabilty out of the pitch. At that age you only should focus on learning and improve. You cannot teach a lot of things with 19 years. Lessons can be taught from people like Gerrard, Hyypia, or Carraguer, they've won a lot of things, they know to be a leader. The captains are the spokesmen of every player, the ones who tell off the players that are not playing well,  the ones to receive the newcomers, the ones who make them feel comfortable in the team.

The players that have an age do those tasks in 5 minutes where as you spend hours. How could a 19 year lad tell to someone he's not playing well? I was lucky I had experienced players that adviced me surrounding me, but it should be the other way around.

<snip more atletico questions, otherwise it's too long>

And how's your girlfriend here?

She's happy, she learns english and she's delighted to know a new culture, a different city. Plus, when the football things are ok, the humour is better and everything is easier. Liverpool are a big club and they take care of everybody. They even take care of your girlfriend so that she has everything she needs.

Do you read the english press?

Not much. The tabloids are not taken too seriously, they're not trustworthy. I read them on the surface, because the language learning. And you realise then it's a good thing not to read them too much, because that way you live in reality.

So all in all, you're delighted to be here

Yes, I think it's a good thing for the Spanish players to go abroad.

----
Well that's it more or less, nice read.

[zarababe]

well sabe where is the rest please

[Sabre]

It was fúcking long, I needed a rest 

[Santa]

Thnks Sabre...god read...and do you know if we will beat Blackpool??  

[Effes]

Even though the interviewer was antagonistic, at least he printed the
replies as they were given.

Most reporters in England wouldn't.

[JoeTerp]

How do you say "solo" (alone) in the pitch?

Time. It means you have time.

And "cuidado"? (be careful?)

Man on, it means you have a guy next to you. At the beginning, I said "be careful!" all the time and nobody understood me, of course. (  it happens to me in newkit all the time Fernando )

can you explain this a little more Sabre?

[maguskwt]

How do you say "solo" (alone) in the pitch?

Time. It means you have time.

And "cuidado"? (be careful?)

Man on, it means you have a guy next to you. At the beginning, I said "be careful!" all the time and nobody understood me, of course. (  it happens to me in newkit all the time Fernando )

can you explain this a little more Sabre?

I would think that in Spain, if there's a man on they would say "be careful" in spanish and if you have time on the ball and no one's around you they would say " solo" in spanish...

[Sabre]

Yes, it's different words to describe the same situations.

Sometimes a CB is running for a ball, and he hurries sending a ball to the row Z, instead of controlling it. Or sometimes, a forward tries a difficult shot instead of a control because he thinks he has someone behind or close.

Where as the english fans and team mates say in those situations "Time", as in "you have time to control, do not hurry". In Spain we say "solo" (you're alone) which implies he has the time to do a control.

Same in those situations in which Mascherano or Alonso are comfortably running with the ball and an oppo player comes from behind. The english would warn Alonso by a "Man on!" where as we say "cuidado" which is "watch out!" or "be careful!". I guess that if you say "be careful!" to an english, he'll wonder whether he has done something wrong or something, hence the confussion.

[account deleted by request]

Torres: "Give Me Glory Not Money"
Posted in Sport | new

Liverpool's star Spanish striker Fernando Torres has become an instant hit with the Kop. Now the Reds' new hero talks to exclusively to ZOO about his Champions League dreams and why he needs lots of beds...



Has your big move to Liverpool been a success so far?

The move could not have gone any better. I've scored a lot of goals and my teammates respect me. I'm loving playing in England, particularly as the football is so fast and fluid.



Have we seen the best of Fernando Torres yet?

I'm still quite a way off from completely settling in. I've scored some goals but I hope that there will be plenty more to come. I feel liberated and am enjoying myself, like when I first arrived at my old club Atlético Madrid.



What are your hopes for 2008?

I would say to win trophies for Liverpool. But really I'm only asking for good health and to avoid injuries. Of course, I'll also work as hard as I can to make sure we do well on the pitch, too.



And off the pitch?

I want to improve my English. I want to be able to speak to the other players, like Steven Gerrard, more. But I am learning.



So are you a fully-fledged Liverpudlian yet?

I'm getting to know the place. Day by day my English gets better and I get to know the city more.



What's chez Torres like?

I live on the outskirts, but everything is nearby. My house is next to the airport and near the stadium. I rented at first but I've bought now and we're furnishing it quickly because my fiancée and my family are all arriving. There are a lot of us so we need to put in a lot of beds!



What's been your favourite moment in a Liverpool shirt?

I've lived so many great moments already! My first goal scored in front of the Kop will always be in my mind. Obviously, the feeling of scoring a hat-trick, against Reading, was amazing too. And of course the victory in Marseille, and reaching the Champions League first knockout stage was great because it looked like we were going out.



Despite all Liverpool's problems, is it possible to win something this season?

Why not? I'm aspiring to everything that is possible. In the league we need to recover, but in Europe we have many options. My aim is to help my team to do well in all competitions this season.



Realistically, is the Champions League your best chance of silverware?

We'll fight for everything but, for me, yes. It's the first time I've played in the Champions League and it's sensational. I hope to at least repeat the Final of last year. To win the Champions League would be a dream for me - it's why I came here.



So is the Champions League everything you thought it might be?

It has been amazing. Everyone wants to play in Europe, to be among the greats. I did not come here because of money, I came for the challenge and the chance to win things and I want to contribute with my goals. Now we're ready for Inter Milan. We don't fear anyone. To get to the Final would be something special.



Finally, after England failed to qualify for the finals of Euro 2008, has there been any mickey-taking in the dressing room?

No, no! It's a shame for football that England did not qualify. A player such as Steven Gerrard should be playing in the finals.


Ripped off TLW