Torres V Suarez: Five Reasons Why Suarez Can Replace Torres As Kop Idol
This transfer window had seen a remarkable record spending of over £100 Millions by only two clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea.
The talk of the town signings are of Fernando Torres from Liverpool to Chelsea for a reported £50 Millions, Andy Carroll from Newcastle Utd to Liverpool for £35 Millions and Luis Suarez from Ajax to Liverpool for £23 Millions.
The Luis Suarez signing has been overshadowed by the departure of the Spanish striker from Liverpool and the mind blowing £35 Millions fee of English striker Carroll.
Liverpool supporters are left in a dilemma how to accept the truth, although the truth is painful in which they have to see the Kop darling leaving the club, finally, to their rivals Chelsea.
To top it up, Torres has already started rubbing the salt by suggesting Chelsea are the "biggest" club in Europe in his first interview.
Frankly, Suarez has not been shown the reception a world class player normally receives upon arriving at the Merseyside. Once the pain and hurt by the one who departed the Reds slow down, Suarez will come to know why Liverpool, Kop, You'll Never Walk Alone and Anfield are special things in world football.
I am here putting forward the thoughts why Suarez can and will become better than the Spaniard and what qualities he has got to do so.
Please feel free to suggest your comments, compliments and complaints below.
1. The Winner's Mentality
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The Uruguayan striker has shown why he is a warrior on the field. His "always to win" mentality outshines that of Fernando Torres's lack of it.
Suarez simply won't go down so easily on the field as compared to Torres. Suarez is a ball winner. Often we see him frustrated and running all over the pitch to win the ball and to score or provide assists.
The " I have hands of God" striker simply won't hesitate to take a less beautiful route to score or more importantly to stop opponents scoring. He had shown in FIFA World Cup quarter final by stopping the ball with his hands.
What that suggests is he cares for the team more than his own reputation.
One of the Liverpool players reportedly said last week that Torres always thinks about himself and puts himself ahead of the team.
Torres's lack of wish or urge to play or score have been recently unfolded by his attitude on the pitch which according to many suggest that he simply is not able to win the games on his own the way he did when he arrived at the Merseyside club in 2007.
To the Uruguayan, the necessity to win the games for the team over takes that of being regarded as a beautiful player in the world.
Torres will never be able to do such things even if the team is losing badly and he would think of his own image before implementing such horrible tactics.
The major difference in these two characters is that when not supported by the team mates enough, one fumbles around, frustrated, up front in a hope to receive a good ball from his midfield players and the other one tries to go backwards to win the ball and then open a scoring opportunity.
2. Physical Attributes
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One of the distinctive features and perhaps the one which separates the two strikers heavily is the physical game Suarez brings in.
On his day, Torres is perhaps the best striker in the world but the problem is those days are hard to come by now.
Suarez's physical strength is notable as compared to Torres's. The former Ajax striker doesn't hesitate to challenge the defenders physically and certainly he doesn't get beaten so easily.
Torres's frustrations are exposed when he simply gets beaten by the opposition defenders and suddenly he looks at the referee for a foul or a free kick.
The physical presence is also supported by the volatile nature of Suarez. Torres is calm and composed on the pitch. If I put it in the context then Liverpool are in the need of players like Suarez who can be explosive on the pitch which ups the game temperament and lifts everyone else too.
The reason why Torres's physical game is less impressive (or rather say Torres doesn't bring his physical game into play at all) as compared to that of his counter part in this argument is because Torres is technically gifted player who normally disposes the defenders by his technique rather than body.
And for this reason, sometimes he is easily beaten against the teams like Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland where these tams are more physical in their tackles.
Suarez is also technically gifted player. He is tricky. He performs his little tricks around the six yard box as we witnessed during his short 30 min play at Anfield today.
But, Suarez also uses his body to beat defenders with his technique and tricks. If he can continue doing that in the English league than he would be very difficult to beat.
3. Versatility on The Pitch
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Luis Suarez is more versatile player for Liverpool.
Suarez played as a striker, preferably, at Ajax but was often used as a winger on either side.
Torres is an out-an-out striker who can't play on any flanks. Although during the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa he was used as second striker alongside David Villa.
One can simply foresee that Suarez will be more likely be employed on left wing when Andy Carroll starts playing in the more central striking role for Liverpool.
This will give Liverpool the much needed width and pace down the flank, which, if asked, Torres may not have been able to do.
Also the versatility of playing on BOTH the flanks and as a striker makes Suarez in a better position from Liverpool's needs' point of view.
It's not that Suarez will definitely be played on the left wing.
But to be able to play on both sides of the wings and contribute the best to the team for a winning cause is a special advantage when you don't have any specialised wingers in your team.
Another aspect where Suarez tops Torres is in his ability to score from deadly free kicks. Liverpool do have few world class free kick takers and the Uruguayan striker adds into that tally.
Fernando Torres is not a prolific free kick scorer as compared to Suarez and that just adds into the list of advantages of having Suarez at Liverpool.
How Torres fits in Carlo Ancelotti's 4-3-3 system remains to be seen. Would he be able to play on the left or right side if given that position? Only time will tell.
4. Injuries and Form.
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The debate is still going on about Chelsea's 50 Million pounds acquisition's injury history and whether or not Chelsea have made a gamble of that sum.
Luis Suarez sustained an ankle injury in the first week of December 2010 and was taken to the hospital for treatment. In just five weeks, he was back to business scoring goals again in mid January.
Torres's hamstrings injuries are well documented throughout the last 18 months. However, when not injured and in the best form the Spaniard is perhaps the deadliest striker in the world.
One often wonders when the player gets injured time after time on regular basis that is he really going to stay away from the injuries after all? Or has Torres passed his best years?
There could be no argument that the former Liverpool No.9 is more injury prone than Liverpool's newly recruit No.7.
This also co-relates with the physical strength aspect of both the players. Torres is considered to be a bit fragile which makes him more vulnerable to injuries than Suarez.
Form:
Torres has been having the worst form of his life in the past 18 months or so. He picked up a hamstring injury during the second half of the season in 2009, which kept him away from games. That followed by the deep in form during the FIFA World cup 2010.
Torres was bookies' favourite during the World Cup only to fail to score a single goal. That followed by the dire Liverpool's 2010 premier league campaign where he scored 9 goals in 23 games.
Suarez has been in the form of his life. The European footballer of 2010, scoring 49 goals in all competitions had scored three goals in FIFA World Cup 2010.
This season he has scored 11 league goals in 19 appearances.
Roy Hodgson was considered as the catalyst in Torres's "not willing to play his heart out" attitude which was brushed aside by Dalglish. The arrival of the king did make some difference in Torres's form where he scored three goals in four games.
I am not stupid to underestimate the Spaniard's proven ability to score in premier league as he had shown during the season 2008-09.
Based on the current form and general history about injuries, Suarez is best option for Liverpool.
5. The Club's Situation
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Liverpool is on the rise, again, to be the force they were once before.
The new owners with money, new manager in King Kenny and the influx of quality players mean that the club is moving in the right direction.
The future looks very bright from now on and a couple of more quality signings in the summer will make Liverpool challenging for the trophies again.
Liverpool have never been so stable in recent memories as they are now.
Luis Suarez has, perhaps, taken the best step in his career by joining Liverpool at the time when Torres lost his patience.
It's the "girl friend" effect. Liverpool fans have worshipped Torres through thick and thin, even during his deep in form. Liverpool fans feel they are being betrayed by Torres's timing of leaving.
Suarez has started healing that wound already by scoring on his debut today and the time is not so far when the Reds start worshipping their new hero.
Liverpool fans will be actually waiting for the day when their newly replaced star striker becomes the true legend.
History may repeat itself. Just as what happened to Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish.
On the other hand, Chelsea are ageing. The Champions will need to rebuild or at least replace the ones who are on the brink of a downhill in their playing careers. They don't have many players in their mid twenties even.
How will Torres feel if the Champions don't qualify for the Champions League this season and Tottenham Spurs take the fourth spot?
Anything can happen in football, that's why we say never say no.
Spurs will give a tough fight to Chelsea for that coveted fourth Champions League spot right till the end.
Liverpool are rising from the dead. The worse is they will continue to play Europa League one more season.
But the squad is getting stronger by every transfer window and in John Henry and FSG they have the owners who believe in winning.
Conclusion
6 of 6Few things which I would like to admit here.
Fernando Torres is a prolific goal scorer in the toughest league in the World. Luis Suarez is unproven, yet highly rated, in the English premier league.
Pundits and fans consider Eredivisie being somewhat weaker as compared to premier league and for those reasons it is not feasible to compare the goals scored by both the strikers.
How Suarez adopts life in the English football is also to be seen while Torres has an advantage in terms of experience and knowledge about English football.
If reports are to be considered, then Suarez is tipped to be just like Carlos Tevez.
According to the reasons shown and discussed here I believe that Suarez will top Torres as being the Kop hero sooner or later.
You view on the subject would also be highly appreciated.
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