Liverpool Suffering From Fernando Torres' Absence

Six games without Fernando Torres have left Liverpool pretty much in the same position as before he pulled his hamstring playing for Spain. Tied top spot in the Premiership as well as in Champions League. Dirk Kuyt in particular has stepped up and started looking like a goal scorer. On the surface, The Reds have coped very well with the injury on their star striker.

Liverpool are blessed with a handful of world class players. Gerrard, obviously, would be in the World XI of every sane person. There can't be many players better than Reina and Mascherano in their respective roles, and just below that level I would rate Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, and Xabi Alonso.

Add to that a manager who is an astute tactician, and you have a very good team even if one or two of the star players are missing. Beating Manchester United and Chelsea without Torres, and Gerrard playing a small role in the former, is evidence of the strength the current Liverpool team possesses.

Liverpool of 2008-09 is quite simply a very good team.

However, measured against a few other teams I would reluctantly have to admit must fall in the "very good" category (at the very least), that might not be enough to bring silverware back to Anfield. One might argue that Liverpool have fared better than United without Ronaldo, and Arsenal would without Fabregas, but there is no getting around the fact that Liverpool are affected by losing Torres to injury.

Torres is not just about the goals, and that has been increasingly evident over the last few weeks. And neither Kuyt nor Keane has been able to fill his role satisfactory. Without Torres, Liverpool lack the pace up front that prevents the opponents from pushing their defense up the pitch, thereby sealing off the space between the defense and the midfield that Liverpool often exploits.

Furthermore, some teams have even been allowed to push up and take the initiative in the game, most notably Athletico Madrid but even Portsmouth and Spurs pushed forward and created chances in the final 15 minutes of the games.

Under normal circumstances, such adventurous tactics would be quickly punished by El Nino joyfully outpacing defenders chasing through-balls from Alonso and Gerrard. If the opponents survived the first one or two reminders, they would humbly withdraw their back four to 30 yards and give the game back to Liverpool.

Unfortunately, Keane and Kuyt does not have the pace to do that. Babel has pace and technique, but his runs and understanding have more similarities to Cissé than Torres currently.

Pace is an absolute necessity for strikers at this level. Today, there are no players in the Liverpool squad that can replace Torres, and I fear there will be more dropped points if he does not return to the pitch very soon.