ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: West Ham Utd 2 Liverpool 3: IT TAKES someone special to make a control freak giddy. Fernando Torres' performance here confirmed he is someone special and Rafael Benitez was so enraptured that he praised his striker for being, among other things, "a good husband".
“He is a good professional with a great mentality,” said Benitez before adding, with a chuckle: “He is also a good husband – so sorry, women.”
The two Spaniards’ tiff on the opening day of the season seems to have been resolved.
Then, Benitez had criticised Torres for brooding through a defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, and ordered him to stop complaining about rugged opponents and to concentrate on beating them instead. Evidently, the striker listened.
He opened the scoring here by dodging and dashing past James Tomkins and Matthew Upson before jabbing the ball past Robert Green at the near post. Then, in the 75th minute, he leapt above two defenders to meet Ryan Babel’s cross and send a downward header into the net.
The two goals brought his tally since joining Liverpool in July 2007 to 55 in 91 matches. Benitez had staked his reputation on that purchase.
“When you look at what some managers pay for just anybody, Torres was very cheap,” said the Spaniard, happily overlooking some of his less successful purchases. “We were looking for someone with the qualities you need to play in England. Torres was the perfect answer. He has pace and mobility and even though he has scored a lot of goals he always wants to score more and remain an important player for us.”
Remaining an important player obviously means remaining fit and Benitez admitted the striker’s hectic schedule with Spain over the last year has been a concern.
“The rest of the players had been training for 19 days (by the time Liverpool’s Spanish contingent returned from the Confederations Cup) so we needed to protect them. We pushed Torres a little bit because he was top scorer, but we are now working very hard on prevention. We are taking good care of him.”
Liverpool will need Torres to prolong his prolific form if their defence continues to creak. West Ham exposed frailties that, having been apparent in the defeats by Tottenham and Aston Villa and even in the 3-2 victory at Bolton, are beginning to look chronic.
Beyond the lack of pace highlighted by West Ham’s impressive young winger Zavon Hines, Liverpool were simply sloppy. Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel were booked after being caught dithering on the ball. Carragher’s recklessness conceded the penalty from which Alessandro Diamanti scored his first West Ham goal.
After Dirk Kuyt had put Liverpool back in front, Carlton Cole became the latest beneficiary of Liverpool’s slack marking at set pieces by heading in a Mark Noble corner.
Benitez rejects the notion that he is accepting greater defensive vulnerability in order to maximise offensive power.
“My approach has not changed. In my second year here (2005-’06) we got a club-record 82 points. Two years ago we scored over 130 goals and last year we scored more than anyone else, so it is not a question of attacking more. What has changed is that now we have more quality. But we still have the balance.”
Gianfranco Zola hopes he too may soon be able to field a balanced team. The performance of Hines and Diamanti, and the recruitment of the Mexican striker Guillermo Franco, have left the Italian feeling, for the first time, that he has options.
“I normally like to play with one striker and two small ones behind him, but since the start of the season we have had to change all the time because of injures or players leaving,” he said. “Now at least I know who I am working with so I can start creating a shape and putting in more of my ideas.”
Guardian Service
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