http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/david-maddock/David-Maddock-says-Chelsea-s-Fernando-Torres-got-too-big-for-his-boots-not-too-big-for-Liverpool-article693383.html
After all the debate, all the hand-wringing and all the incredible conspiracy theories surrounding the departure of Fernando Torres from Liverpool, one very good reason for the sale stands out.
The striker, undoubtedly the best in the world two years ago, seemed to let that status go to his head to the extent that he believed he was bigger than one of the most famous clubs in the world.
This is not a character assassination of Torres, and there is a certain sympathy for his situation in reaching the peak years of his career at a club in transition.
But last week, and indeed all this season and for much of the last one, there was a lingering suspicion the Spanish international had lost the grounded perspective that made him such a breath of fresh air when he arrived at Anfield.
One moment, soon after he became Liverpool’s record signing, sticks in my memory.
Approached by the media in the mixed zone of a Champions League game, he politely and carefully explained, in his best English, that he would prefer to wait to speak until his grasp of the language was better.
What stood out at that time was a clear lack of arrogance. He was – in the words of then-manager Rafa Benitez – a "nice boy, from a nice family".
There was no arrogance, no elevated sense of importance, indeed almost a shyness about him, and real politeness. He seemed able to identify with the fans, and understand the tie between terrace and turf.
That disappeared over time, to the extent that over the past year or so, when approached by the media, he wouldn’t even deign to speak while rejecting their requests, instead merely issuing a look of contempt that showed just how beneath him the idea was.
In essence, that contempt is aimed at the fans, who deserve more than dismissive refusals to talk, or the sanitised sound bites they are patronisingly thrown by players and clubs these days.
With his 27th birthday approaching, Torres believes the next three years will be the peak of his career, and he clearly believed that those three years would be spent in transition at Anfield.
But his attitude over the last 18 months and his body language on the pitch during that time seems to suggest he also believes he has a divine right to honours… whether he contributes or not.
He seemed to have forgotten that Liverpool paid him handsomely to play at one of the world’s most historic clubs, a salary, in fact, in excess of £6million a year. That money ultimately, comes from the fans who buy the tickets, merchandising and TV packages which pay for those wages.
It is my belief that Torres lost the link with the fans he understood when he arrived at Anfield.
He became so distant from them, so detached from their experience, that he lost sight of what it means to play for a big club, whether they are competitive or not.
That is why his body language was so poor on the pitch this season, and why he seemed to perform in only a handful of game.
He no longer understood how much of an insult such an attitude would be to those fans who idolised him.
For a guy earning in excess of £120,000 a week, that was not acceptable, and if that sort of money and the devotion of the fans wasn’t enough for him to perform at his peak every week, then it wasn’t just the right decision to sell him, but the only decision Liverpool could make.
Kenny Dalglish suggested as much last week, when he said he was concentrating on players who wanted to play for the club. And there are many who still want to do that.
Realistically, Liverpool will take several years under their new owners to get back to the very top again, after the problems under the previous regime. But they are still a massive club, with a massive name… and a massive pull, as the signing of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, two of the most promising young strikers in the world, proved.
They are bigger than the short-term pursuit of trophies, and big enough to make their best players amongst the highest paid in the world.
But if you lose sight of the link with the supporters who make football what it is, then nothing is big enough, and it is time to go.
Thank you for the memories... I hope you will be able to go back to athletico madrid and win something...
