Fernando Torres and the stolen moment
by Steve
Ha. I realise that the title sounds a little like some sort of twisted Mills & Boon novel. But then, this is something of a love letter to ‘El Nino’. His performance on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick against the hapless Hull, was a thing of beauty. While he can score scrappy goals, that wasn’t his method on this occasion. Each goal was taken with phenomenal grace, poise and thought.
And that’s what makes Torres such a fascinating player to watch. He is not purely instinctive. He doesn’t such prod at the ball, or find himself in the right place at the right time. On Saturday, each time he got the ball before scoring he still had plenty of work to do. And each time, he seemed to have just that little bit more time than anyone else on the pitch.
Like all truly great players, he seems able to ‘steal’ a moment in order to make the right decision. With a single touch, shimmy or pause he puts himself in control. Slow-motion replays show him at his best. He has that ‘stolen moment’, that split-second pause, where he can process all the information before him and plot his course. And then with absolute calm, execute it. No panic, no unnecessary rush.
The perfect moment to illustrate this was when Torres rounded the Hull ‘keeper Myhill. A lesser player would have snatched at the chance. Torres’ thought and skill made the likely outcome, of a goal, a certainty.
The confidence and presence of mind it takes to do this is almost unfathomable, and as Hull found out to their cost, almost impossible to defend against.
El Nino is that rare phenomenon, the complete striker. (Adopts Alan Hansen voice for list of attributes) Power, pace, agility, guile, composure, two-footed, and great positional awareness. And when he smiles after scoring the Kop lights up like it used to when King Kenny himself scored. I do believe I’m somewhat in love with the guy myself. But isn’t that partly what football is about; isn’t it secretly a way heterosexual men can have man-crushes without anyone down the pub being in danger of calling them names or threatening to ‘duff them up’? Torres has taken a little over two seasons to become a definite name in my all-time Liverpool team.
http://doctorbeatnik.wordpress.com/
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That’s hefty praise there, having Torres in your all-time Liverpool team – it’s not as if he’s short of competition. But it is perfectly feasible for Torres to be considered once of the best ever for Liverpool. He hasn’t put in the years, yet, but in terms of talent and goals scored in that time, he has to be a contender.
And I’m all in favour of footballing man-crushes. One of the funniest turns of phrase I’ve heard was a skinhead Arsenal fan proclaiming, “I get my d1ck out over Ray Parlour”. Not something I’d go along with myself, but still…
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I know jack shit about “football” across the pond, but I’ve been busted by the missus on the man crush angle many times watching “football” over here. Had the jersey on every Sunday, sitting watching the game like it was porn.
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For Ray Parlour? Hmm, as man crushes go that’s setting your sights pretty low. Could be worse, I suppose, could be Julian Dicks. I think wall to wall coverage of football these days can make it seem like porn but at least we don’t get close ups of barely pubescent cheerleaders. It’s all about the game still, at least in most of Europe.
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barely pubescent cheerleaders
Yeah, you have to like chicks to watch sports over here 🙂
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Well I like chicks, even watch the women’s football when it’s on TV. But am hoping cheerleaders and all the excess razzamatazz stays out of football as long as possible. All I need to get me in the mood is the sight of 11 red shirts coming out of the tunnel to the strains of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. As George, the Anfield announcer for 38 years, said recently, that’s not a song, it’s a hymn.
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Just messing with you.
We should see how many comments we can get on here before the other Steve logs back in.
He’ll wonder what the hell is going on
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More comments you say?
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Wow.
I seem to have the most popular blog ever! Thanks guys!
I hope cheerleaders stay out of football (soccer). We haven’t the weather for it. Rugby League introduced cheerleaders, and it’s a bit tragic watching a group of barely-dressed Salford girls shivering on a cold, wet Friday night.
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one more should do it
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I don’t mind a bit of Catherine Jenkins every now and then, though. The choir boy singing with her at Bobby Robson’s memorial service was clearly trying to check out sideways.
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the cheerleaders in american football are never really noticed at all. They come out on the field when everyone is running to get beer, they are buried behind the benches so unless you are in the front row you won’t see them.
On tv it pretty much goes like this:
“You see that hit?”
“Hell yeah!”
“You want a beer?”
“Ok”
“Oh look, boobs!”
“Cool.”
“You want some nachos too?”
“Sure”
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Hmm. Might have to write a “sporting man-crushes” post at some point.
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‘Oh look boobs’. This could also be in reference to Julian Dicks ;0
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