A tribute to Liverpool-era Fernando Torres, a striker who could do it all

Fernando Torres is remembered by many in England mainly for flopping at Chelsea, but he was only deemed a failure there because of how incredible he was at Liverpool. His period of superstardom didn’t last long, but at least we got to see it.

It took just two Premier League games for Fernando Torres to win over the pundits.

English football had lost Thierry Henry in the summer of 2007, and a vacancy had opened up for a world-class forward to take on the mantle.

Cristiano Ronaldo might have been the one to end that campaign as the league’s top scorer, with a Champions League medal to boot, but Torres emerged just as impressively that season.

Unlike Ronaldo’s transformation at Old Trafford, however, Torres emerged as a modern No.9 and as a marquee signing who hit the ground running and laughed in the face of those who even posited ‘should we believe the hype?’ as a question.

Coming off the back of several impressive seasons in Spain, there was an expectation from Anfield alongside tempered optimism from those who knew a big transfer fee didn’t always equate to guaranteed end-product.

Fifteen minutes into Torres’ home debut, everyone was on the same page.

It didn’t matter that the defender he beat was Tal Ben-Haim, a man not always known for his pace. The excitement came from watching a young frontman (he was still just 23) trusting his own abilities and knowing he had scored with a defender and goalkeeper still to beat.

To pull off a stop-and-go move on an opponent is impressive enough, but to do so without fully stopping – only really implying stopping – is very special indeed.

And as for the finish? How could you not think of the recently-departed Henry when watching a man in red open up his body and find the far corner?