Great Goals Revisited: Fernando Torres, Liverpool v Blackburn, 2009

Looking back, 2009 was a really strange time – a better time, some might say.

Barack Obama had just taken office as the 44th President of the United States on the back of a campaign underlined by hope, Pep Guardiola was ending his first season in charge of Barcelona having won the treble at the first time of asking, and Liverpool forward Fernando Torres was in the conversation for being the best striker on the planet.

How times have changed.

Back then, the Premier League was coming towards the end of its first real period of dominance, with the quality of football in Spain fast becoming the highest standard.

Liverpool, fighting for a title under Rafa Benitez, ended the season second to Manchester United, and exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage against Chelsea in a 7-5 aggregate thriller.

As was often the case, Steven Gerrard finished the season their top scorer, with Jamie Carragher, reliable as ever, having contributed with the most appearances.

Leaving the club as he did in January 2011 under a cloud, Torres isn’t remembered quite as fondly at Anfield as he should be, or at least he wasn’t until much water had passed under the bridge over several years.

The magnitude of his subsequent failure at Chelsea only amplified things, and the player Torres was in his time at Liverpool wasn’t so much forgotten as completely airbrushed over.

But the reality is that he scored 65 goals in 102 Liverpool appearances, which is a significantly better return than one-in-two. What’s more, it’s a better scoring ratio than Ian Rush, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, Kenny Dalglish, Michael Owen and even Luis Suarez.

It’s why it hurt Liverpool fans so much when Torres helped force through a move to Chelsea for £50million in