Fernando Torres: I felt like a king at Liverpool – Steven Gerrard and I were made for each other
The Spanish striker scored 65 times during a sensational three-and-a-half years at Anfield but has failed to reproduce such form since joining current club Chelsea
Fernando Torres has claimed he and Steven Gerrard "were made for each other".
And the Chelsea striker revealed telling the Liverpool captain he was leaving Liverpool in January 2011 was one of the most difficult moments of his career.
Torres signed for the Blues for £50m - and has never reproduced his Anfield success in three-and-a-half years in London.
In an interview with French magazine So Foot, the Spaniard recounted how he felt he had to move to Stamford Bridge for the sake of his career. But he said he has never found another player like Gerrard.
"At Liverpool, I had almost everything but titles," Torres said. "There, I felt like a king but the team was falling apart. The directors had sold Mascherano to Barca, then Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid without investing any of the money to compensate for the departure of these two key players.
"I was 27, I wanted to know what it was like to lift the Champions League and I had the feeling it was not going to happen with the Reds. Liverpool then was in full transition, the club was being sold and in that case, unless you are Manchester City or PSG, it can be a long road before you are again competitive.
"I did not have the time to wait. One day, Steven Gerrard came to say to me: "Fernando, now, you have to think of yourself. Do what you have to do."
"But when I went to tell him that I was going to accept the Chelsea offer, it destroyed him. Announcing my departure from Liverpool to Gerrard was one of the most difficult moments of my career. He was my best team-mate and I am not sure of finding another like him in the future. We were made for each other."
By contrast, Torres struggled to fit into a Chelsea side which was continually changing tactics and managers.
"Everyone was a bit lost," he recalled. "Before my arrival, Chelsea played with Anelka and Drogba in attack. I arrived to play alongside Anelka in a system with three midfielders. We played only one match with that system.
"At the time, David Luiz and myself went to see Ancelotti together because we had been the last arrivals, we were told we would be important, but, in reality, we weren't playing. They finished by saying to us: 'We are going to finish the season with the team that started it'.
"I understood nothing of what had happened. I started to know the experience of the bench. I reassured myself by saying things would soon change. Villas-Boas arrived, then Di Matteo but it was always the same: one day I played, the next not."
But his old Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez briefly got the best out his fellow Spaniard at Chelsea.
"With Rafa, I learned to think about the best option to take in important moments," Torres said. "It is about teaching - everything he does gets you to think. I am sure that there are footballers who retire without ever having thought on the pitch.
"Rafa was very tactical. Before knowing him, I had the habit of running everywhere, no matter where. Five good runs into space are worth more than 100 in the wind."
But Torres insisted he has never regretted moving to England - and said a highlight was meeting the Gallagher brothers through Gerrard.
And he claimed the export of Spanish players had helped the Spain team - and the same could happen to England.
"If it took a long time to export players, it was because we were scared. Scared of the unknown," said Torres, who joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid in July 2007.
"The same thing is happening to the English today. They are incapable of leaving the Premier League. But the day when it is the English who go abroad, a lot will follow.
"This could be for the best for the England team. I know what I am talking about. When Xabi Alonso, Reina, Arbeloa and Fabregas left for England, we became more competitive. The fact that the Spanish players toughen themselves up abroad has been very important."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fernando-torres-felt-like-king-3618472
