Getting a tune out of Fernando Torres is Kenny Dalglish's biggest task
Liverpool's returning manager showed strength of character in substituting the Spaniard after he went awol again
Unlike his predecessor Kenny Dalglish did not shirk the decision to replace Fernando Torres after another poor performance. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
The same is true whether the Liverpool manager is a figure for idolatry or ridicule – unless Fernando Torres is coaxed back to the form that made him one of the world's finest strikers in an increasingly distant past, their finest chance of resurrecting a torturous season will instead develop into their greatest source of frustration.
As events at Old Trafford proved, and in contrast to the mood at Anfield, the transformation will not occur overnight. With 13 minutes remaining and Liverpool's last hope of a domestic trophy slipping away against Manchester United, the club's record signing was withdrawn for the £1.5m forward David Ngog.
That substitution distinguished Kenny Dalglish from his predecessor Roy Hodgson who, no matter how starved of service or disillusioned Torres has been this term, always appeared conscious of reputation and was incredibly patient in his handling of the Spain international.
Yet Dalglish's decision was not about showing who is boss. It was taken out of necessity, with Torres failing to make an impact even while Liverpool had 11 men on the pitch and then drifting to the margins of a showpiece FA Cup tie by the time his number came up. Getting inside the Spaniard's head is a matter of urgency for the old/new Liverpool manager, and that process had begun before the Kenny coat made its reappearance after a 19-year absence.
Hodgson erred in his treatment of Torres, both in terms of isolating the striker with a long-ball game lacking direction earlier in the season and then frequently revealing that he thought the forward's lack of confidence was the team's major hindrance. That is not to absolve the player himself from responsibility for how this season has been allowed to drift with his form.
Dalglish turned today's regular Sunday newspaper column into a psychological exercise, stressing how he still regards the No9 as one of the finest in Europe and claiming Torres would be salivating at the prospect of tormenting Nemanja Vidic at Old Trafford once again. But Vidic was absent and so, to all intents and purposes, was Torreshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/jan/09/kenny-dalglish-fernando-torres-liverpool
Logged