Torres Talks Of Liverpool Life
ITV Football
Spain’s Euro 2008 hero Fernando Torres has spoken of Rafael Benitez’s relentless demands at Liverpool.
“There are days when you think: ‘My God, this guy doesn’t let you breathe!’ At times like that you don’t realise all he wants is for you to improve,” Torres tells the latest Champions magazine, the official magazine of the UEFA Champions League.
“When you are in a team where things are going mostly well, players tend to relax.
“But you must always push yourself; never become complacent; try to do your best every single day.
“At a club like Liverpool you can’t sit back after scoring 20-odd goals and say ‘Well, that’s it.’ After you score 20 Benitez is at you during the next training session and stays on top of you all day, all week.
“He tells you to go off on your own and do new exercises. I want to progress in life, not relax, not be complacent and you need someone close to you telling you to keep at it.
“It is impossible to do it otherwise. We don’t always fancy having someone that close but in the long term I am sure everybody will thank him for it.”
Torres, who arrived at the club a year ago on Friday, admits that he has a lot of respect for Reds skipper Steven Gerrard.
He continued: “I really admire Steven Gerrard because I know the pressure he is under every day, everybody talking about him all day long - in the changing room, in the pubs, in the stadium…
“I’ve heard people say he should be stronger, have a stronger personality. And I know by experience how difficult it is to deal with that and he’s at another level of course - because Liverpool is a huge club.
“People look at you from a distance and challenge you with their eyes. All that happens every day to Stevie and he copes with it, everything that is expected of him all the time.
“He’s always under tremendous pressure to perform and everyone looks to him to show leadership, to lift the team.
“He’s a great example to everyone and those of use who have been in a similar situation know how difficult it is to handle. It’s incredible the way he carries himself regardless of what is going on around him.
“I’d love to be captain of another team one day and Steven has show me how to be a great leader.”
Torres also reveals that his girlfriend Olalla is a ‘calming influence’ for him when he is ‘impulsive, when things are not going well or we lose a match.”
He says: “She has had to suffer much disappointed ranting and moaning especially when I was at Atletico. Now she is also having a good time herself. She has ways know how to calm me down when i haven’t been able to see the way out of the tunnel or wake me up when I’ve been sleeping. She pushes me when I need to be encouraged.
“The person that lives with you is sometimes the only one capable of helping you up when you don’t realise how down you are.”
