What has happened to Fernando Torres?

Once seen as the darling of Liverpool, one of the most revered strikers in Europe with the world at his feet, he is now simply a shadow of what he was. So what has gone wrong?

In the good old days

From his move to Liverpool in 2007 Fernando Torres lit up the Premier League. He was an essential hog in the Merseyside team. He scored great goals and he scored important goals. In his three years at Liverpool (especially from 2007/9) Torres was arguably the best forward in the land.

This is backed up by statistics. According to the Liverpool FC Fandom website, Torres scored 65 league goals in 102 appearances. Further on from that in his first season (2007/8) the Spaniard scored thirty three goals in all competitions. His wonderful breakthrough season ended with him scoring the winner in the Euro Championship final for Spain against Germany. Such was his impact was that in 2009, Steven Gerrard hailed Torres as "the best striker in the world", as reported in the Guardian newspaper.

Where has it gone wrong?

Currently plying his trade for boyhood club Atletico Madrid, Torres is a shadow of his former self.

But where has it all gone wrong for the player? Sky Sports referred to the demise as "one of the greatest mysteries of football". One major problem has been the injuries that he has suffered, especially in the 2008/9 campaign. Torres himself stated that his injuries were "a real hammer blow". However, further setbacks over the following two years seemed to have had an effect on the player. Sky Sports noted that Torres "looked a different player to before his knee injuries". It is as a result that the player's form dipped. In his 23 league appearances in the 2010/11 season, Torres only scored nine goals. With frustration at the club following internal turmoil, Torres sealed a 50 million pound sterling move to Chelsea.

At the age of 27 when the move was made, it was seen that the Spaniard would take the team to another level. He did not and either did the team. He scored just once in the second half of the 2010/11 season and found it difficult. In the following two seasons Torres failed hit the dizzy heights from his time at Liverpool. In 2011/12 he scored 14 goals in 56 appearances and the following season, 15 goals from 45 appearances. With only twenty league goals from 110 appearances in 2014 Torres left (originally on loan) for Atletico Madrid. Unfortunately his goal scoring record failed to significantly improve. Last season he managed eleven goals from thirty games and this year he has four goals from sixteen games.

Another potential problem was the burden that came with the price of his move to Chelsea. In a time when he may have been questioning himself, the price tag may have weighed heavily on him, impacting his confidence and therefore his performances.

Whatever it may have been, what is for sure is that fernando torres is a different player to what he was. It is an immense shame as he was simply unstoppable in his early years.