DOES TORRES KNOW WHAT HE'S GETTING INTO?

The last time Liverpool had 2 good strikers that consistently scored, they won the League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. Robbie Folwer and Michael Owen in their respective careers with the club combined for over 300 goals between them (not necessarily playing together), but Owen's intense dislike for anyone challenging his supremacy as the club's top scorer initiated a period of reliance on single source goal scoring that has cost the club the chance to win the EPL ever since.

That Fernando Torres is quality is not in doubt – by himself (i.e. with no quality forwards surrounding him) he has been the leading scorer for Athletic Madrid for 5 years, including two 20+ goal seasons in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. A player with good balance, pace and strength, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll have difficulty scoring in the EPL, where all three are critical to success. Where Morientes failed on Merseyside, Torres may flourish, and give the Reds the much needed attacking boost they’ve sorely lacked in their three EPL campaigns under Rafael Benitez.

But the question remains unanswered – is Torres the answer for Liverpool? Is this all they need to break the barrier that has kept them from matching the bona fine top quality levels of Arsenal, Chelski and hated rivals Manchester U(seless)? Defensively Liverpool have always been strong. Not prone to making adventurous mistakes, and with young defenders of a high quality in abundance, it doesn’t seem that they’ll give up more goals than they score any time soon – but the sum total of goals is less significant than their timeliness, and a review of some rather atrocious attacking displays against run of the mill opponents last year, more than accounts for the gulf in EPL results between them and the other big four of English football.

On the first day of the season, a disgraceful display saw them drop two points against a team, in Sheffield United, that had no business in the top flight of English football. Steven Gerrard, just coming off one of the greatest match winning performances in the club’s history, scoring 2 belters in dying moments of their FA Cup final against West Ham in May of 2006, failed on several occasions to apply the winning touch, and as all teams with great players, Liverpool’s weakness of depending too much on individual performances was laid to bare for all to see. In the past it had been the heroics of Robbie Fowler (who ironically scored the penalty that salvaged a point on the day), before the torch was passed (begrudgingly) to Michael Owen.

But the lure of the galacticos was too great for a player never short on self-belief, and the responsibility then fell on their inspirational captain Gerrard. Unlike Chelski, however, Liverpool are not built for consistent goal-scoring form their midfielder, and the arrival of Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt was thought to be the tonic needed to boost the timely but sparing contributions of Luis Garcia and Tim Crouch in attack. Unfortunately for Reds supporters Crouch and Bellamy were unbearably lazy and unproductive for long stretches this year, and while Crouch is impressive in spurts, you just don’t get the feeling that he’s a player that can carry the goal-scoring load on his spindly shoulders. Bellamy, for his part, never appeared to care too much. An incessant moaner, his productivity was directly proportional to the faith the manager showed in him, neither of which was very much, and both of which diminished progressively as the season came to a conclusion. For all his talk of being a lifelong supporter of Liverpool, he certainly didn't look like it. While his more industrious Dutch partner Kuyt, who although not prolific in scoring, but prolific in working, made it impossible to ignore Bellamy’s lack of both.

There are few midfields that can boast the current quality Liverpool enjoy – Alonso, Mascherano and Gerrard have an embarrassment of riches in technical ability, both with and without the ball. They're all astute tacklers, and what Mascherano lacks relative to Gerrard and and Alsonso in technique, he more than makes up for in pure determination and discipline. You’ll rarely find a midfielder that doesn’t have two clubbed feet, more willing to do the running than Mascherano. Interestingly left in the lurch in this regard is Momo Sissoko – while no one can doubt his effort, his lacking technical ability, and clumsly challenges became an increasing liability and was duly sent to the substitute’s bench for most of the second half of the season. His paltry claims for first team football are laughable for the man some (prematurely) compared to Patrick Vieira. Vieira may be tall, black and aggressive, but to compare him to Sissoko is like comparing a Ferrari to a Mustang by saying they’re both fast. Arsenal know better than anyone that you build championships off of Vieira's arsenal of skills as they, Juventus and Inter have all experienced – you could build a house with the bricks this man Sissoko regularly lays with his feet.

The only other glaring weakness of Liverpool is on the wing – a half fit Harry Kewell good for 2-3 season ending injuries per season is the only one with the technical ability to really put fear in his opponents, although he has rarely done so in his 4 years with the club. As for Mark Gonzales, he’s on his way to Betis, since they were not relegated, and ruthless Rafa probably couldn’t wait to see him go. The staff spent 2 years tracking this kid before he came to Liverpool, and he turned out to be one of the worst purchases of Benitez tenure, second only to Mauricio Pellegrino. It’s hard not to like Fabio Aurelio for all his qualities, but even harder to see him being the answer they’re looking for in terms of consistent and quality wing play. But the biggest problem on the wings for Liverpool is on the right – other than Jermaine Pennant, Liverpool are desperately lacking in this department, which answer the question of why Gerrard is always stuck playing out there. Clearly, they quality of the wing play has affected the quality of the goal-scoring, and as such, even Fernando Torres will have problems making something out of nothing if they don’t address that problem promptly.

Most strikers are only as good as the quality of their service, and there are few exceptions in the history of football, let alone in the modern game. For Torres’ move to Liverpool to be a success, he’ll need to develop more than just his own strong aerial game, his shooting, his pace and his hunger – he’ll need to develop a relationship with Liverpool’s current crop of wingers, and on the face of it, or at least until more action is taken on the transfer market, he could be in development for a long, long time.