The ‘Gerrard and Torres’ Show
By Gary Bostock

As a fervent Liverpool supporter, I was delighted when the club announced it would play a pre-season friendly against Thailand. I’ve already bought my ticket to sit on the famous Anfield Kop which will be especially recreated for the match at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on July 22nd.

Changes in personnel

The last time Liverpool visited Thailand was in July 2003 when the then Liverpool manager, Gerard Houllier, saw his side win 3-1 after extra time against Thailand’s national team in Bangkok. The visit came at the end of a 2002/03 season when Liverpool had won the English League Cup but finished in a disappointing 5th place in the English Premier League. A look at Liverpool’s team that year shows it included quite a few players, like Djimi Traore and Bruno Cheyrou, that most Liverpool fans would prefer to forget.   

Only two players from the 2003 Liverpool team, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, will play in Thailand this time round. This shows how much the current Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, has transformed the Liverpool side he inherited from Houllier when he arrived at Liverpool in the summer of 2004.

A deadly duo

Without doubt, the two outstanding players in Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool side are Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. If they are not injured, both are guaranteed to play against Thailand. Gerrard and Torres have formed a fearsome striking partnership over the last two years. In fact, many Liverpool supporters believe Liverpool would have won this year’s English Premier League if Gerrard and Torres had played more games together.

The partnership is unique in that it pairs a midfielder with a forward. Liverpool’s most famous goal scoring partnerships have had two forwards working together like the Keegan & Toshack and Dalglish & Rush duos of the 1970s and 1980s.

So how important are Gerrard and Torres as a partnership to Liverpool’s success? They started 39 games together over the last two league seasons scoring or creating 62 goals between them. This is over 40% of the total league goals Liverpool scored.

It is an impressive contribution considering that they have only played together in half of Liverpool’s league games. Another revealing statistic is that Liverpool win over 70% of league games when Gerrard and Torres play together and only lose 10% of games when they are in the same team.

Who would be a football manager?

Clearly, the Gerrard and Torres link is vital to Liverpool’s continued success but what will be more important is which players Rafa Benitez buys to strengthen Liverpool’s team. Gerard Houllier failed to buy players of enough quality and was sacked as manager after another disappointing season in 2004. Rafa will be hoping that his visit to Thailand brings him better luck than Houllier’s did!

Questions

1. Where will the Thailand versus Liverpool match take place?
2. When did Liverpool last visit Thailand?
3. What was the score in 2003?
4. Has Liverpool’s team changed much since 2003?
5. What position does Fernando Torres play?
6. How many games does Liverpool win when Gerrard and Torres are both in the team?
7. What happened to Gerard Houllier?
8. How long has Rafa Benitez been Liverpool’s manager?

What do you think?

Do you think it’s a good idea for English Premier League football teams to play matches in Asia? Why or why not?

Answers

1. The Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
2. 2003.
3. Liverpool won 3-1.
4. Yes, only Carragher and Gerrard are still playing.
5. Striker.
6. 70% of matches.
7. He lost his job as Liverpool’s manager.
8. Five years.

Sources

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-
match-reports/2003/07/25/ (Retrieved on June 15th, 2009)
http://www.lfc-1.com/archive/leagueyear.asp?year=2002/2003
(Retrieved on June 15th, 2009)
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/past_players/ (Retrieved on June
15th, 2009)
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/05/gerrard-and-torres-facts-
figures-and.html (Retrieved on June 15th, 2009)

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