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Guillem Balagué, Sky Sports Spanish football expert and writer for AS, tweeted a few extracts of an exclusive interview with Fernando Torres. The rest will be available tonight at guillembalague.com and tomorrow morning (in Spanish) at AS.
UPDATE
Full transcript of the interview after the cut.
Start at the bottom.
UPDATE
20/05/2012
Fernando Torres on the Champions League Final and his season at Chelsea.
I caught up with Fernando Torres after the Champions League Final in Munich. I asked him about his thoughts on the game and his frustrating season at Stamford Bridge. I would appreciate that it if anybody uses any of of these quotes, they could please mention the source. Thanks.
This interview will also be published in Spanish in Diario AS.
Guillem - It's been an incredible season considering that things haven't gone exactly according to plan.
Fernando Torres - That's what football is like, in the end what this season has taught me is that football is made from these moments, these special moments - a group of lucky people and sometimes you need a little bit of luck, and that is what the team has had.
G - Like for example, Drogba, who has scored 9 goals in 9 finals - to me that seems incredible.
FT - In the game against Napoli at home - it finished 3-1, I remember that goal-line clearance from Ashley Cole - if it had finished 4-1 we would have been out of the competition. We won that game, then went to the Nou Camp and it seemed to everyone that we were going to get beat 10-0. But with a bit of luck or hard work or whatever you want to call it....we got through to the final at Bayern Munich´s ground against Bayern Munich, in the 82nd minute we were 1-0 down, then we brought it level and it went to penalties. We went a goal behind at the start of the shoot-out and ended up winning. I think that is what this team has had, especially towards the end of the season, are some championship-winning moments - maybe we've been lucky, but maybe a bit of luck was what the team was lacking in Moscow.
G - And in the 82nd minute, you were a goal down, what was going through your head? Did you think that it was all over? Were you tired?
FT - No, no, we were thinking about winning. I think that what we needed today was to attack, I don't think we did the right thing settling for 0-0 and they punished us with Muller's goal. The thing that has made this team so great, that has made us beat Barcelona, Napoli, Benfica, has been the fact that we defended through attacking, and today we didn't attack. We attacked during the last ten minutes and part of extra time which gave us chances, if not we'd have lost 1-0.
G - When you were brought on, you got involved, you ran for every ball.
FT - It's contradictory because I feel like I'm at a peak moment in my career, with more desire and hunger than I've felt in a long time, but I've had to spend the final on the bench. It was a huge disappointment when I saw the line-up, perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life. I thought I would play in this game and I couldn't imagine not doing so. But in the end I could participate and offer the team something. I'm really happy.
G - What have you learned this season?
FT - This season I have felt things that I never had before. I've felt like they treated me in a way that I didn't expect, not in the way that was spoken of when they signed me. We've had a lot of talks and we'll talk about my future at the end of the season because the role I've had this season is not for me, nor is it the one I expected to play when I came here. I'm not comfortable. A victory like this one against Munich does compensate, but I want them to tell me what is going to happen in the future. Football has been fair on us, on me. Now I do feel like football is worth it but I've been through a difficult time. The worst in my career. And I don't want to go through it again.
G - And what does it depend on?
FT - I don't know. There have been a lot of ups and downs, there's been many times when I've felt lost, I wasn't sure what to do. I felt like I didn't know where I belonged. I'm eternally grateful to my family who have been by my side and also for the support of the owners who have stuck by me. And especially to the fans, if it hadn't been for them this season I would have given up.
G - So, what would be the ideal situation for you next season?
FT - For someone to tell me what is going to happen and what sort of role I will have within the team, what my duties are, what they expect of me and then judge whether it is worth it.
G - Will we see you in Schruns, where the Spanish national team is heading this week?
FT - First London, where we'll celebrate this win and then the next day Ibiza. I'll be hoping to be on the list when it is announced on Monday. As I've said, I feel better than ever, hungrier than ever, but that's what football is like - often, when you feel you're at your best they don't consider you.
G - In any case, you came to this club to win medals such as this one.
FT - Yeah, the European Championship, the World Cup, the Champions League...There's a very important game for me, on an emotional level, against Atletico de Madrid in the European Supercup and I'm counting the days until then.
Source
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Date: 2012-05-20 08:35 pm (UTC)(warning: long rambly post, ahead. But hey, you asked - hahaha)
Even when the team was dominating the league, they still could not manage to win the CL trophy. IMO, this was some bad juju hanging over many of the players and i can't imagine players who have given to Chelsea what Terry, Drogba, Cech, Cole, and Lampard have in the past 8-9 years would want to be cast aside when they feel they have unfinished business. People talk about luck and there definitely was that, but there is also an extra determination that i hadn't seen with this team in years. They had something to prove. You can't just create that kind of motivation immediately. Sometimes, I think they brought AVB in a year or two early, but then again, he brought in some very valuable players to the team (Mata, Cahill) and the way he alienated players (he refused to meet one-on-one with anyone and by many accounts had a vindictive "with me or against me" attitude) ended up having a silver lining. That alienation and division he fostered somehow created an atmosphere that Di Matteo was able to capitalize on. And now that this huge tangible goal has been reached, the team needs to start afresh. But they can at least do it now with their heads held high and having accomplished what they needed to. I adore Didier and he's been the essence of Chelsea for me, but i don't see him having a big role with the club anymore, even if he stays. With all his faults off the pitch and in big games (and i wouldn't believe all the conspiracy theories), Terry is still pretty crucial in the back four and works well with both Cahill and Luiz. Cole and Cech have some good years left. Lampard is a bit of a wild card. Chelsea's midfield needs overhauling. He's not really a holding MF and not as good going forward as he used to be, but his distribution can be spectacular at times and he has contributed to a lot of the big moments Chelsea had this year (his scoring record is still great and his dispossession of Messi in both Barca legs led to goals).
People also forget that after initially trying to tinker with ways to fit him into the new system, AVB also ended up leaving Torres on the bench for months. He didn't see many starts until Didier left for the African Cup. There was a really good interview with Drogba on Sky i think where he talked a little more in depth about why he and Torres don't work well together on the pitch and their contrasting styles. I can see him making way for Nando now though.
I think Torres did have a little tiff with DiMatteo during the final about wanting to take a penalty shot (and honestly, i wish he went instead of Mata) and i wonder how much that frustration played into the interview. It's an emotional rollercoaster after a final like that and maybe not the best time to air grievances publicly (hence Drogba and Di Matteo refusing to talk about their plans right after the game, etc.). I don't know. The fans have stood by Fernando unconditionally in a way that they haven't with other Chelsea players (Kalou, Malouda, Bosingwa, Meireles) and i can see why people feel that this seems ungrateful. But i can also see his side of it and the potential leverage in the timing.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-20 09:08 pm (UTC)I agree with you about the sense of accomplishment that will make change easier, but what I believe will really change is Abramovich's attitude. When he hired AVB, and although he wanted to rejuvenate and restructure the team, he still wasn't ready to possibly sacrifice an entire season to achieve it, not when he still hadn't obtained his biggest goal - the CL. So more than any player conspiracies, what undermined AVB's tenure was Abramovich's ambivalence and indecision. Sacrifice everything to create a new team before having won the Champions League OR give it one last attempt and try to win it with a decadent but proven squad? AVB handled things very, very poorly, but ultimately I think the biggest error of all was Abramovich's timing.
I don't believe Terry, Lampard or Cole will just roll over from now on. If anything, it will only give them new arguments 'we've proven all the naysayers wrong, we still have it in us'. The fans are also easily swayed to their side and against any new manager - and understandably so, they're club legends. But like I said at the beginning, what will change from now on imo is Abramovich's attitude. His pending goal was achieved, rejuvenating the squad is the new one. He will take no bullshit now and he'll do what he must, at whatever cost.
Do you think he'll give Di Matteo a full season? And do you think it's at all possible that Drogba stays another year? To me the celebrations on the field yesterday sort of felt like goodbye, but I really don't know...
no subject
Date: 2012-05-20 09:28 pm (UTC)I really hope that Roman takes a big step back now that the CL has finally been won, but i can also see this reinforcing the mindset that "my meddling produced results! Let me keep meddling!"
I liked AVB and was in the faction of fans who wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but from everything i've heard about his man-management skills, they were pitiful. I wouldn't trade the way this season ended though for anything. Just to give you a little background, i've been a fan since 1996 and to see Robbie freaking Di Matteo and Eddie Newton (both heroes of the 1997 FA Cup) take the reins of this team all the way to a UCL and FA cup double is the stuff dreams are made of.
I don't believe Terry, Lampard or Cole will just roll over from now on. If anything, it will only give them new arguments 'we've proven all the naysayers wrong, we still have it in us'.
This point is reasonable and the idea did strike me as i was writing my long comment, but i do think it will depend on what is asked of them and how. If they are given roles to guide younger players (Bertrand, for example, has talked a ton about how much Cole has worked with and guided him), they are likely to let others shine. It's all about fostering a sense of common fate. Drogba did not complain when he was benched in favor of Torres this season. Frank and Ashley also sat out games under Di Matteo without complaint. Then again, it's really hard to make inferences based on only the last 2-3 months of the season. What Robbie had to do with this team was very short-term focused and done under the most unusual set of circumstances and i have no idea what a long-term plan of his would look like.
I think Abramovich is going to clean house this summer. I'm not that optimistic that Robbie will be hired, though it's possible he'll get a one-year contract and i'm not sure that is the best way to go either. It's nice for Chelsea to be in the position of having all these choices though.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-20 10:10 pm (UTC)(As I was writing about him, my mother told me via skype he just received some sort of award in Portugal and thanked by saying 'to my club and to my president a big thank you'. I want to die. And cry.)
Anyway. Back to what I was saying...
I wouldn't trade the way this season ended though for anything. Just to give you a little background, i've been a fan since 1996 and to see Robbie freaking Di Matteo and Eddie Newton (both heroes of the 1997 FA Cup) take the reins of this team all the way to a UCL and FA cup double is the stuff dreams are made of.
That is amazing, I know very little of Chelsea pre-Abramovich if I'm honest. And congratulations by the way!! <3
Objectively, do you think Di Matteo should be given a chance? Would you like him to stay, do you think he could be the one to guide the club (and the senior players) through the difficult transition?
no subject
Date: 2012-05-20 10:40 pm (UTC)I think at the very least, Di Matteo has earned the chance to see the team out for at least a year or two. Objectively, i don't have any clue what to expect in terms of what his plans to overhaul the club would even remotely look like. Chelsea is not West Brom. It's entirely possible he will completely change his gameplan in the fall now that the expectations will be different. In some respects,he was lucky these past months because he came into a situation where there were no expectations. Anything he could do would look like an improvement and he more than delivered. On the emotional wishful-thinking side, I want him to have a Sir Alex-like career with the club. I like the idea of the cultural continuity of having someone with a long history with the club becoming the long-term manager.
On the other hand, my big fear is that we turn into post-2010 Inter!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-20 11:23 pm (UTC)I get the impression Chelsea must be a difficult club for an 'outsider' with a not-so-strong mindset to be in... lots of expectation and demands, not much room for failure or excuses... Of course that's top football in general, but I mean, AVB, now Torres... reading their interviews and seeing how miserable they looked, one has to wonder. Di Matteo would have an advantage in that regard, being one of the club legends; and that's putting aside the fact that's he actually finally won the CL.
On the emotional wishful-thinking side, I want him to have a Sir Alex-like career with the club. I like the idea of the cultural continuity of having someone with a long history with the club becoming the long-term manager.
That's my dream as well, manager-wise. I have a soft-spot for Arsenal primarily because of that (I have a never-ending admiration for Arsène Wenger); Man Utd not so much, but then again I do support Liverpool. ;)
On the other hand, my big fear is that we turn into post-2010 Inter!
That will only happen if you resist change and keep the senior core of the squad. That's what happened with Inter - and without Mou their 'coming down' was dramatic. I may be wrong, but I don't think Abramovich will allow something like that to happen...
no subject
Date: 2012-05-21 12:50 am (UTC)I get the impression Chelsea must be a difficult club for an 'outsider' with a not-so-strong mindset to be in
I'm not sure. I think players need a least a year at Chelsea, especially if coming in from outside the EPL, before we can figure out what their journey will be like (Ramires is an excellent example, Ivanovic is another, though it took him much longer than a year to settle). But it's clear that Abramovich has a particular vision for the club and it really hasn't gone exactly according to his wishes. I'm really on the edge of my seat though to see what happens next. There was so much riding on this final, giving how Chelsea finished in the league and now they are in a much better position to attract new talent and to keep our existing talent. Money can only buy so much.
I was rooting for Bayern (I watched it with a friend who's from Munich and another one who's a Spurs fan, so I didn't really have a choice, lol), but you guys showed incredible heart. Drogba and Cech in particular were legendary
Thanks, bb!! I watched in a bar that was evenly split between supporters and was also sitting next to a group of Spurs fans. Things were heated, to say the least. As much as i was over the moon with this win, it was very hard to see Bastian crying and Robben in a heap on the field (there is still love there leftover from his Chelsea days). There's a touching photo floating around tumblr of Drogba giving Bastian a big hug.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-20 11:08 pm (UTC)Thanks, bb! The pre-Roman years were definitely different, but this year actually felt a lot like late-90s Chelsea. Just pure scrappiness and determination.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-20 11:26 pm (UTC)