Fernando Torres Thankful To Liverpool Gaffer Rafa Benitez For Improvement

Fernando Torres' rookie season in the Premier League was a resounding success due to his exploits in front of goal, notching an impressive 33, and the Spain international claims that the improvements in his game have been vast, and are down to the tutelage of Reds gaffer Rafael Benitez.

"Rafa concentrates on the professional side of things," said Torres, to the official site of the world's governing body for football; FIFA. "He tries to improve every minor detail and movement you carry out during the course of a game, and he also explains the reasons behind his decisions.

"He's obsessed that you understand what you are doing and why. He's not happy that you do things just because he tells you that something has to be done.

"He says: 'Do it like this. Do you understand why you are being told to do so? No? We'll go through it again then'.

"I remember when I signed for the club people were questioning me as a goalscorer. I received criticism because I wasn't getting goals. The first thing he told me was that I was signed to score goals. Benitez is adamant that I live in the area because that's where you get goals."

He continued, "That was the first thing he told me, the wing is for the wingers, and that the striker should be focused on the two rival centre-backs. The Spain team play very differently, we have to be constantly on the move.

"In England I have to draw the centre-back out of place so that Steve Gerrard can burst through."

Torres notched a half century of goals in just 84 matches for Liverpool and, as such, one of Benitez's priorities is to find a suitable partner for his prolific centre forward. Steven Gerrard has been deployed in the supplementary striker's position last season, to tremendous effect.

Since the conclusion of the domestic season just gone, the Reds have been linked with Carlos Tevez, Mauro Zarate, Michael Owen, Samuel Eto'o, and David Silva.

Alan Dawson, Goal.com