Experienced managers Rafael Benitez, Vicente del Bosque and Roy Hodgson all have one thing in common besides winning major trophies.
They have all fallen out with Fernando Torres. Del Bosque, one of the most popular men in the game, was so irritated by El Nino, as Torres is known, that he made him warm up for an hour at the World Cup final before sending him on.
Current Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish will probably not have time to fall out with Torres given that the player has demanded a move to within the next 48 hours.
Outsider: Fernando Torres (left) has asked to leave Liverpool
But maybe the striker's past spats and suspect attitude lies behind Dalglish's acceptance that life will go on at Anfield even if Torres heads south to the King's Road.
Nobody has been more supportive of Torres in his short time in charge than Dalglish. The manager was talking up the Spaniard's ability from the moment he took the call from John W Henry on a cruise ship in Bahrain and returned to Anfield as Hodgson's successor until at least the end of the season.
Last weekend, after the Spanish World Cup winner grabbed two goals in a 3-0 victory at Wolves, Dalglish said: 'Since I have come in here, he has been nothing short of fantastic in the way he has applied himself in training and on the pitch.'
Down in the dumps: Fernando Torres could move to Chelsea before the transfer window closes
Torres the player is someone Dalglish would dearly love to have at Anfield for the rest of the season and beyond.
It is why he went to Holland to scout Luis Suarez, primarily to find Torres his ideal strike partner. But the way Torres handed in a transfer request this week as the transfer deadline closed and Suarez jetted in to complete a £23million move has seriously annoyed Dalglish and others at the club.
If Chelsea cough up the right money, there will be no begging, cajoling or more arms around the shoulder for Torres to stay.
The old maxim 'No player is bigger than the club' will never be more true.
For two years, Torres was the perfect poster boy for Liverpool. He boned up on the club's history before he arrived from Madrid and lived in the heart of Woolton, in south Liverpool, rather than a gated community miles away from the city in Southport or on The Wirrall.
Local residents would be charmed to see the superstar No9 walking his dog in local parks, just like other members of the community.
But even then the image was somewhat misleading, and in the past 12 months sociable Fernando has increasingly been replaced by surly Fernando, with even the normally diplomatic Jamie Redknapp describing his work-rate as 'diabolical'.
One of Torres's team-mates said: 'He has always been a complex character. He is so naturally gifted he's always been totally self-absorbed.
'For the first year we'd put his quietness down to a lack of fluent English, but then he'd come out with something word perfect, which made you realise he understood what was going on all the time.
'It wasn't shyness, more aloofness. And on the pitch he'd definitely play for himself rather than the team. Even the real pros like Stevie Gerrard and Jamie Carragher noticed it but when Torres is on top form you'd forgive him anything.
'But his efforts for the team this season under Roy Hodgson made everyone notice. His Prozone stats for some games were laughable for a Premier League striker. He has always been admired by his teammates, but not loved. He hasn't endeared himself in the way that Pepe Reina has, for example.'
Legend: Kenny Dalglish knows what it's like to have the hopes of a football club on your shoulders
As a former great striker himself, Dalglish felt that putting his arm around Torres and giving him more support up front would help.
Workaholic Dirk Kuyt was detailed to play alongside Torres and do some of his running, and the plan has worked to some extent, with three goals in his last four games. But behind the scenes, Torres was clearly thinking about other clubs and on Thursday dropped his bombshell, following Chelsea's interest.
Liverpool suspect the London club gained prior information about Torres's state of mind and with Chelsea under a suspended three-point sentence for 'tapping up' Gael Kakuta, Liverpool may use it as a weapon to ensure Chelsea cough up the right price - £50m.
The timing could not have been worse for Liverpool, with Suarez coming into a city that is talking about Torres rather than him.
In the short term, Liverpool cannot do much business with the Torres money, maybe put in a new bid for Blackpool's Charlie Adam, try to get Stephen Warnock on loan from Aston Villa and see if Nicolas Anelka will move in the opposite direction to Torres.
Former Liverpool player Mark Lawrenson, now a Match Of The Day pundit and a man close to Dalglish, said yesterday: 'Liverpool have only three days to find a replacement. But if Chelsea make a stupid offer, what do you do?'
David Ginola put it even more starkly: 'You can't keep an unhappy player. For Torres to say he wanted to be out of the club by Monday is a big surprise for me, it is not respecting the club.'
You imagine Dalglish would concur.
Torres the player might be extremely hard to replace. But saying farewell to Torres the person may not do the club any long-term harm.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1351827/No-player-Anfield-bigger-club-Fernando-Torres.html#ixzz1CVal6wj0
