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After Liverpool’s loss at Manchester United in the FA Cup 3rd round, I wrote an article suggesting that it was time Fernando Torres left the Anfield club. During the game he offered nothing and looked like he would have rather of been anywhere else. Understandably, Liverpool fans jumped to his defence. But in hindsight, was it a good move for the club and the player?

To put it into context, the game I mentioned above saw Torres marked out of the game by Jonny Evans. We are talking about a striker who has on several occasions made fellow Manchester United centre-back, Nemanja Vidic, look stupid. I’m used to seeing the Spaniard chase lost causes, harass defenders and scoring wonder-goals, not trying to find his way out of a pretty ordinary defender’s pocket. What’s more, his reaction to being subbed was almost non-existent. His team were 1-0 down to their biggest rivals and faced being dumped out of the cup – the only chance left of any silverware this season – at the first hurdle. Was he bothered?

To put it bluntly, he didn’t want to be there and probably hasn’t done for a while. The problem is Liverpool have spent the last 12 months trying to accommodate a player who wasn’t willing to put the work in for them. That’s not to say that has always been the case. But in fairness to Torres, Liverpool haven’t exactly been operating at the top level recently. He moved to Anfield to win trophies and in that respect, nothing has changed.

I don’t agree with his timing, or the way he has set about rubbing it in his former club’s nose that he is now a Chelsea player, and ‘finally playing for a top club’, after all, Liverpool have much more history than the London side. But Torres had to move. Why stay with a team you no longer have any desire to do well for, especially if you are as good as he is? Liverpool merely served to pay him a ridiculous amount every week for very little in return.

Phil Thompson was questioned about Torres’ move before the Tuesday night fixtures and his reaction was one of pure anger towards the forward. As a Liverpool fan, Thompson is another who blindly defended Torres despite what the rest of us could see. This week, in between all the exasperation and emotion, he attempted to point out that Liverpool are bigger than Torres and his move was disrespectful to everyone at the club. He was clearly wound up, but why? It wouldn’t be the first time a world-class player stops performing because he wants out. If he wanted to go, then Liverpool made the right decision in trying to get as much as they could for him.

£50 million is a lot of money, and to be fair to the club, they have used it to reinvest. Luis Suarez has real pedigree and it’s a shame we don’t get to see him alongside Torres. Andy Carroll is a gamble at £35 million but at least the club are showing some ambition. For far too long they have been playing a way to suit Torres because they haven’t had another option, but now they do.

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As far as Torres is concerned, instead of doing his best to talk himself into trouble, he needs to concentrate on playing for Chelsea. He moved to win trophies and he has as good a chance as he will ever get.

Chelsea spent £50 million to turn their season around. Torres moved to win trophies and Liverpool sold to get rid of a disruption. The move has been a long time coming and seems the best solution for all concerned. The Kop now have a new number 9 to worship, and whatever you may think about Carroll, he will certainly give his all. Fernando who?

Newcastle have continued their attempts to sign Twente defender Douglas, and have upped their bid to £4 million according to The Sun.

The Tyneside club are eager to build on their fifth-placed finish last term in the Premier League but have only signed French midfielder Romain Amalfitano so far this summer.

A new defender is on Alan Pardew’s wishlist after seeing injuries decimate his backline last term, and the lofty centre-half is in the Magpies’ cross-hairs.

Douglas is a Brazilian defender, but qualifies for EU citizenship in September, which would mean that he would not have any work permit issues.

With only one year left on his deal at the Eredivisie club, Douglas has already stated that he wants to move to a bigger club and league, with a number of European sides monitoring the situation.

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Newcastle have already failed in a bid of around £3.15 million for the player, and will test the Dutch team’s resolve further by increasing the offering to £4 million.

By Gareth McKnight

Queens Park Rangers capture of Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton on a free transfer at the end of last week looks to be a fantastic deal for the newly promoted club. The 28-year-old will add steel, bite and leadership to a team that can greatly benefit from his Premier League experience. But as QPR and manager Neil Warnock assemble a team to try and stay in the top division, are they risking too much by adding another big character to the dressing room?

For fans of the Premier League these big characters are great entertainment but for clubs they can be a real headache. Barton’s well documented troubles means he arrives in London with a reputation and he will not shy away from confrontation on the field. Already in the handful of games he played for Newcastle this season he has been at the centre of the action, the most notable of which involved being slapped by Arsenal’s Gervinho. You can argue over whether that was the former Newcastle midfielder’s fault but Barton can’t keep away from the headlines.

After impressing with Newcastle last season Barton should rightly slot straight into the QPR midfield. But by doing so Barton is likely to play alongside Adel Taarabt, another big character that could hinder as much as he could help his team. Barton and Taarabt as a central midfield partnership has as much potential to explode as it does to shine and QPR are taking a risk by putting faith in controversial names. Premier League football and the battle for points that will inevitably ensue with often require calm heads and unwavering focus. I have my concerns whether Barton and Taarabt can not only do that as individuals but also as a partnership.

As well as the likes of Barton and Taarabt on the field, QPR also have another well-known character on the touchline in the form of Neil Warnock. Whilst I am an admirer of Warnock’s talent as a manager and he deserves a lot of credit for guiding QPR back to the top tier of English football, he too possess the unpredictability that could so easily destabilise a football club.

But have QPR got the right mix by bringing in Barton? Both Barton and Taarabt are strong characters and they need a tough form of leadership to properly guide them. Warnock will provide that and may relish having someone of Barton’s personality in his dressing room. Whilst big personalities can be liabilities, they also find themselves as leaders. As captain last season Taarabt guided his team to promotion and was the inspiration for much of their success. Similarly Barton has the ability to command and lead a team, a useful attribute if or when QPR find themselves in a sticky situation this season.

Whether Barton’s arrival at QPR turns out to be a success this season will depend on what league his new team find themselves in come the end of the season. It is going to be a tough season for QPR and Neil Warnock has taken a risk by adding another big character like Barton to his ranks but whilst it is far too early to tell whether it will all end in disappointment, there is no doubt that it is going to be a far from boring down at Loftus Road.

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Do you think QPR are taking too much of a risk with the likes of Barton, Taarabt and Warnock? If you want to read more of my bite size, 140 character views and thoughts follow me on Twitter @jennyk5

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Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel says he will decide on his playing future at the end of the season.

Friedel, 39, will become the oldest player to ever play for Villa if he lines up against Manchester United on Tuesday at Old Trafford, surpassing the record set by Ernie Callaghan in 1947.

Speculation about the American’s future is constant, but Friedel is not concerned about turning 40 and says if he stays fit, he will keep playing.

“I don’t know if it will be a good thing or a bad thing to be the oldest player ever to play for the club,” Friedel said.

“I will continue to just keep myself as fit as possible and hopefully be chosen to play football matches.”

“Age is a number. I don’t think about it. I just go by how I feel. If I feel good and able to play – that makes me happy.”

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Friedel is likely to be involved in Sunday’s fourth-round FA Cup tie at Villa Park against former club Blackburn. He made nearly 300 appearances during a nine-year stint at Ewood Park.

The second tier of English football is less known for it’s foreign exports, more for it’s aggressive and full throttle nature; especially with the likes of Michael Brown, Paul Mckenna, Adam El-Abd and recently promoted Kevin Nolan.

The Championship is an unforgivable league, and having that extra bite can often leave you in hot bother with suspensions or it can leave teams fearing you, the unpredictable nature of being ‘dirty’ is a dish best served risky. 

Dirty by name, Dirty by nature, Leeds United have spent the last 40 years labelled ‘Dirty Leeds’ largely down to the famous Don Revie side. However, the trend has continued well into the 21st century, with such players as David Batty, Danny Mills, Vinnie Jones and now Michael Brown all known for the ‘odd’ leg break.

Now with Neil Warnock in charge, the man who once saw his Sheffield United team reduced to 7 men in a game that was inevitably abandoned against WBA, the dirty approach doesn’t look like fading just yet at Elland Road.

They say statistics never lie, as Brighton & Hove Albion officially finished bottom of the Championship Fair Play League last season, notching up 83 yellow cards and a whopping 8 red cards. Gus Poyet’s disciplined footballing style was perhaps lost in translation when it came to the discipline of his players. Adam El-Abd is most certainly the hard hitter in the team, most notably with his skinhead looks and love for shoving the elbow in.

Only one team can shamefully boast the most red cards in the league. That team being Leicester City, acquiring 9 red cards over the course of the last season, they most certainly weren’t listening when they said make the extra man count. A team that is full of talented footballers, overshadowed by the need to put the foot in and becoming last season’s underachievers, the blame game could well lie with seeing red more often than most.

Astonishingly only one red card for Hull City last season, especially with the presence of Andy Dawson, Jack Hobbs and Paul Mckenna. Languishing near the wrong end of the Fair Play League, Hull City certainly have plenty of no nonsense ankle nibblers that are one miss-timed tackle away from an early bath.

From the industrial heart of the North East, Middlesbrough live up to their hard-working and gritty roots. Fair Play relegation fodder last season, the likes of Barry Robson, Julio Arca, Nicky Bailey, Stephen McManus and Matthew Bates are all capable of leaving floating birds around one’s head.

71 yellow cards and 7 red cards later, Middlesbrough have firmly established themselves as one of the dirty players in the Championship, and this season surely will follow suit despite the departure of card happy Barry Robson.

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A second-half brace from Huang Fengtao has given Shenzhen Ruby a surprise 2-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League.The striker opened the scoring on 79 minutes before sealing the win at the Huizhou Olympic Stadium with his second in the fifth minute of additional time.

Despite the win on Sunday, Philippe Troussier’s team remain in the relegation zone, while Shanghai Shenhua are seventh.

In another upset, a goal from Brazilian striker Leandro Netto helped Henan Jianye to a 1-0 win over the sixth-placed Shaanxi Chanba.

An 81st-minute penalty from Xu Wen gave Nanchang Bayi a 1-0 win over Dalian Shide to ensure they would remain just outside the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Jiangsu Shuntian struck four times in the first half on their way to a 4-2 win over Liaoning Hongyun.

Serbian forward Aleksandar Jevtic hit a brace with goals from Komoliddin Tadjiev and Sun Ke giving Jiangsu a 4-0 lead.

China international Zhao Junzhe pulled a goal back just before the break and midfielder Yu Hanchao struck on 77 minutes, but it proved to be too late for Liaoning.

Qingdao Jonoon recorded a strong 3-1 win over Hangzhou Lucheng.

Liu Jian had given Qingdao an early lead before Uruguayan striker Paulo Pezzolano equalised nine minutes into the second half.

But goals from Zheng Long and forward Zhu Jianrong were enough to give them an important win and help them into ninth.

In other games, Changchun Yatai came from behind to gain a 2-2 draw against Chengdu Blades.

Colombian Javier Estupinan and Australian midfielder John Hutchinson had put the Blades two goals to the good before Zhang Wenzhao and Wang Wanpeng secured the visitors a draw.

Meanwhile, Argentine Luciano Olguin and Roda Antar exchanged goals as Tianjin Teda and Shandong Luneng played out a 1-1 draw.

Liverpool will be hoping the return of captain Steven Gerrard can inspire them to victory against Fulham on Wednesday.

Gerrard will come straight back into the Liverpool first team for Wednesday’s Premier League encounter at Anfield after serving a three-game suspension for his straight red card against Manchester United in the FA Cup.

The Reds enter the match against Mark Hughes’ side on a high after a resounding 3-0 win at Wolves on Saturday, which snapped a four-game winless run and moved them up to 11th on the Premier League table.

And manager Kenny Dalglish believes Gerrard’s return could inspire the Reds to another surge up the table.

“Your captain being available after missing three games will be a fantastic lift for everybody,” Dalglish said.

“We had a great result and performance at Molineux on Saturday and we’ve got a very difficult game coming up against Fulham on Wednesday, so for us to have Steven back on the back of the performance and result we got at the weekend is a great boost for everybody.”

Liverpool’s form this season has been patchy at best, with encouraging wins too often followed by disappointing losses against lower-ranked sides.

A leaky defence will be a major concern for Dalglish, with Liverpool keeping just seven clean sheets in 23 league matches this season.

On the other hand, they come up against one of the worst attacks in the Premier League on Wednesday, with only four sides having scored less goals than Mark Hughes’ men this season.

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With Bobby Zamora out with a broken leg, much of the goal-scoring responsibility has fallen to American midfielder Clint Dempsey, who has eight goals for the season, including a double in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Stoke.

Worryingly for Hughes, none of his recognised strikers have scored more than two goals for the campaign.

Wednesday’s match will be the first time the two sides have met this season, with the corresponding fixture lat year ending in a 0-0 draw.

No Venezuelan has ever played in the Premier League. However, drastic improvements in the country’s performances on the international stage have increased the awareness of the talent they possess. At the heart of this is Malaga’s Salomon Rondon who has shown his ability to compete at the highest levels of the game. Chelsea’s reported interest in him serves to highlight the vast improvement of the national game and the rapidly increasing number of young and exciting talents they possess.

Rondon is a big, powerful striker who at 22-years-old ended last season as Malaga’s highest scorer with 11 goals. Whilst not being prolific it was only his second his season in European top-flight football and the season before he had netted 14 goals. Now he looks set to compete in the Champions League for the first time and even if he does not make the move to England this season, a series of impressive performances would only serve to enhance his reputation.

At international level he has been the spearhead in attack as Venezuela have taken a more competitive role in South America. Despite the nation’s first sport being baseball, after a hugely impressive Copa America campaign last year that only saw them defeated at the semi-finals on penalties by Paraguay the strides taken by the country have been astronomical.

The Vinotinto now sit fifth in the continent’s World Cup qualifying table, a position that holds a berth in the intercontinental play-off. With a young coach in charge of the side in Cesar Farias they play pragmatic football and look to restrict their opponents’ chances and score on the counterattack. This was evident as they achieved a 1-1 draw with Uruguay in Montevideo earlier this month with Rondon netting a late equaliser as well as a 1-0 win over Argentina back in October.

The defensive solidity owes much to the improved strength in depth in recent months provided by repatriated European-based players. The nation’s impressive performances have encouraged uncapped players with links to the country to wear the Vinotinto shirt. Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Amorebieta has become a fixture in the heart of defence while another two young European-based defenders in Rolf Feltscher of Parma and Young Boys’ Alexander Gonzalez look promising. Twente right-back Roberto Rosales however was born in the country and he has performed excellently for his country. After leaving Caracas at 19 years of age he has proved to be consistent in both the Belgian and Dutch leagues and continues to improve at Steve McClaren’s side.

The experienced Juan Arango could now get the chance to display his talent on the major European stage after playing an integral part in Borussia Monchengladbach’s fourth-placed Bundesliga finish. Yet it is another Germany-based star who, whilst performing frequently for his nation, is yet to make his mark at club level.

Wolfsburg’s Yohandry Orozco has made just five appearances since signing for the club in January 2011. Nicknamed ‘La Perla’ or The Pearl, he loves to have the ball at his feet and is eager to run at defenders. His potential is huge but he is most likely struggling for playing time in the Bundesliga due to his selfishness in possession and his poor decision making. Yet once he improves upon his these factors, as well as his composure and passing, he could well become an influential player in Europe’s third league.

One player who has been as fortunate not to get a move to across the Atlantic Ocean is Fernando Aristeguieta. He started his career brightly with Caracas in the 2009-10 season contributing six goals to the club’s championship winning campaign but a serious injury ruled him out of much of the next season, and critically their 2011 Copa Libertadores campaign. Now, at 20-years-old, he has returned to form for Los Rojos with 11 goals in 31 appearances. A rangy striker with a clinical finish, if he can avoid injuries having broken into the full international set-up then he will prove capable of competing with the likes of Rondon and Nicolas “Miku” Fedor.

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The performances of 2011 have provided Venezuela with the ability to announce themselves on the international stage and they now look like potential candidates to reach their first ever World Cup 2014. With the marathon qualification continuing well into 2013 it offers these players a realistic chance of earning their place in some of Europe’s top leagues in the coming years. It may not be too long until the Premier League gets its first Venezuelan.

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Brazil legend Pele believes Santos forward Neymar has the potential to reach the heights of some of the game’s greatest names.Neymar is regarded as one of the hottest commodities on the transfer market after an impressive season for both club and country.

His exploits have drawn the attention of several clubs in Europe, with Real Madrid understood to be pursuing a 45-million-euro deal for the 19-year-old.

Pele, who played for Santos from 1956 to 1974, admits the Brazilian Serie A club will struggle to keep Neymar given the widespread interest in the starlet.

“I think it will be very difficult to keep him in Brazil, Santos are my team and he started there with us. I hope he stays there until more or less the 2014 World Cup, but it will be a little difficult to keep him here,” Pele told fifa.com.

“He is a good player, there is no doubt. He will be like a Kaka, a (Lionel) Messi – of that there is no doubt. Or a Ronaldo, a Zico, a Pele. He is an excellent player. I hope that he does (reach his potential).”

Neymar turned down the opportunity to join Chelsea last summer, and Pele thinks that his compatriot made the right choice as the Premier League does not suit the forward’s playing style.

Pele explained: “I think it was good for him, because to play in England I think it would have been a little complicated for him. The style of Neymar in England, Germany and Italy is a little complicated because the marking is very tight.”

As my story on Friday explained, Jose Mourinho is in desperate need of a striker. It now appears he might have found one, in NFL Wide-Receiver, Chad OchoCinco.

The 33-year old may well be the biggest ‘soccer’ fan in the League and played a lot of the sport as a youngster and is currently in Madrid and has spent the weekend at Real’s training complex as part of a post-season holiday.

It appears that Jose Mourinho is interested in the free-agent to boot. The twitter fanatic, OchoCinco tweeted;

“Mourinho says he needs a striker, I’m coming here to play.”

Then went on to later announce;

“I’ve a trial with Real Madrid after my surgery,” despite this, the American was unable to train with the Madrid squad as of yet due to his own sponsorship with Reebok being at odds with Real’s adidas deal.

However, Real may well face a battle to sign him from their greatest rivals Barcelona. After tweeting Gerard Pique that he was coming to Madrid, the Barca defender tweeted back that it would be ‘better for u to come to Barcelona’.

Chad OchoCinco (born Johnson), would certainly add spice to the Galacticos goal celebrations if not their line-up. He once was voted the ‘number 1 showboat in professional sports’ and actual admits he puts part of his salary aside each year to pay league fines for ‘excessive celebration’. (see below)

This includes one occasion when he held up a sign saying;

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“Dear NFL, Please do not fine me again.” For which, he was fined.

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However, last year was an interesting one for the Cincinnati star, who has his own brand of cereal in Ohio. He added a charity phone-line for ‘Feed the Children’ to the cereal packets. However, due to a misprint, the number on the box actually sent you to a phone-sex line!