Curro Torres

By: Cesar | November 17th, 2008

Curro Torres.

He’s played many roles with Valencia CF since signing for the club in 1997.

He’s been loaned out to various teams, played for the B team, kept the locker room in order, bar backed at Manolo El Del Bombo’s and served non-alcoholic beer at the Mestalla.

But seriously … the guy’s been injured since about the time Rafa Benitiez left.

Torres emerged under Benitez’s tutelage to become a key member of the Valencia squads that won 2 Spanish championships and the UEFA Cup.

He even got a sniff of the national team uniform, playing with La Seleccion 5 times.

So what happened?

Unfortunately, Torres had dealt with nagging injuries that have forced him from his position as starting left back to one of relative obscurity.

With our problems at left back (Emiliano Moretti) so glaring, Torres has emerged from the back rooms of the Mestalla to say he’s feeling better and might be back soon … that would be a relief, eh?

In this time of need, a guy like Curro Torres would be a wonderful tonic. The guy’s a workhorse, a solid defender and an overall good guy. Besides that, he’s way better than Moretti.

I think that says it all.

Torres wiped his hands on his dirty smock, fresh from cooking the lads a nice post-practice meal and admitted to the press that it “has not been easy” to go through so many injuries of long durations. He said he felt “lucky” to have people around him who never let him get down.

“Then there are other people who offer you a hand, but a hand around your neck to push you down instead of helping you up. These people don’t deserve any respect. There is nobody in particular but a lot of people who thought my injuries would leave all at once and thought that I didn’t want that, “he explained.

So basically he’s calling me out?

I don’t think Curro wants to be injured. But c’mon, how bad are Valencia’s doctors for the guy to be injured time and again, every year?

I feel sorry for the guy. I wish he was on the team.

As for our situation in the league, Torres thinks “we need to be quiet and remain calm.”

Is he calling me out again?

“Three weeks ago we were on cloud nine talking about our best ever start to a season. Now we have had two defeats that we didn’t expect at home, but at Valencia CF we’re are used to one day being on top of the league and the other day the world trying to kill us as if we had not done anything,” he declared as his boss yelled for him to get back to washing dishes.

In his view, the team should “have peace of mind to try to correct mistakes and exploit the positive things that we also have.”

The left back/ bar back argued that the game against Sporting was “similar” to that of Racing Santander at the Mestalla (we lost that one 4-2) because both teams “were planted well defensively in the field of play” and had “looked good” at Valencia.

On his physical condition, he said he’s practicing “practically at the same pace” as his team mates and that every day is “much better.” He also said that he has not spoken to coach Unai Emery “about anything special” regarding his status with the team.

The left back, who is 1,000 times better than Moretti even when he’s injured, acknowledged that he hoped “with great excitement” to return to training with his colleagues and “to return to work, enjoy work and to feel like a footballer again.”

“Being better every day makes you want to have more and now I’m going to work to death to have my opportunities,” said the player, who has stated that after so much idle time, there’s nothing else he wants but to complete his recovery and play for Valencia.

Good luck, Curro. I make fun of you a lot but you’re a class act.

I wish you nothing but the best …