Fernando Torres is a World Cup winner for Spain and a member of Chelsea's Champions League, and he is a well-known and highly regarded striker in football. But after hanging up his boots in 2019, few expected him to get into coaching. Maybe even Torres himself, who set up a gym chain in early 2021 before deciding to coach in Atletico Madrid's youth and B teams. Once he started his coaching career, he found that he enjoyed the job. Loved it very much.
Now Torres is an assistant coach for atletico Madrid Junior A (under 19) and during the game, cameras kept looking for Torres on the sidelines. The former Liverpool striker is technically outstanding, no different from Atletico first-team coach Diego Simeone, who is a passionate, outspoken player. The 38-year-old Spaniard is still studying for a coaching certificate and therefore works under Junior A coach Ricardo Ortega, but given his status as a club legend, he seems to have the unique charm of effectively leading the team.
For the first time in club history, Torres and Ortega's side reached the final four of the UEFA Youth League and will face Red Bull Salzburg in the semi-finals in Nyon. In the process of qualifying, Atletico beat their city rivals Real Madrid in the round of 16 and then beat Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals to win at the Bundesliga club's daunting Iduna Park Stadium. They are also the domestic league leaders and some have begun to wonder if Torres will one day coach Atletico Madrid's first team. Given Zidane's history at Real Madrid, as well as Xavi's recent coaching at Barcelona, this is not a surprise for the future of the club's legend, although Torres hasn't thought of that yet.
"Coaching Atletico is a 'futuristic' idea, it's very, very distant," a source close to Atletico told the media. Atletico have a very safe coach who will definitely be there for many years. Torres found coaching to be a profession. When he played, he didn't think he was going to be a coach, but he tried and he loved it. He's in the junior team this season and we don't know what he's going to do next season. Replacing Simeone or coaching Atletico one day was an idea, but for now, it's unrealistic. ”
In his 18-year career, Torres certainly has plenty of top coaches to learn from. They say it's good to "steal like an artist", to get multiple ideas from different sources before forming their own style, and that's what Torres is doing. His team is solid defensively, having been on par with Atletico's team under Simeone for most of the last decade, and his former coaches Jose Mourinho and Benitez have shared this trait. Atletico's junior team have conceded just 10 goals in 28 league games this season, and they have a strong sense of defensive position and an impressive determination to fight back, all at the urging of Torres, who has been active in the game and rarely sits in the lounge area.
"He has a lot of good coaches to learn from: Aragonés, Simone, Mourinho, Benitez," a source close to Torres told the media, "He has a little bit of Simeone's boldness, a little bit of Aragonese's relationship with the players, a little bit of Benitez's tactical thinking, a little bit of mourinho's action to give the team, he has everything." "Torres clearly values hard work. After Germany's victory over Borussia Dortmund, he praised the team's efforts, commitment, aspirations and conviction, although he also showed tactical flexibility.
The striker changed the defensive system during the game instead of relying on a set of rules, whether it's using a five-man defense or simpler 4-4-2. Of course, given his personal experience, he immediately earned the respect of the young people who watched him grow up. "We all know what kind of player he is," midfielder Pablo Barrios said after scoring two goals against Real Madrid in the round of 16, "when he tells you something different on the pitch, it's different from what other people tell you." He was Fernando Torres, and the truth is, it was an honor. "That image is also why he's the focus of attention on the bench and not coach Ortega." The coach gave Fernando a lot of encouragement because it was Fernando Torres," a source told the media, "If it was you or me, they joked, then he probably wouldn't do it." [Torres] tried to make his mark on things, but always kept pace with the manager. ”
Torres started his coaching career, barely attracting the attention of Atletico fans during his first game in the coaching bench, but now he is being celebrated by the youngsters who play in the youth team. Whether they will have a chance to do so at the Wanda Metropolitan Is only a matter of time will tell – we're talking about a few years. But now, Torres is enjoying every challenge and every moment.