Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool FC 1, West Brom 0: Dominic King sees Fernando Torres slip back into the groove
THE applause was loud and the welcome was typically warm; the Kop instantly make big Liverpool signings feel at home and Raul Miereles was the latest beneficiary of the red carpet treatment yesterday.[LNB]Clutching the number four shirt he will wear for the next four years and posing for a posse of photographers, Liverpool's £11m acquisition from FC Porto appeared taken aback by the ovation he received after being unveiled to a rapturous gallery.[LNB] Show Caption nullnullnullnullnullnullnullnullnull Whatever the Portugal international goes on to achieve in the future, however, he has already learnt that receptions for new boys and receptions for the Kop's darling are worlds apart. Miereles might have been the centre of attention before kick-off but, really, the day belonged to one man.[LNB] Not since Robbie Fowler terrorised defences in the mid 1990s have Liverpool fans adored a player in the manner they do Fernando Torres and, fittingly, he showed against West Bromwich Albion why he is held in such esteem with another landmark strike.[LNB]Had Torres not intervened, Miereles might have been inclined to wonder what he has let himself in for, as Liverpool struggled to breakdown a side that has been tipped to make an immediate return to the Championship.[LNB]Yet, happily, he headed back to Portugal last night content that, when he returns to start his adventure for real in 10 days, he will be linking up with one of the game's modern greats; Torres' 50th Anfield goal was as reassuring for Miereles as it was craved by Roy Hodgson.[LNB]A trend has developed in the fledgling stages of the campaign, in that Liverpool have found it extremely difficult to move through the gears in the opening 45 minutes of every match they have played and it continued here.[LNB]While Torres had the crowd on their feet with a shot that required Scott Carson into evasive action in the early exchanges, it was not a sign of things to come; Liverpool, despite the best efforts of Steven Gerrard and the busy Milan Jovanovic, were laboured, failing to impose themselves.
