Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has joined his manager and fellow countryman Rafa Benitez in hitting back at The Reds boss’s critics by saying the club have steadily improved under the elder Spaniard’s guidance.

Benitez himself issued a defiant response to the whirlwind of criticism and speculation that has pestered him and the club of late.

Now Torres has backed his coach and says the team are moving in the right direction.

“If you look at the stats, this season is better than last season,” he told The Times.

“The problem is that people asked us to win The Premier League this year.

“There is a progression, I don’t think it’s a bad season. We started wanting to win everything, but, as it progresses, you are forced to change your targets.”

Torres added that Benitez’s much-maligned rotation policy has not had the negative effect so many have hinted at, and pointed to the 47-year-old’s record of success as proof of his quality.

“When things don’t go the way one wishes, people look for things to blame,” he added.

“We have a manager with a philosophy that people knew before he came and one that has succeeded.

“It is very opportunistic to blame rotation for everything that goes wrong. It is not a problem for us. Liverpool have won a Champions League, FA Cup and so on with rotation.

“It is normal to rest. We players never want to, but if the manager says so, you have to. If everybody accepts that is the way forward, the atmosphere doesn’t suffer.”