To Liverpool defender Daniel Agger, being loyal to one's team means more than just showing up to the field every day ready to play.
According to ESPN.com, Agger has called out former teammate Fernando Torres on his move to Chelsea, saying it was an act of betrayal to his old club.
To Agger, it is shameful for a player to transfer to a team in the same league, let alone his former club's rival. He claimed he would never have made the choice Torres did of playing for Chelsea.
"It is unacceptable to play for one of Liverpool's arch rivals," he said. "For a Dane, it's about having respect for the club you play at. I am proud to be able to pull on my Liverpool jersey and will never go to another club in England. I would never go to Manchester United or Everton, for example. It's about a form of respect for the club.”
Despite his blatant disapproval of Torres' choice to go to Chelsea, Agger added that he did not think it was fair to blame him for Liverpool's shortcomings early on in the season. He explained that it is difficult for a star player to excel when the rest of the team is struggling.
"Why has Torres been so poor? That is a big question isn't it?" Agger said. "How to explain that. But look at the team. We played awful, we were [expletive]. He is a part of the team so, when everything is playing well, normally he plays a lot better. It is the same for everybody, for me, for Steve [Gerrard], it is the same. When the team is performing, when you look at every single player, they are playing better. But when we are losing, when everybody is on top of us, everybody is playing bad."
When asked what he thought about the team's future without Torres, Agger said he was confident that Andy Caroll and Luis Suarez would fill in any gaps within their roster.
