Seven games separate the Houston Dynamo from the MLS offseason and the plethora of questions that need answering.
Chief among them is the future of Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres, but that question won’t be decided by Houston.
Torres, a Designated Player for the Dynamo, is currently on loan to Liga MX side Cruz Azul for the remainder of the Apertura tournament. At the end of the season, La Máquina Cementera have the option to purchase Torres outright or return him to Houston.
What made Torres want to accept the loan offer?
“I was seeing that maybe I could amass minutes [with the Dynamo] but they were still looking at other options and I kept coming on as a sub and getting little playing time,” Torres told MLSsoccer.com over the telephone from Mexico. “I thought that it was a good decision to come here [to Cruz Azul] to compete. To refresh the mind.”
Torres acknowledged that his tenure in Houston hasn’t been positive. In 11 appearances this season (four starts), he failed to score a goal, and managed just one assist. Both he and interim head coach Wade Barrett blamed some of his lack of production on his involvement with Mexico’s Olympic squad, which took part in the tournament in Rio this summer.
Because of his commitment to the Olympic team, the striker missed nine of Houston's 26 games. In the remaining 17 games, Torres logged just 401 minutes in his 11 appearances.
“When I was with the (Dynamo) team, it was obvious that the coach had his lineup, his team that he wanted to play. I didn’t start. I didn’t amass minutes,” said Torres. “Also, what I talked about with Wade [Barrett], the last Dynamo coach, was that I had to adapt to the group a little more. That I had to get to know them once again because I hadn’t been with them for a long time.”
Torres said the inconsistent playing time hampered his ability to gain confidence and the rhythm that he sought.
“You can’t get it [rhythm] with playing one game, then entering three as a sub, playing 60 minutes in another, then the next game 15 minutes,” Torres said. “It was a lot of things that added up to me not getting minutes, but that’s soccer, and it’s about continuing to work.”
Torres’ first action for the Liga MX side was an eight-minute stint in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to America. He now has nine games left in the tournament to leave an impression on Cruz Azul.
While the decision for his soccer future is not in his hands, where would Torres ultimately like to be?
“Where I feel happy. Where I feel valued and overall, where I’m playing,” said Torres. “Where I’m participating in games is where I want to be.”
