If we all scratch out a list of our preferred 23 for Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup roster next summer, safe to say that Jose Torres is only going to find his way onto a certain percentage of those.
Perhaps even a small percentage.
Torres has been afforded every opportunity to make his mark on the national team program, even given a start in the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. He’s certainly talented enough to do so.
The issue with Torres, the Texas native who is now with Tigres in Liga MX, is that he fails reliably to stamp an meaningful imprint on matches. Bob Bradley once had a problem withTorres’ seeming inability to play within the system; the technically smooth midfielder held the ball too long or played laterally when Bradley wanted more of a go-go vertical game. And back then he couldn’t be trusted to track out of the midfield with commitment.
Under Klinsmann, Torres attempted to better emulate his teammates’ actions, trying to press and tackle and attempting to add urgency with the ball, sometimes with better results that other times. But he still cannot consistently create moments that matter – and Klinsmann has gone so far as to say so publicly.
Well, look below at what Torres did Tuesday as Tigres fell to Santos (3-2) in a Copa MX match.
According to the short account at MLSSoccer.com, this was Torres’ first goal for Tigres in 26 matches – which means he is failing to create sufficient impact for his Monterrey-based club, as well.
A little more of this and Torres might move up on the World Cup selection list that really matters, the one in Klinsmann’s back pocket.
Here is his goal from Tuesday:
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