The Chivas-Dynamo predicament that Erick Torres finds himself in is quite a messy one, testing his loyalty for his home town against the loyalty of his new MLS team. Erick “Cubo” Torres made his first visit to Houston as a Dynamo last Sunday, and by the look, or lack, of playing time with his Mexican team, he probably should have opted to skip the flight back. Torres’ whirlwind offseason included seeing the only MLS team he ever called home close up shop for good, a long and arduous negotiation between his Mexican club and Major League Soccer and finally, his loan spell back to Guadalajara Chivas in order to help his hometown team avoid relegation. The unfortunate part for Torres is that the struggles he is currently experiencing with Guadalajara could potentially occur when he eventually joins Houston later in the season.
Guadalajara Chivas is one of Mexico’s most recognized clubs, and well known for exclusively fielding Mexican players only. The home grown philosophy by the club has helped launch the careers of some of today’s Mexican players such as Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Carlos Vela, Carlos Salcido and Cubo Torres. However in recent years, the team has struggled with coaching, front office and player instability and thus now find themselves at the forefront of relegation. The Liga MX relegation process is a confounding one for soccer fans who are used to the European based process. In Mexico, the usual August to May soccer season is divided into two seasons known as Apertura and Clausura. For relegation, the team at the end of the Clausura with the worst points per game ratio over the previous six seasons (three years) is relegated. Entering the current Clausura, Chivas had the worst ratio at 1.0353, while Puebla, Leones Negros and Veracruz all were second with 1.000.
The potential that a club as large and adored by Mexican fans could be relegated has woken up the sleeping giant and they are now doing all they can to avoid the embarrassment of relegation. Chivas brought on a few new players, including working out a deal with MLS to bring back Cubo on a loan spell from his new team, Houston Dynamo. The wording on the loan spell initially was that it would last up to six months, basically the duration of the Clausura in order to help Chivas stay in Mexico’s top league. However, last week, Dynamo President, Chris Canetti hinted that there were “contractual triggers that could push that move date forward”.
The loan has not worked out so well so far, as Torres has only played in two Liga MX games out of five, and both times come on as a substitute. He has started and played 90 minutes in all three of his teams’ Copa MX games, however, in the grand scheme of things, he was brought in to help the team avoid relegation, not play against lower division clubs in the league cup games. Fans and media are perplexed as to why Torres still has not been on the field for a full 90 minutes in a Liga game, when there is so much at stake for the club and they gave up so much to bring him in. Last week’s game against Santos Laguna, the team lacked any formidable attack, it wasn’t until Cubo Torres entered in the final ten minutes that the team created their best scoring chances. Perhaps going forward, Chivas manager, Jose Manuel de la Torre, will begin to use him more in games but there are no guarantees.
Torres’ internal need to go home and help his hometown club stave off relegation is honorable, and he even stated that he does not plan to join Houston until Chivas’ season has ended in Mexico. Unfortunately, in the meantime his team in MLS is finalizing their preparations for the upcoming season, and those preparations do not include Cubo Torres in the lineup. The Liga MX season is scheduled to conclude on May 10, however, if Chivas achieves the unbelievable and makes the playoffs, that season could stretch an additional three weeks. Meaning, the earliest he could join his new team would be in June, and let’s not forget that Torres is on the Mexican national team radar.
Mexico’s national team is currently scheduled to play in two international tournaments this summer, the Copa America in Chile in June and the Gold Cup in the U.S. in July. If Torres is selected for either squad, he could find himself away from the Dynamo for up to a month on national team duty. Upon his return, Torres could find himself limited to substitute duty or U.S. Open Cup games much in the same way he is currently being utilized with Chivas in Guadalajara.
Torres began his professional career with Guadalajara Chivas in 2010 after excelling on their U-17 team. He would go on to score 14 goals for Chivas, including a six goal in 19 appearances campaign during the Clausura 2011 campaign (Spring 2011). In 2013, he was loaned out to Chivas USA, where he found success and has gone on to become the all-time Mexican born scoring leader in MLS with 22 goals.
The time to make his MLS jump is now, so that he can begin to integrate himself into the team and build a strong foundation with the Houston Dynamo and thus avoid a repeat of his January in Guadalajara this summer in Houston.
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