D.C. United takes former USMNT midfielder Jose Torres on trial

Steve Goff of the Washington Post reports that D.C. United has invited former USMNT midfielder Jose Torres on trial as the team looks to evaluate all its options the transfer rumors both in and out swirl over the next two weeks. Torres has spent his entire career so far in Liga MX, most recently on loan to Puebla. Before that, he played for Tigres from 2013-2018 and broke into professional soccer playing for Pachuca for 7 years.

The 31-year old is a familiar names to those of us who have followed the USMNT over the years, making Bob Bradley’s 2010 World Cup squad and starting the game against Slovenia (the Koman Coulibaly game). He also continued to play under Jurgen Klisnmann; Torres was the one to start at left back after Klinsmann famously said “anyone can play left back” (though that is not an indictment of Torres).

Torres is a possession-oriented central midfielder who can play either deep or advanced, but he would not be a one-for-one replacement for Luciano Acosta, should he leave. Torres will recycle possession and keep the ball moving, but in his over 260 games in Liga MX he only has 7 goals.

He could play a number of roles in Ben Olsen’s current systems: In the 3-4-3 he could play either of the central midfielders, or in the 4-2-3-1 he could play either of the deep-lying midfielders or play the central attacking midfielder in a much different way than Lucho. In that role, I could see him spraying balls to the overlapping Mora and Jara, making it operate more like a 4-3-2-1 in the attack. If the changes to the team over the next two weeks made a diamond more feasible (very unlikely with the amount of wingers on this team), Torres could also play either of the shuttling roles.

On its face, this would be a very good depth signing for D.C. United, bringing in a player who fill different spots in a variety of looks that Ben Olsen may run out. Time will tell if he impresses the coaching staff enough to get a contract at the price that D.C. United wants to pay.

More as we hear it.