Joaquin Torres Stuns in Philadelphia Union Debut
Joaquin Torres proved what he can bring to the Philadelphia Union with his first two touches against the Columbus Crew on Saturday.
CHESTER - One touch is all it takes, fallin’ in love with me.
Philadelphia Union midfielder Joaquin Torres needed precisely one touch to marvel the crowd inside Subaru Park on Saturday night.
The diminutive Argentinian forward, who was acquired in a preseason trade with CF Montreal, used one touch and a spin and then another dribble and a swerve around a defender to set up Julian Carranza for the Union’s final goal of the night.
Those two spins were all Torres needed to showcase what he brings to the field for his new club. The assist to Carranza, which was a beautiful pass in tight space, was the cherry on top of one of the most memorable individual debut moments in club history.
“I was just coming on the field to do the best I can. I was just playing the style that I like,” Torres said through a translator.
Yeah, I went there, it was bleeping awesome. The move drew oohs and ahhs from everyone in the press box. That’s when you know it was something special.
Union manager Jim Curtin praised Torres for the majority of preseason, but Saturday was the first time most outsiders got to see how special he can be on the ball.
“I’ll just say Joaquin maximized his minutes,” Curtin said. “Within 20 seconds, he makes a game-changing play.”
“The pass he makes there is, that’s a next level pass,” Curtin continued. “I thought, probably like the rest of the people in the stadium, he was going to play the easy ball, which was out wide and we keep possession, but it’s not a killer pass. He was against the grain, and the way he sees Julian, it’s something the special players can see. I never had that in my bag as a player, so it must be fun.”
Carranza knew exactly what to do when Torres picked up the ball in midfield, and his run into a pocket of space allowed the highlight-reel move to be finished off with a goal.
“Knowing Joaquin, he’s the type of player, when he turns, he tries to play the final ball,” Carranza said. “When he turned, I looked at him and I knew I had to run that way. His touch was unbelievable and I helped with the finish. It was a good first touch and a good finish.”
The second Torres started his first spin, the comparisons to Ilsinho likely crept into your head.
I get it. It’s natural. Torres is the best 1v1, on-the-ball type attacker the Union have had since Ilsinho retired.
The 26-year-old will draw those comparisons all season long, but it’s important to make the distinction of just how similar and different he will be than Ilsinho.
Ilsinho is a legend, and by the time the Union started to get good, he was at the back end of his career. He was a one-trick pony off the bench, but that one trick was so damn good that no one could figure out.
Ilsinho fit that iteration of the Union because he gave them a dynamic element off the bench that was perfect for the end-of-game push.
For all the good he did here, Ilsinho had his limitations and that stopped the Union from utilizing the amount of tactical flexibility that has been preached all preseason in 2023.
Torres is very good on the ball, and that may be an understatement, but also look at the part of the pitch where he executed his move. It occurred in the center of the park in a supporting striker role after he came on for Mikael Uhre.
That is just one of the spots on the field we will find Torres this season. A second striker, a second No. 10, a lone No. 10 and even a winger on either side of the field.
I won’t dare make the claim that he is better than Ilsinho based on one play, but if he makes plays like that over a longer period of time, not just the season, but over extended periods of time in games, that tag will find him quicker than he moved around the two defenders on Saturday.
“Joaquin is going to help this team a ton,” Curtin said. “I think he is going to contribute a lot. Great kid. He works so hard. I’m glad that the fans got to see, almost instantly, just how special he is going to be.”
Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union.