Cubo Torres and the 2015 season

After arriving in Houston with big expectations the 2015 season seems to have turned into a lost season for Cubo Torres. And really is it any surprise? After the folding of Chivas USA, Torres agreed to stay in MLS if he could first go play for Chivas Guadalajara on loan. The striker signed with the Houston Dynamo during the offseason and took off for Mexico. As the season wound down there Torres was hit with a sexual assault allegation, of which he was later cleared. After some a period of will he or won't he be able to join Houston during the transfer window Torres was finally able to join the team. That has all been in less than a years time.

The striker's time with Guadalajara can't really be rated as terribly successful. He played in just five games and was never a starter. He did score two goals in those five games. The loan seemed ill-advised from the get-go, Torres went to Chivas to try and stave off relegation for the Liga MX team. Unfortunately, his time on the bench appears to have affected his form on the field. His inability to find his feet there had continued in Houston.

However, being in Houston hasn't meant that he became a starter. While many hoped to see him start right away the decision was instead made to ease him into the team. Until the last couple games Torres had been used a substitute in the second half rather than a starter. Then in Sunday night's loss to the Philadelphia Union he was back starting the game on the bench. Though he wasn't on the injury report he had left the game the week before early with a reported groin injury. He was once against non-existent after coming on the field. Making little to no impact as the team struggled to find life.

He has yet to score any goals and has a lone assist. In nine games with the Dynamo he has started just two games and was subbed off at half time in the last game due to a groin injury. In his two season with Chivas USA he had 22 goals in 44 games played and oh yeah he started each of those 44 games. He currently has a 6.1 rating on WhoScored.com with only three Dynamo players with a lower rating.

Torres doesn't look like the dynamic player that we saw with Chivas USA if you were one of the handful of people who actually watched his games there. We have seen flashes of his brilliance but even those flashes end in head shaking frustration. He makes great runs only to find that his teammates aren't on the same page with him. In fact Mauro Manotas, who the Dynamo signed in May, seems to have a greater impact when he comes in off the bench. While Manotas also experiences miscommunication with his teammates he repeatedly finds him self in better position near goal.

The man who was supposed to be the Dynamo's savior, to be the last piece of the puzzle that would propel them to the playoffs has instead caused fans to wonder if he is their new Luis Landin, the teams first ever designated player who lasted just one season. Perhaps the loan and legal drama have exhausted the 22-year-old because frankly who wouldn't be after all of that? This has clearly turned into a lost season for Cubo, Dynano fans can only hope that he can shake it off during the offseason and come back better and stronger than ever in 2016.