America’s Midfield Revolution — The Rise of Luca de la Torre
The 2015 U — 17 USYNT cycle is widely considered to be one of the most successful in American youth development history. Players such as Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie (who is currently wanted by Antonio Conte at Tottenham Hotspur), Christian Pulisic, and Haji Wright (who has just recently re-entered the USMNT striker pool due to an impressive season in the Turkish 1st division) all came from this cycle. The first three I mentioned — Adams, McKennie, and Pulisic — are currently surefire starters for the USMNT when healthy.
The 2017 U — 20 USYNT cycle was relatively successful as well, although it did not have the same level of talent as the 2015 U — 17 squad. Tyler Adams made the age jump from that U — 17 squad to this U — 20 squad and featured in the U — 20 World Cup alongside Erik Palmer — Brown (one of the best ball playing center backs in the American defender pool and recently moved from Manchester City to Troyes in Ligue 1), Cameron Carter — Vickers (who just recently completed a permanent move to Celtic after a fantastic debut season in the Scottish Premiership) and Josh Sargent, one of the best striker prospects in American history and is well — known by his fans at Norwich. This squad made a decent run in the U — 20 World Cup, making it into the quarterfinals.
In any youth cycle, success is determined by finding as many players as possible to progress to the next age group and eventually, the senior squad. All of the players that I listed above are now in the player pool that will compete for a roster spot at the World Cup in Qatar this fall; that means that from those two cycles, 7 players made the jump from the youth level to the senior squad. One of them — Josh Sargent — hasn’t had the most success of late due to difficult club situations despite his high level of talent, but that’s a story for a different time.
And yet from both of these cycles, one player stands out to me — a player who, despite not having the attention of some of his teammates, has the ability to singlehandedly redefine what makes an American midfielder. American players were mainly known for their grit and stamina, and although McKennie and Adams, two of the best American midfielders of all time, are definitely technically superior than their historical counterparts, it’s still worth knowing that the two do have their limitations on the ball. This will improve with time, but only by so much.
Enter Luca de la Torre, a player that featured in both of the youth cycles that I have mentioned above. Originally seen as a winger, de la Torre redefined himself as a playmaking central midfielder while spending time at Fulham. He then made a move to Heracles Almelo in 2020, and was one of the best midfielders in the Eredivisie this past season, as seen by his multiple appearances on the league’s team of the week roster.
Thus, unlike his midfield counterparts in Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie, de la Torre doesn’t play for a Champions League club in a top 5 league. Rather, he plays for a team that just got relegated. More importantly, he lacks the same level of athleticism and physicality that McKennie and Adams possess, but is unbelievably smoother and more incisive on the ball. Watch the clip below.
Some of the things I quickly realized while watching de la Torre play earlier this season were a) his vision, which seems to surpass that of anyone else on the pitch, b) his slick passing, which can split defenses like a knife through butter, c) his incredibly high work rate, and d) the way the ball seems glued to his feet while dribbling. Simply put, the American player pool does not have anyone with the same level of playmaking capability as de la Torre — except Giovanni Reyna, who just happens to be the best American prospect of all time.
But whereas Reyna, who missed most of last season for Dortmund through to injury, seems to struggle to stay fit, de la Torre was a regular starter for his club, featuring 35 times across all competitions last season and logging 2,953 minutes. He is incredibly fit and more importantly, reliable.
But whereas we’ve always had fit players, it was always difficult for America to find players that could match their fitness with soccer IQ and technical ability. We finally found that in de la Torre, and I’m excited to see where his future holds. It’s been announced that he will leave Heracles this summer, and he’s been linked to other clubs in the Eredivisie, as well as clubs in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
In any case, he really needs the move. He’s way too good to be playing in the 2nd division of Holland.
