Luca will probably have a choice to make this summer about his next team. I've always felt that players should prioritize being on a team that will play them a lot and that will put them in an environment that maximizes their chance for success. This is especially important heading into a world cup. To me the most logical move for him is to a team in the top half of the Eredivisie and one that needs a bit of help on the attacking side of the game. Luca is a decent defender but helps more on the attacking end. Vitesse and FC Groningen are two teams usually in the top half of the table in the Eredivisie who have struggled a bit offensively this season. To me they are logical, safe potential destinations. There are also rumors of interest from a number of La Liga teams. Given that his father is from Spain those teams will have quite a bit of appeal. Most La Liga teams play a fairly defensive style, which will require an adjustment to what he is used to in Holland. Competition for playing time will also be stiffer in La Liga or any top 4 league for that matter. A team like Mallorca or Getafe that has struggled offensively might be the best destination. They could certainly use a player like him. With the better teams in Spain he might end up struggling for playing time. If top half of the table in a Big 4 league is probably too big a reach, those sorts of teams in France and Portugal strike me as offering potential good landing places for players of his caliber. The advantage of Holland is familiarity. But sometimes a player needs to look at the $$$ involved. It is a profession after all and they have a narrow window to earn their keep.
I think Luca's agent is going to earn his keep. He's 23-24, so this is going to be about half of his prime earning years. To your point, in terms of playing, he needs to find a good fit, especially if he's trying to move up in the world. But I do think everyone needs to be realistic about Luca's current skillset. You've mentioned he go somewhere where people need offense, but I don't think that's actually what he's been good at. He's not great in the final third, and he's had no goal productivity at all. He's a good shuttler and offensive transition player with a bias to being better with his team on the ball and offensively reasonably direct so he can use his skillset. I think he can develop more, but to your point about playing time, he needs to find that sweet spot of cash money and a team that needs someone like him as he is right now. Hard to develop if you don't play.
Yes but at the end of the day they are professional soccer players and they are doing it to earn a living. Surely you hope that Team A will both play him a lot AND pay him at his market value. But if Team A will play him plenty but Team B will pay him much more but not play him as much then in most cases Team B is going to get him.
If LDLT can’t go to a club in a big league that’s at least comfortably mid table (and rarely in relegation battles) then I would be happy to see him either go to one of the better teams in the Netherlands/Portugal/Belgium. We don’t view those clubs as sexy destination jobs, but playing regularly at a PSV or RB Salzburg type club would give him a chance to make more money and play at a slightly higher level while still being able to develop and maintain confidence.
Yeah as I noted later in my post players have a narrow window to earn their keep and can't ignore the $$$ aspect.
Luca does several things well (box-to-box MF driving the ball forward, pressing), but he also has some holes in his game (lack of goalscoring and lack of assists). The holes are partly down to the team he played on, and partly down to his lack of first-team minutes in prior years. He's definitely improving in these areas. He has the raw tools to become more of an Iniesta type player. It's up to him.
Actually he was a CM with the U17s and maybe a CM/AM before that and then Fulham converted him into more of a winger (probably because of his speed and maybe not being robust enough for CM in England when he was younger). The thing about being a good ball carrier is that you are only as good as what concludes the move. I think Luca is pretty good at making solid choices on that front. He just hasn’t shown a ton of midrange creative passing or super sharp instincts in and around the box. So maybe the profile is like a poor man’s Iniesta with a smaller passing range and less metronome game. I would have to think that a higher level team that uses a 433, 4321, 41212, 532, or has a very good deep distributor could find a lot of use for Luca. That’s a decent amount of shapes he can find a fit in which is a good indicator he can adapt to a new team. Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, or Italy probably have the best fits and the Bundesliga is also not out of the question.
Luca has one core skill that I might call world class -- dude moves at an absurd pace forward while keeping the ball VERY tight to him. He doesn't have the agility/lateral movement in the same way really elite players control the ball, but he reminds me of players like Messi in how fast he moves without having to kick the ball out ahead. If you can be fast/quick but do it with short, rapid steps and not ever let the ball leave your foot, it's a huge advantage. I doubt any player in our team retains as much top line speed when dribbling relative to their speed when not dribbling as Luca does. I wouldn't be shocked if there's almost no drop off. Dude is electric in possesion. World Class and the mention of Messi are hyperbole. But I don't think I've ever seen a US player with that specific skill. Donovan was electric on the counter, but he knocked the ball ahead. Luca keeps it attached to his foot. It's a skill. I think he looks like a plus decision maker and passer because so many of our players struggle with it and hold onto the ball too long. He can make a nice through ball, so he's good but honestly in the context of most quality national teams I don't think he stands out at all. He's 24; he can develop but chances are we're looking at small improvements here and there. Biggest weakness to my eye seems to that while he's fast and willing, he gets bullied pretty easy. Very nice shuttler skillset and seems like he's very much a like for like with Musah with better passing/decision making and far less physicality.
The assist issue doesn’t appear to be a deficit with the national team. He should shoot more, though.
He has an assist against Jamaica in a friendly and an assist vs Grenada. 10 caps and 2 assists. Never mind the stats, he runs box to box, but not doesn't generally make that final pass or shoot when he has the opportunity. He just needs to change his mindset and be bolder and more courageous.
I think anyone who watched his performances would acknowledge that he routinely set up others well. He could have had many more.
Yes, he looks like mini-Messi at times. I'm just saying if he could improve on a couple of things, he could become a Barcelona level player. If he could get a bit stronger, and be more goal-focused, the sky is the limit. There is some really good stuff in the below video.
I agree to a point, he needs to try more s@#t in the final third. Also, seems like the weighting of the final ball is often just ever so slightly off. I think part of it is that he is not really a bunker buster. Needs a more open game to shine in my mind. For club, he seems like he suffered some from having some pretty poor finishers surrounding him. Personally, I think he mostly is what he is at this point, He is a good player, a really excellent shuttler, who could contribute quality minutes off the bench in Qatar. In the long run however, we should be aspiring to a higher level player based on where our program is headed. Hope he surprises me though and breaks through to that next level.
It's really frustrating because he could be a great, great player. He often shoots right at the goalkeeper. If he picked a corner and fired, he'd have a bunch of goals.
Define routine. I believe his season total xA was around 5. In the Eredivisie he averages .05 A/90. In the U23 PL he averaged .10 A/90. I think teammates could do a better job to turn passes into xA but if Luca ends up becoming a routine chance creator it will also be due to Luca tapping into more of his capacity (raising his game and maybe playing in a more attacking context).
As somebody who had never believed in LDLT as the total package since his youth team days with USA, I can tell you he convinced me with his performances for the USMNT recently, in the sense that I think his team in Holland may have cramped his style a bit - albeit allowing him to show dribbling skills in the middle third It was ironic that LDLT turned out to be the revelation for Berhalter since I've always criticized Berhalter for refusing to call in players with skills in the middle third, then he calls in LDLT whom I didn't rate (to the extent of playing for Nats) and he turns out to be just what Berhalter needed because - he plays the middle third. "Skills on the pitch" - get 'em all in there.
Other than passing up shots (something I already said he needs to get better at) my point about his performance with the national team setting up others isn’t refuted by Eridivisie stats. But we will have more information as he finds a new club and see how he does there.
His press conference after that first call up/MOTM performance was dripping with this very subtext. The kid knows he can play. My worry is that having had no real experience against WC-level defenses, how will he adjust when his sudden bursts with the ball don’t lose people immediately? He can’t shed contact like Musah can, but he has great anticipation and is very good about keeping his butt between the defender and the ball. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts.
I don't see him ever going above the Eredivisie, and he probably won't get better, but I hope I am wrong.
Also delivered the ball for Morris’s equalizer @ES in the NL. So 10 caps, 3 assists. 7 of those caps were as a sub. 2 assists in his last 80’ for the USMNT. https://www.transfermarkt.com/luca-de-la-torre/nationalmannschaft/spieler/315762
Luca looks like he's got some tools but because he plays in the Eredivisie, I've never seen him play anybody decent. Morroco jogging around at the end of a friendly doesn't count IMO
For me it is about DLT vs the other alternative backup 8s. With tthe nationals he looks very productive so far. Yes, he hasn’t been with the, against non-CONCACAF WC quality sides, but neither have Mahailovic, Pomykal, and the other MLSers, who BTE all play in a comparable league to Luca. I dont claim he is as good as the starters, but he looks a lot better than the people we used as backup 8s previously (Roldan, Acosta, Lletget), and I don,t see other better alternatives than DLT elsewhere right now.