Prior to the season, Johnny Torres was open and honest about what he expected from his attacking players early in the season. A slew of injuries to the back line forced the first-year head coach to hone in on the defensive parts of the game during the preseason in order to prepare his team for a daunting non-conference schedule.
As a result, the expectations for his offense were lowered considerably, but he admits now that his team managed to surprise him with their performances ACC powerhouses North Carolina and Wake Forest this past weekend.
“I think the boys exceeded what I expected them to do offensively,” Torres said. “I said it from day one that we have a lot of smart, creative players in the final third, and so I thought that would eventually come.
“Given that we were playing such great talent that first weekend I felt it was pivotal for us to come out organized and poised defensively, and I think we showed that. Now as we continue to build on our defensive schematics we’ll continue to build offensively as well.”
One bright spot in particular was senior Ziyad Fares. The 5-foot-9 midfielder/forward from Minnesota set up Creighton’s second goal against North Carolina and helped break the ice a couple days later against Wake Forest with a slick feed off the end line for a Luke Haakenson one-timer that was eventually waved off, incorrectly.
After transferring in from Yavapai College in Arizona and finishing in a tie for the second on the team with three goals in his first season as a Bluejay last year, Fares is off to a promising start to his senior campaign.
“I think Ziyad is a player that is very dangerous once he’s facing the opposing goal,” Torres said. “I think he enjoys running with the ball and using his speed and strength, and he very much exemplified that both at UNC and at Wake. For us, he’s a positive that will allow us to bring other players into the game when he’s at his best.”
Torres describes traditional “nines,” or strikers, as players who are more effective at playing with their backs to goal and drawing other players into the attack. Despite not fitting that mold, Torres believes Fares brings some new-age elements to the position, while the man himself feels that his creativity is the secret sauce to making an impact in Creighton’s system.
“My biggest strength is taking players on and being creative in the final third,” Fares said. “It goes back to our coach for giving us that freedom to be able to do so, because not a lot of teams have that freedom in the final third to do what they want. Our coaches really encourage that and I think it’s very beneficial, because a lot of things can come out of that.”
Fares says Torres is “a player’s coach” and it comes across in not only the interactions off the field, but the style of play and the freedom it provides on it.
“When I talk to Johnny, or when any of the other players talk to him, we don’t feel we are talking to our superior — it just feels like a friend,” Fares said. “He knows how to talk to his players. He makes us feel like he’s a teammate. It’s really nice being able to have that connection with your coach, because it just makes you want to play for him.
“First you want to play for the team, but when you have a coach like that it really gives you that extra push, that extra energy to put it out for him. He’s doing the best he can for us and he shows it every day in practice, so we want to pay him back and do it on the field.”
That coaching style is intentional on Torres’ part. Something that he says is born out of years of experience both as a player and an assistant at the college and professional levels, and he believes that combined with a free-flowing attack allows players like Ziyad Fares to flourish on the field.
“I’ve played for all types of coaches and I will say that where I’ve felt the most comfortable playing was when I had a player’s coach. A coach that trusted us and trusted our intuition on the field, and that’s what I want to do for the guys,” Torres said. “I obviously let them know that it’s their team, it’s not my team. I want to have trust in them. That’s the beauty about soccer, you don’t get to call timeout and call a play. You have a split second to make a decision, and at the end of the day it’s going to come down to the player rather than the coach. That’s why I want to make sure that they know that I trust them, and that I trust their instinct and their intuition, and I want them to express themselves on the field.”
Creighton will be back on action on Friday, September 6 for their 2019 home opener against last season’s national runner-up Akron. First touch between the Bluejays and 21st-ranked Zips is set for 7:30 p.m. at Morrison Stadium.