Diaz works to fix flaws that hold back his game
It was unrealistic to expect Luis Diaz to be as dynamic of a scoring threat at the start of this season as he was when he signed with the Crew in July 2019.
In 397 minutes with five starts in 2020, Diaz has struggled to finish scoring opportunities, hit subpar crosses when he gets behind a defense and made questionable decisions in the final third.
He isn’t frustrated with his play, but the Costa Rican midfielder knows where he needs to improve for his own development as a professional and for the Crew to be more dangerous in the attack.
“I think I need to work a bit on thinking about what I’m going to do next, whether it’s a cross, whether it’s a pass, whether it’s a shot,” Diaz said through a club translator. “I need to be thinking about what I can do and how to do it better. It’s something that I’ve been
working on. I think I can be better at being a goal threat.”
Diaz brought an immediate boost to the Crew offense when he arrived last season from C.S. Herediano. Beginning with a memorable assist on a dramatic 90th-minute goal to begin the Crew’s 5-2-6 finish to the season, Diaz scored twice and had four assists during 797 minutes in 13 appearances.
His speed still makes him one of the most difficult players to defend for
opposing defenses. He used that speed against THE Fire to draw a penalty kick at the end of the first half and against New York City FC on the Crew’s best scoring chance of the game.
“Physically, he’s a good player who has the advantage of speed over rivals,” said left back Milton Valenzuela, who has defended Diaz in training. “Sometimes you’re ready and good to go, but he certainly makes the most out of his agility.”
The 21-year-old winger might be one of the fastest players in Major League Soccer, but defenses know what to expect from Diaz, who has one assist and no goals in seven appearances in his second season with the Crew.
Coach Caleb Porter said he has talked to Diaz about needing to be more unpredictable and sharper in the final third because opponents have been trying to limit his ability to get behind the defense.
That being said, Diaz is a young player that the Crew still values highly.
“If there’s no space, he has to be more effective in that situation,” Porter said before Diaz sat out Saturday’s game at FC Cincinnati. “He’s still getting in good spots — Chicago he drew the penalty, the last game (New York) he had a breakaway ... those are moments that he has to be more ruthless and more clinical. That’s going to be, for me, the important next step for him.”
Diaz said in the preseason that he knew this second season in MLS would be more difficult because teams were more aware of the threat he poses. He doesn’t believe it has been any more difficult than what he expected, though it’s surprising that a player with his potential hasn’t scored in his past 11 games.
Even when he’s not scoring, Diaz said he focuses on other ways to impact a game.
“There were times at my last clubs where maybe I wasn’t scoring or I wasn’t providing assists, but usually when that happened, I would try to give it my all for that team,” Diaz said. “Maybe it wasn’t scoring or providing assists, but I was defending, I was marking. Right now, that’s what I’m trying to do.” jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers