Atlanta United’s Tomás Jacob enjoying playing for one of his idols

DORAL, Fla. — Tomás Jacob has caught himself looking at Gerardo Martino, and listening to him, but not doing what he’s being asked because … it’s Martino.

Come on, it’s one of his idols, a fellow former player at Newell’s Old Boys, among other reasons.

And that Martino targeted Jacob as the first player he asked Atlanta United to sign when he was hired.

Again, come on. It’s no wonder Jacob sometimes gets caught for a split-second looking instead of doing.

“It’s a dream because I come from the club where he’s known, where he’s a club legend,” Jacob said Friday. “So for me, and Tata, someone who was very well known and an idol in Argentina, when a coach asked me that (to come), it gives me goose bumps and makes me feel very happy.”

Martino said he wanted Jacob because of the integrity and character he showed at Newell’s, which has experienced financial difficulties and poor results in recent seasons. Despite the team’s issues, Martino said he admired that Jacob carried himself well, even at just 21 years old.

“He looked like he was one of the leaders on the team, and it’s not easy to see a young player in a position like that taking charge of it,” Martino said.

Jacob, who made 40 appearances at Newell’s before being purchased by Necaxa in Mexico, said he learned character from his mother.

“She’s the one who always told me to have that competitiveness, to give everything every time that I go out to the field to play like it’s the last game, and to always have that mentality and that energy, and sometimes I play for her when I’m out there,” he said.

Jacob’s skill set includes more character.

He’s tall, 5-foot-11, good in the air, and fast enough that Martino is training him to start at right fullback.

“Mentally, he’s a center back,” Martino said. “But I have the expectation to make him a very good right back. We have to train a bit more so he knows when to be more as a right back and when to be more as a center back.”

Watching one-on-one drills Friday in Florida heat, Jacob was tough to beat. He moved his feet well to stay in front of different attacking players. When he did get beaten, he typically recovered in time to block a shot.

“I think with him, and all the tools that he’s giving me, it’s a position that I’ll be able to learn and do well,” Jacob said.

Jacob’s versatility as a defender is important because Martino said it will enable him to change formations from two central defenders to three if needed, without having to use a sub. Jacob has also played as a central midfielder, whose size would be intimidating in the middle of the pitch. Jacob said transitioning between positions is easy for him.

Jacob said he tries to model his game on Cristian Romero, a standout on Argentina’s World Cup-winning team and for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, because of his aggressiveness.

Though Atlanta United has helped a couple of young Argentines such as Thiago Almada and Ezequiel Barco eventually get to play in Europe, and Jacob said living in the U.S. has been something he considered, the draw for him this time was playing for Martino.