Arsenal: If Torreira is Torreira, then Xhaka can be Xhaka

So much of what Unai Emery is doing hinges on getting the most out of what Arsenal already have. Lucas Torreira is a big help.

How many times during Arsene Wenger’s tenure did we go into a season saying “on paper, Arsenal have one of the best teams. They can challenge for the title”?

It happened nearly every year until people started to realize that this club on paper vs this club on the pitch were very, very different things. The talent was there, but the glue holding it all together just wasn’t. Whoever you want to blame for that is your business, but we can all agree that it just wasn’t there.

That’s why Unai Emery made it such a point that one of his biggest prerogatives was maximizing the talent that was already at the club. Seems easy enough, right?

One player who has a ton of talent, but has struggled to make the most of it, is Granit Xhaka. Up until the second half of last season, Xhaka had spent a year and a half struggling to fit into a set-up that didn’t play to his strengths.

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He grew and developed those talents, and became a pretty decent all-around midfielder, but that isn’t what we should have wanted out of Xhaka. What we should want from him is pinpoint passing that can crack a defense open from literally anywhere on the pitch.

Without the necessary protection, he had to acclimate. Which is good. We love a player that can acclimate, and he did it quite well. But at the same time, you have to wonder what would happen if he could possess these talents while still focusing on the skills that make him special.

Essentially, how do we allow Xhaka to be Xhaka?

And the answer is easy – if Lucas Torreira is Lucas Torreira.

Torreira is exactly what Xhaka needs next to him. The piranha that can circumnavigate the midfield, snapping up the ball and feeding it to Xhaka, who should have more space, created by Torreira, to do his own thing.

Maximizing Xhaka is not that far off. He was already getting massively better by the end of last season and the fact that he can now settle into more of his own can only mean good things for the future of this club.