Arsenal: Time for Lucas Torreira and Bernd Leno

Arsenal may have beaten Cardiff City on Sunday, but the performance still indicates the need for change. It’s time for Lucas Torreira and Bernd Leno.

Well, we got there in the end. A win is a win. In the end, that’s all that matter. Arsenal have only their second away win of 2018 and, to be honest, a victory was pretty much expected against a Cardiff City team that hadn’t scored in four league games.

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That said, this was far more difficult than it needed to be. The attacking play today was exceptional, with some great one-touch football, but individual mistakes and indecision at the back were again worryingly present.

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Before the game, Neil Warnock identified Petr Cech as a weak link in Arsenal’s new style of playing out from the back. He was proved right as twice in the opening 10 minutes. Cech looked uncomfortable and passed straight to Harry Arter who couldn’t find the target. Very much like last week against West Ham, it’s hard to not feel that against better opponents, such mistakes would have been punished more severely.

This month sees the start of the Europa League. It seems sensible that Bernd Leno will be the starting goalkeeper in the competition, allowing him to blend him into the starting XI slowly. Other than his kicking mishaps, Cech has had a decent start to the season. But his next howler feels like it’s only just round the corner. It might be smart to get ahead of the curve.

Arsenal were unlucky not to be two up by the time Cardiff equalised, with Alexandre Lacazette hitting the post. But while offensive success was had at one end, at the other, they looked shaky every time Cardiff attacked. The equalizer came when Granit Xhaka tried a hopeful crossfield ball when there were easier options available. The Cardiff midfield intercepted it and 10 seconds later, the match was 1-1 and very much back in the balance.

I must admit, I’m not a fan of Xhaka. Sure, he can pass against a team who plays with a high defensive line and he can smash one in from 35 yards on occasion. But he grabbed another assist today for Shkodran Mustafi’s goal, but, like Cech, he is too much of a liability. He makes too many mistakes that lead to goals and his defensive work-rate and decision-making are poor. It was a little bit of a shock that he started for the fourth game running.

We only saw 20 odd minutes of Lucas Torreira, but he showed enough in his substitute appearances that he deserves to start. His quick footwork when he came on was brilliant, as was his ball to Lacazette for the winner. You feel, though, that he will be used mainly for the Europa and League Cup games for the next few weeks until he is more settled into the team.

Unai Emery is showing that he’s willing to change things around, however. But now it’s time for the tougher decisions. It’s time for Lucas Torreira and Bernd Leno.