Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette paves way for Lucas Torreira

Lucas Torreira is trying to force his way into the Arsenal starting XI. It is a path that Alexandre Lacazette has already paved. The Uruguayan must simply emulate the striker’s opportunism.

With a new manager at the helm, Arsenal have embraced the idea of having inner-competition, players vying for the same starting positions and pushing one another to perform, knowing that if they don’t, they will lose their place in the team.

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It means that when players are introduced from off the bench in the second half, not only are they looking to change the game for the sake of winning it, as any professional sportsman would be, but also to impress the manager with their performance and force their way into the starting XI the next week.

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It is the path that Alexandre Lacazette has paved. He was benched to start the season, even though he was impressive in the preseason and was Arsenal’s top goalscorer, and was resigned to substitute appearances in the first three fixtures. However, he routinely changed the game whenever he was introduced and proved to Unai Emery that he is worth starting. And then he was afforded his opportunity: to start in Sunday’s 3-2 win against Cardiff City.

Lacazette did not waste it. He scored the winning goal with a thumping finish, rifling a late shot into the roof of the net, was roundly praised by fans, pundits and even Neil Warnock, who stated that his side would have won if Lacazette had played for them, and was the best player on the pitch by some distance, establishing his importance to this team and ensuring that he must start in the future. And now it is Lucas Torreira’s turn to emulate the same avenue to regular starts.

The Uruguayan was signed for £26 million in the summer. The intention was that he would anchor the midfield and provide that ankle-snapping, ground-gobbling protection at the base of the midfield that this team has been crying out for for so long. But four games into the season, Torreira is yet to start.

He has, however, been substituted on in every one of the four matches, the most impressive of those four appearances being the latest in the 3-2 win over Cardiff City in which he broke up play brilliantly with a series of biting challenges and sharp interceptions, as well as providing the assist for Lacazette’s goal with a lovely, accurate pass into the feet of the Frenchman.

If and when Torreira is given his chance to start, he needs to, like Lacazette, take it. It is reasonable to expect him to start when the Premier League returns after this weekend’s international break, with Emery likely holding him out up until this point because of the World Cup. If that is the case, then it is vital that Torreira does not squander that opportunity to earn a regular place in the starting XI.

There is great competition for his position — Matteo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny and Aaron Ramsey all want to play in central midfield. Torreira must prove that he is the best of the bunch, just as Lacazette has.