Arsenal: We aren’t excited enough about Lucas Torreira

Arsenal fans are rightly excited about Lucas Torreira, but against Bournemouth, we had yet another example of why the excitement isn’t enough yet.

Hype. The eternal player killer. The foe of all good players that fans think can be great. And yet, as Arsenal fans, myself included, continue to hype up the fantastic start to Lucas Torreira‘s North London career, I have no misgivings. I have no worries.

At every twist and turn, Torreira lives up to expectations. When he so much as hiccups on the pitch, he is quick to bury it with his fantastic play.

They said N’Golo Kante when he first arrived. The size and tenacity provided that parallel. And, if I may brag, I said that that estimation wasn’t accurate, because Kante’s usage stops in the defensive quadrant. He isn’t a good passer or shooter and his attacking ability is limited.

Torreira showed against Bournemouth that the rest of his game is right there, waiting to be developed.

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He did the usual things. He won the ball higher up the pitch and pushed attacking play forward. He used his speed and fearlessness to preemptively snuff out potential Bournemouth fast breaks. He always seemed to be right where he needed to be.

But then there was the matter of him getting the ball in and around the box. In case you haven’t noticed, he is starting to find this space around the box and with his quick feet, he is also starting to figure out how best to handle that space.

Thus far, he hasn’t scored a goal, but he smacked one off the post and had another two cracks at goal. Neither of the non-post shots were that great, but the excitement and nerves likely got the best of him.

Those nerves will fade. That steely composure that he uses to defend will ooze forward into the attack and before we know it, he will start to score. Probably not as much as Ramsey has scored for us in the past, but a handful of goals and assists should be the aim for the Uruguayan, with the limit being… well, the sky.

We are all excited about Torreira, but I don’t think we are excited enough. I mean, this guy was good enough to bury how excited we were about Guendouzi and he keeps showing how much more room there is for growth and improvement, despite the fact that he is already playing to well.