Arsenal Vs Spurs: Lucas Torreira’s stage is here

Arsenal host Spurs on Sunday afternoon. Lucas Torreira was signed to anchor the midfield in games just like these. The stage is indeed set for the Uruguayan to shine.

It is often the case that the overarching perspective of new signings is punctuated by a few, crucial performances that come in the first few months of their tenure. Mesut Ozil and his first assist for Olivier Giroud against Sunderland. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and his three assists against Everton. Granit Xhaka and his red cards against Swansea and Burnley.

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For Lucas Torreira, a £26 million signing in the summer, perhaps the most impactful performance thus far came in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool. Snapping. Biting. Tenacious. Determined. He was everything that he was billed to be and everything that Arsenal needed.

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And now, as November turns to December, the festive period looms, the fixtures come thick and fast and teams begin to make their moves, Torreira and his Gunners host Tottenham Hotspur in the first North London Derby of the season. These are the games in which a top-four challenge will be built upon. These are also the games, like Liverpool, that Torreira was signed for. The stage is indeed is set.

Tottenham provide a unique threat in modern football. Unlike Liverpool and Manchester City, for instance, that have terrific wide players, stretching the pitch with speed and direct play in the wide channel, Spurs’ primary method of attack comes through ingenuity and creativity of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane, with their interchangeable movement and distribution a nightmare for defences to contain.

This triumvirate causes great stress for the midfield of the opposition. Kane drops deep, Alli spins in behind, Eriksen pulls the strings from deep. It is a horrifically difficult combination to stop, and it stems from their shared intelligence and awareness. As Chelsea and Jorginho discovered last weekend, it can pull a defensive midfielder inside-out.

But Torreira is no Jorginho. Jorginho may provide other-worldly passing and control in possession, he has great limitations when defending. Torreira is a defender first, playmaker second. He is a fighter, a scrapper, a great tackler, a brilliant reader of the game, a tremendous interceptor. He is a game breaker, and these are the games that he was signed to break.

Although his consistent influence is useful throughout a long and arduous season, it is in these particularly pointed and fiery affairs that his particularly pointed and fiery style is so impactful. These are the games in which Torreira’s importance is made manifold, in which his true weight of action is made known and obvious.

It was for the Spurs’s and the Liverpool’s that Torreira was signed. These are the games for why he is here. They are also the games by which he will be remembered. The stage is set.