Arsenal: Just let Lucas Torreira go be Lucas Torreira

Arsenal haven’t been giving Lucas Torreira a lot of playing time, which isn’t the end of the world, but they gotta let him fly, right?

Arsenal are seemingly giving Lucas Torreira some sort of break. I wouldn’t find it that shocking if, given the World Cup and him being used to a winter break, Unai Emery is trying to give him a breather. Not least of all because he works so incredibly hard every time you put him out there.

But the club have definitely been missing him. There is no hiding from that. Every time he takes to the pitch, he is making a difference in one way or another, and that difference is just him being who he is. As long as you let Lucas Torreira be Lucas Torreira, things are going to be perfectly fine.

That was missed against West Ham. Torreira is a major pivot point for this midfield that neither Xhaka nor Guendouzi can replicate. The Uruguayan has found his groove solving a decade-long gap doing exactly what he does. His tenacious style of play, and the acres of space that he covers, make him a potential match winner on any given day.

Think back to our big match at home against Liverpool (not away, forget the away match). Against Liverpool, Torreira was a major reason why the Gunners were able to hold tight. He was so good with his positioning, with knowing what to do and where to be.

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And it was his first real “upper echelon” match-up from a starting role. Yet he couldn’t have looked more at home. He was our Man of the Match here at Pain in the Arsenal, and for good reason. There is no other way to say it than that he was himself. Pressure or no pressure, he bore the weight of the match on his back and treated it like he would any other match.

As such, I see one of our major, short-term solutions as just getting Torreira back into the starting XI where he can be Lucas Torreira again.

Torreira is a disruptor, and even when the opposing clubs are giving up possession left and right, the best thing we can do is retake possession as much as we possibly can, and he does that.

Which is why I’m telling you that if Lucas Torreira can bear down and be Lucas Torreira, living in the match, then an immediate improvement is just around the corner when he returns to the starting XI. Win that battle in the midfield and the other two battles become exponentially easier. That’s what I always say.