Arsenal: How do you solve a problem like Lucas Torreira?

Lucas Torreira’s position at Arsenal has yet to be solidified despite being one of the North London club’s most exciting players. How can the Uruguayan cement a starting birth in Unai Emery’s first XI?

When fans look at Arsenal‘s current squad there are many aspects to be excited about. Like the potent attacking options up front and refreshing young talent coming through the ranks. However, there is plenty to be concerned about as well. Like a disjointed midfield, porous defense and glaring individual errors still hindering the team’s progress.

Despite all of these other deficiencies, I believe the biggest issue facing the club is the uncertainty surrounding Lucas Torreira.

Hear me out. The little Uruguayan is a fantastic player, but has yet to fully grab hold of the Premier League in the way we fans had hoped. This is because of several determining factors like fitness, lack of form (at times), but most importantly the head coach’s unwillingness to deploy him in his natural position.

Well-respected journalist Amy Lawerence recently reported of a fissure between head coach Unai Emery and Arsenal’s executive team when it came to the matter of buying Steven Nzonzi or Lucas Torreira. The Spanish manager wanted to bring the Frenchman to the Emirates, a player he was familiar with from his time in charge at Sevilla. Nzonzi is a prototypical, athletic defensive midfielder and the type of physical specimen that would customarily fill that role in an Emery team.

We all know what happened though. The new structure in place at the club meant that Emery did not have the final say on players brought in and the board decided to go with the much younger Torreira instead. There is perhaps no player further from the physical makeup of Nzonzi than Torreira is.

Still, the Uruguayan captured the hearts and minds of Arsenal fans around the world with his dogged displays at the World Cup playing as a midfield shield at the base of a diamond.

It was the same position and role that he flourished in for Sampdoria during his time in Serie A, and yet Torreira has not been regularly deployed as a defensive midfielder. Time after time Unai Emery has played Torreira with either Granit Xhaka or Matteo Guendouzi as a pair, with one of the latter collecting the ball from the defense and Torreira playing further forward, or on the right side of a diamond.

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Deploying Torreira as a more advanced midfielder comes with a mix of benefits and drawbacks. Arsenal’s No. 11 has shown an ability to pick out an eye-catching pass every so often and even pop up in the opposition box to score crucial goals. However, his fervent and tenacious playing style can some times be problematic when he plays as a box-to-box midfielder.

That may seem counterintuitive because work rate, effort, and energy would be considered ideal attributes for an all-action midfielder. Torreira, however, is not an incredibly athletic player. He makes up for what he lacks in size and stature with application and graft. Against Tottenham in the most recent North London Derby, it was obvious that Torreira wasn’t completely fit and he seemed to struggle with the pace of playing in such an advanced role.

Torreira slowed down to a near halt at the end of last season as he tried his best to adapt to the rigor of English football. It can be argued that by playing Torreira in a more physically demanding role, Unai Emery is actually hindering Torreira’s long term fitness and availability.

As a defensive shield who sits in front of the back four, Torreira would have to cover much less ground as his main objective would be shuttling along the horizontal axis of the pitch snuffing out danger, winning the ball and using his progressive passing range to launch quick counter-attacks. In this role which he has blossomed in for club and country in the past, he would be able to use more of his positive attributes, such as his ability to read the game, disciplined positioning, highly technical tackling ability and speedy passing.

On far too many occasions, fans find themselves scratching their heads as to why Xhaka is the furthest midfielder back making tackles in an around his own box while Lucas Torreira is sent swashbuckling forward looking to join the attack. It could simply come down to the fact that Emery wanted a big physical midfielder in the middle of the park and Xhaka is the closest player Arsenal have to that Nzonzi mold. It can be argued that both Xhaka and Torreira are being played out of position and that may be why neither player has stood out significantly yet this season.

With the progress and development of Matteo Guendouzi and Joe Willock, it would be counterproductive to play Torreira over either of those youngsters in a box-to-box capacity. If Emery refuses to play the South American in his favored central defensive midfield role then questions about his long term future will continue to rear their ugly heads. It is imperative that clarity over Torreira’s position is made and the conundrum of Arsenal’s disjointed midfield is solved.