Arsenal: Lucas Torreira is N’Golo Kante 2.0

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery seems insistent on using Lucas Torreira in a more advanced position. This is the N’Golo Kante debate at Chelsea all over again.

Maurizio Sarri wanted his Chelsea team to run through the metronomic distribution of Jorginho. Sitting at the base of the midfield, the man brought from Napoli with Sarri was the heartbeat of Chelsea’s play. He regularly topped the passing charts, touched the ball with relentless frequency, and, for better or worse, dictated Chelsea’s play in possession.

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That meant that N’Golo Kante, the best defensive midfielder in the world, had to adapt. Sarri wanted an orchestrator at the base of his midfield, not a destroyer, and while Kante is sensationally busy without the ball, when asked to dictate play, he does have some limitations. And so, a new role became Kante’s home: the box-to-box midfielder.

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He obviously had the energy to play in this manner and he is a tidy enough footballer to help play in the attacking third, but it was obviously not the best use of his talents. And the debate surrounding the Chelsea central midfield persisted all season long, the tension of squeezing two very different and yet competing players into the same unit a clear struggle for Sarri and the fans. And now, at Arsenal, that very same debate is set to erupt this season, with extremely comparable players. But this time, it is Lucas Torreira, not Kante, and Unai Emery, not Sarri.

In Thursday night’s 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, Emery utilised a 4-3-3 shape very similar to Sarri’s 4-3-3 from last season. And like Sarri, he too wanted a distributor at the base of the central midfield triangle. That was Granit Xhaka, who like Jorginho, is an excellent passer of the ball when he is given time and space to do so, but struggles if he pressed by the opposition and lacks the necessary mobility and defensive acumen to deal with the high-intensity style of the modern game. Torreira had to adapt.

Emery moved Torreira into a more advanced midfield role, away from his most natural defensive midfield position. Rather than sit in front of the back four and shield the defence with side-to-side mobility, Torreira was asked to play an all-action midfield role, bounding up and down the pitch with great energy, pressing Frankfurt high up the pitch, and even breaking into the penalty area at times too. In his post-match press conference, Emery discussed Torreira’s role:

"“Tonight he played very well and this season it’s the first match that he was feeling physically very good in. He was able to go from box to box and I want to use his quality. His qualities are that he can give us good pressing, and he can win the ball high up the pitch to give us the possession to score. He did that tonight. After, we need someone with the ball and in his position, he can help us with the build-up.”"

There is some logic to Emery’s thinking here. He wants his Arsenal team to hound and harass the opposition throughout the pitch. That requires having players with tremendous engines and good tackling ability higher up the pitch, not just in defensive zones. Torreira fits into this high-pressing scheme nicely, with his snappy, ankle-biting style ideal for nicking the ball away from opponents and forcing turnovers in advanced positions. But there is also one major flaw: it leaves an immobile Xhaka exposed as he attempts to protect a defence all by himself.

As Frankfurt exploited in the opening 30 minutes on Thursday night, there was a lot of space in and around Xhaka, the Swiss international not able to get close to the ball as he was frequently outmanoeuvred. In this role, Torreira has the speed and stamina to pressure the ball, track runners, and provide better protection for an already shaky backline.

Emery seems fairly insistent on his plan to push Torreira up the pitch and have Xhaka anchor the midfield. And in some games, the tactic will pay off. But is it the best use of his resources? Like Sarri and Kante, the answer is probably not.