Arsenal: Unai Emery disrespectful to Lucas Torrreira with Fabinho comments

This week, Unai Emery revealed that he wanted Fabinho when Arsenal signed Lucas Torreira instead. The comments are disrespectful to a player he refuses to get the most out of.

When Arsene Wenger was enduring his most difficult and depressing seasons, the primary on-pitch problem that consistently undermined his Arsenal team’s progress was the lack of a true, enforcing and destructive defensive midfielder.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — The Unai Emery One

So, in the first post-Wenger summer, it was not a surprise that the Gunners’ most impactful and significant signing was a defensive midfielder, 22-year-old Lucas Torreira for £26 million from Sampdoria. Change was coming.

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In the same summer, Liverpool signed their starring defensive midfielder also. But rather than look for a ratty, ground-gobbling ankle-snapper, Liverpool turned to a striding, lunging, surging 6-foot-3 powerhouse in Monaco’s Fabinho. They both play the same position, but they do so differently. Usually, a comparison between the two players would be a little odd, forced, even. But that is precisely what Unai Emery did this week, without perhaps doing so purposefully.

Emery was actually speaking about Nicolas Pepe and the need for patience regarding his development as he adapts to English football. He used the example of Fabinho at Liverpool, and in the midst of doing so, revealed that he was interested in the Brazilian, both at Paris Saint-Germain and then at Arsenal:

"“For example, in France I loved Fabinho a lot. He was in Monaco and I wanted to sign for PSG. When I arrived here, also his name was on the table to achieve to sign him, but he signed for Liverpool.”"

Whether intentionally or not, the implication is clear: Emery wanted Fabinho, not Torreira. And this sentiment is supported by how he has managed the Uruguayan over the past year and a bit, rarely trusting him as the lone defensive midfielder, even in spite of Granit Xhaka’s utterly lacking performances in that role.

And quite frankly, this is disrespectful from Emery to speak about Fabinho like this, and the subsequent knock-on effect it has on Torreira. Torreira might not be as influential as the Liverpool midfielder and his presence on the pitch may not quite have the same forceful impact, but he is a very capable defensive midfielder who has not been given the chance to prove as much.

He has not been handed that opportunity because Emery seems unwilling to use him in the right position. Torreira has predominantly been shunted in a box-to-box role, sometimes played as advanced as an attacking midfielder. It is as stupid as it sounds. And now Emery alludes to his disappointment that he does not have Fabinho to anchor his midfield. That is downright disrespectful.

It is quite clear that Emery never wanted Torreira. And it is equally plain that he is not going to use the midfielder in the most beneficial way. So complaining about missing on Fabinho while not giving his starting option the best chance to replace him is maddening, and, actually, disrespectful.