Arsenal: Crucial difference between N’Golo Kante and Lucas Torreira

Lucas Torreira’s usage under Unai Emery at Arsenal has been compared to N’Golo Kante’s at Chelsea. However, there is a crucial difference between the two that should be recognised.

Unai Emery’s management of his Arsenal squad is largely infuriating. Constant tinkering drawing any semblance of identity out of the team; his hesitancy to inject any creativity or attacking ingenuity into the set-up; the strange use of players with specific skill sets that do not suit the roles they are utilised in.

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There are plenty of decisions that Emery is consistently taking as head coach that, at the very least, are difficult to understand. More accurately, they are just dumb. And if you were to ask supporters which is the most egregious of his repeated missteps, it would likely be his use of Lucas Torreira, who is now reportedly unsettled at the club and is seeking an exit, such is the ugly misuse he has suffered.

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Torreira was signed as a tough-tackling, ankle-snapping defensive midfielder. Standing at only 5-foot-6, he might not offer the size profile that some modern defensive midfielders possess, but his speed, energy, reading of the game and tremendous work ethic help to make up for his lack of physical presence. He is a destructive presence at the base of the midfield, a catalyst of intensity, impetus and bite. In essence, he is the ideal complementary midfielder to the creative types that Arsenal have tended to hoard.

It is semi-evident that his best position is as the deepest-lying midfielder to shield the backline, his range of movement ideal for covering ground from side to side. That is certainly the viewpoint of most. But Emery has largely pushed Torreira into a more advanced position, tasked with instigating the high press in the middle and final thirds and breaking into the penalty area when in possession. It is a curious decision, to say the least.

Many have compared this selection infuriation with Chelsea’s use of N’Golo Kante last season. Maurizio Sarri dropped the distributing Jorginho into a deeper role and pushed the more energetic but limited in possession Kante in a box-to-box role. Kante is capable to be effective in that role, but it is clearly not the best use of his qualities. The same goes for Torreira.

There is, however, just one crucial difference between the two instances. Where Kante has proven that he is a world-class defensive midfielder, a truly elite destructive presence at the base of a midfield, first for Leicester City, then for Chelsea and finally for France in the World Cup, Torreira has not. He might have the skill set to flourish in this area, but he has only proven it one-off matches. Never has he played the defensive midfield position for an extended period of time and proven beyond doubt that he can be an elite presence there.

This is not to say that he cannot be. He certainly profiles well to the role and has put in some solid performances in that position. But he also suffers from positional ill-discipline, which is a critical quality to possess to play the role well, and is limited in possession, unable to consistently break lines with quick, accurate, progressive passes.

So yes, Emery’s use of Torreira is frustrating. And yes, on the surface of it, it is the wrong way to assemble a midfield that should have complementary parts. But this is not the Kante case. Torreira has not proven that he is that calibre of defensive midfielder, not yet, anyway.