Arsenal: Did we forget how good Lucas Torreira is?

Lucas Torreira has been utterly phenomenal under Mikel Arteta. Did Arsenal fans forget just how good he is after Unai Emery misused him earlier this season?

You would be forgiven just how effective Lucas Torreira was in his first season at Arsenal. It was a little over a year ago that fans were heralding him as the great modern defensive midfielder, the type of defensive anchor that the Gunners have missed for far too many years.

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At just 22 years of age, Torreira sprung into life in north London. His bullish, inherently South American attitude immediately endeared him to the supporters. His nose for danger was quite clear as he made interception after interception, and he also boasted a deceptive eye for goal as he surprisingly burst forward at times.

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He was Arsenal’s own little N’Golo Kante, an all-action central midfielder who brilliantly broke up play, passed the ball simply but quickly, and provided an injection of energy, effervescence and relentless pursuit that was greatly needed to complement the creative, possession-obsessed focus of the majority of the midfielders in the squad at the time. But as he tired in the second half of last season, the physical challenges of his first experience of English football taking their toll on a young player who was used to having the benefit of a winter break, and was then misused to open his second season, it was forgotten just how brilliant he was in those opening months.

While his depreciating physical levels in that first season will need to be addressed, hopefully a greater acclimatisation to the team and league playing a positive factor in that process, his misuse has been solved by simply changing the manager, and that change is what has inspired such a wonderful rebirth in the Uruguayan.

Infuriatingly, — and increasingly confusingly — Unai Emery did not trust Torreira at the base of his midfield. Instead, he deployed the high-intensity midfielder further up the pitch. Emery said this was to aid with the high press, injecting a greater energy and impetus in more advanced areas. He also expressed concerns with Torreira’s somewhat limited passing range, which was an issue blown way out of proportion. In the end, he was wrong, as was quite clear at the time.

One of the first things Emery’s replacement, Mikel Arteta, did was restore Torreira to his rightful position, anchoring the midfield as a neat and tidy link in possession and crucial destroyer out of possession to shield the back four. Torreira has been fabulous under Arteta, the architect of Arsenal’s increased high-pressing from deep, while focusing on the consistently simple but speedy passes when building out from the back — it was not a coincidence that Arsenal looked so disjointed in midfield in the only game Torreira has not played under Arteta, Monday’s 1-0 win over Leeds United.

Given his resurgence to key first-team player, is it fair to question whether supporters forgot just how effective Torreira was in the same role to open his north London career? It might be that supporters were lulled into thinking that Torreira was a capable midfielder but little more, when, in actuality, he is much, much more than that.

Torreira showed what he is capable of in those first few weeks. He then tired and was misused. But now, under Arteta, he is back to doing what he does best. And Arsenal are all the better for it.