Lucas Torreira has spoken to the media about adapting to Arsenal’s style of play, and why he works so well with Granit Xhaka.
In the season so far, Torreira’s inclusion has generally signposted good things for Arsenal. He didn’t start in either of the team’s defeats back in August, but the Gunners haven’t lost any of the six games with him in the starting eleven since then. That includes a run of five consecutive league starts since mid-September.
In fact, the Uruguayan has featured at some stage in all 13 matches of Arsenal’s unbeaten run. He humbly suggests he still hasn’t fully adapted to the style of Unai Emery’s side yet though.
“I am going to get to grips better with all the tactical aspects of how Arsenal play,” he said in the Evening Standard. “Last year, I got used to Sampdoria’s style of play, where we had three players across the midfield, and I’m now adapting to Arsenal’s and there just being two of us, playing alongside Granit Xhaka.
“There are many things I can improve on, but that will come with time. We are going to have a much better understanding, we’ll only improve and when things are going well the team will become even better.”
Which midfield pairing is best?
Thanks to the wide variety of matches Torreira has appeared in already this season, he’s had his fair share of midfield partners. Guendouzi, Xhaka, Elneny, even Ramsey for a short time on Wednesday. However, the favoured pairing right now is Torreira and Xhaka. The 22-year-old explained why:
“Granit is a player that I link up a lot with in the midfield and he covers a lot of ground on the pitch,” he said. “He occupies space really well and is important to the defensive balance of the team, which the manager knows.
“He’s an outlet for the first pass from defence and frustrates the opposition’s attackers. When he’s playing well, the team are going to win games.
“We’re gaining points and me and him are playing minutes together and gaining experience together, which is important.”
Arsenal have certainly had the most success when those two play together. They started as a pair against Everton, Watford, Fulham and Leicester and the team scored 12 and conceded two. Then Xhaka had to move to left-back against Crystal Palace and the Gunners’ winning run came to an end in a 2-2 draw.
Let’s just hope one of the club’s left-back options is fit for Liverpool, so Xhaka isn’t needed on the left again. Particularly up against last year’s Golden Boot winner.