Mikel Arteta says Lucas Torreira has been superb in the last three games and hopes the Uruguayan’s tenacity will, in time, be replicated by teammates.
Deployed as a defensive midfielder against Bournemouth, Chelsea and Manchester United, the 23-year-old has looked like the player we signed, snapping into challenges, making ball recoveries and feeding teammates with quick ball.
It’s no secret that Torreira was unhappy under Unai Emery who confirmed towards the end of his time that he preferred to play him in a more advanced position.
After the 2-0 win against United, Arteta said: “He was really good again. He wants to fight for every ball. In training he fights for every inch.
“He’s starting to understand the whole picture much better, that’s what I’m trying to do [with him]. He’s been superb. In the three games he’s played under me, he’s been top.”
Asked whether his squad have the ability to develop their battling qualities, he answered, “Yes. I think you have to have some of that naturally. Then you can be contagious with it.
“I think we have some really good role models at the football club. I think when we install a good culture and a good way of living together, more will come up.
“They just need a good platform, they need support, they need guidance. That’s why we’re here.”
The new boss also touched on the importance of his players and staff believing in his methods. Having seen confidence fall off a cliff in the final weeks of Emery’s reign, Arteta knows he has a big job on his hands.
“I said to them that without you guys I won’t be able to do it,” he said.
“You have to open that door and believe that I can bring something different to the club. We need all the staff to believe as well.
“If we are able to do that, day by day, it will take a long time and the process is not going to be easy and there will be ups and downs, but they bought into it.
“That’s my feeling. They want to do it. I think they are starting to enjoy it and hopefully it’s a start.”
Luiz was the official man of the match, but for me it was Torreira all day. I don’t know what Emery was seeing that everybody else wasn’t.
Or what he didn’t see that everyone else saw, more like. As a DM.
You do have to wonder what the fuck Emery was trying to do.
It seems like he lost the plot towards the end.
I agree, I have to question his state of mind. I also felt that he’s lost it after watching his interview with Julien Lauren’s, where he seems to view his time at Arsenal as a success and justifies everything he did. Crazy stuff.
He thinks he did well, except for one “terrible month”…
Probably had a chat with sarri, qho deployed kante in a similar way.
Torreira has really showed the sort of performance of the player we were excited about last year. Not to keep having digs at Unai but it’s quite obvious what Torreira is better suited to!
The Torreira timeline
Torreira bought as DCM.
Torreira plays very well as DCM.
Torreira dropped.
Torreira played as a number 10.
Torreira dropped.
Jesus, no wonder the fella wanted to jump ship. Let’s hope Arteta convinces him to stay. I thought he was world class last night. He looked fucked after sixty minutes but just carried on running. Hero. We need men like that.
he didnt just ‘carry on running’
he saw that up the pitch his teammate was banjaxed and took one for the team to stay on and play till the 90.
that shows how much of a unit our team are right now.
it also shows how special he is!
Good point Goonerink. I think he made a few crucial interceptions after Laca went off too, despite being absolutely fucked. He’s every bit the warrior we knew he was, and need him to be.
He also drunk from a bottle which I can only assume is the same potion Pep has been feeding his teams for the last 10 years.
A magical ointment imported from an unnamed doctor believed to reside in the larger area of Catalonia….
That’s cos he snuck a little snack bar onto the pitch.
We’ll be seeing little internal pockets in next season’s shorts where players can dish out these energy bars.
Emery allowed his insecurities to affect the players’ psyche and eroded their confidence in the process.
So glad our team is being rebuilt under Arteta who seems to generate positivity among them and able to connect with our players. Onwards and upwards.
Exactly. He actually brought Torreira in as a DCM but his insecurities led him to cut and paste in an irrational manner.
Emery is rightfully being dragged for misusing him so badly. Emery’s plans for him became increasingly more deranged, and it seemed to do with the fact that he didn’t trust him as a real #6 due to his size. For a man who obsesses over film review, you’d think Unai would be well aware of how much the game has changed – and how having a dinosaur like Eric Dier (or his preferred N’zonzi) playing #6 isn’t necessary anymore. The success of players like Kante and Verratti should signal to any manager that a modern #6 has to have the… Read more »
Well, Makelele and Cambiasso were not big guys either and they also did “pretty well” in that position so I don’t know what Emery was thinking.
Round peg, round hole. I get why Emery thought Torreira could play as an 8 in a 4-3-3 and force turnovers high up the pitch. But that required coordinated pressing, compactness, structure; we had very little of that under Emery especially this season.
I thought Emery was trying to play him as a 10 not 8…
Emery is a bad coach… End off for me. Really don’t need to butter him up anymore with him being the nice guy. His job was to improve us, he just did the opposite.
He is a bad coach at an elite club, i knew we were in trouble when we were winning and still getting outplayed. I doubt Emery will ever get the keys to the kingdom again of a top flight club. That said, if David Moyes can anyone can. Arsenal needed Arteta to get this team going, he has. The true test will be in the coming weeks as the feel good affect wheres off.
Who would have thought that playing footballers in their best positions would bring the best out of them.
Emery is a complete baboon
Outstanding young player and he’s been excellent back where he should be playing!
He’s responded very well as has Granit. Still a number of dangerous mispasses but he’s picking his way to join the front men more carefully with a more restricted and discipline breig in midfield. BOTH Granit and him have responded well to some structure and discipline where before either of Guendouzi or Torreira were not restrained from going forward leaving the Swiss often isolated and overwhelmed. How Unai was unable to remedy this simple thing is beyond me. BUT current pairing is probably the strongest we have with both leveraging against each others strengths and weaknesses. Neither are particularly quick… Read more »
Article is about Torreira yet you have to make sure that Xhaka isn’t forgotten about and of course your new pet project Emre Can (he plays for Juventus by the way). Please give the negativity a rest and enjoy what was best performance and result we have had in a very long time.
Honestly regret the time it took me to skim over this comment. Nonsense.
Not trying to spoil the party as even I was excited for the first time in months with that performance, however it will be interesting to see if the high press tactics work as well when playing away from home. Too often it feels we can beat anyone at home on our day and the opposite when on the road.
It does show however that for 45 minutes the incisive quick passing is still there, the players just need confidence to show this ability. The were stifled and confused with Emery.
Playing Torreira anywhere else but as holding midfielder is like putting Thierry Henry in goal or at centre half. Even my dead grandma knows that. What was Emery smoking?
I’m a little worried he saw what Sarri did with Kante as a new revolutionary tactic and simply tried to copy and paste it into his own team..
All of Arsenal were awesome yesterday. This change really shows how bad Emery was connecting with his players. Arteta has been there what 2 weeks and already we see some differences. Torreira was really good, and he got a snack in at the end. I guess this how the MOTM will be revealed at all Arsenal games, whoever is getting the snacky snack is the MOTM.
I watched the game again…it’s fucking magic…If we can play like that every fucking game we’ll be OK..