Lucas Torreira at Arsenal: "Best tactics since Sergio Busquets" | Football News

The talents of Lucas Torreira evaluated by his former coach

Lucas Torreira's tactical awareness could give Arsenal a boost

Lucas Torreira's move from Sampdoria to Arsenal is huge for Unai Emery. With the help of the player's former coach in Italy, Adam Bate discovers why the Uruguayan midfielder is precisely the type of player that was missing from the Gunners.

Arsene Wenger was discussing South American attackers when he identified the problem. In Europe, street football is no longer. "You must be insightful, you must show that you are good, you must fight.When all this is a little more formulated, then he develops less your individual skill [but] your fighting attitude less.We lost a little bit"

In Uruguay, the word that is often used to describe this knowledge is "garra" – a term that means something between courage and guts, but perhaps with a hint of cynicism. characteristic that has been absent from the Arsenal midfielder for too long Lucas Torreira, 22, may be young, but he possesses the qualities that can make the difference.

Arsenal on Torreira

Arsenal is getting closer to two new midfielders, with Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi for doctors with the Gunners this week, according to Sky sources.

Marcello Donatelli was deputy director of Pescara during the promotional season of the lub in 2015/16 and was able to see the qualities of Torreira closely. One of the first words he's looking for is "garra" but he insists that there's a lot more to Torreira than that. "His technique, his determination and his tactical intelligence have always impressed me," says Donatelli to Sky Sports .

"He has always been strong in understanding these tactical defensive aspects and he is very tactically mature, how he reads the game." He can deal with the gaps that emerge in the midfield with great intelligence and he covers very well: he is the one who corrects spaces and cuts pbades between the lines in the defensive phase.

After Sergio Busquets, he is tactically the strongest midfielder in Europe. "

L & Torreira's story is one of hard work and commitment: he left his home in Fray Bentos at 3 9, age 16 to pursue his ambitions in Montevideo and move in with his sister Estefani. the bus at the training each day. When his Wanderers club sent a group of young people on trial to Pescara in Italy in 2013, the name Torreira was not even on the list.

He had to fight for his luck. In the words of his father Ricardo, he got "the knife between his teeth" and was the only player to have extended his trial beyond Christmas. These first few months were not easy for the teenager. He had not even played senior football in Uruguay and the money was not good. He even had to barter to get free haircuts.

But he continued. When Roberto Druda, the scout who had helped Torreira to travel to Italy, discovered that he had a foot injury, the doctor who asked to treat him was shocked to discover that he had had the problem for months. Barely able to walk, Torreira had not informed anyone because he was so afraid of not being able to play football.

Torreira in action for Pescara in Serie B during their season of promotion

The turning point in Italy came with a change of position. Torreira had been an attacker in his early days with Wanderers, later being converted to a midfielder role of attack. But former Pescara coach Mbadimo Oddo, the former World Cup defender, has seen things differently. He told Torreira that if he stayed there, he would not realize his potential.

"Oddo had the idea of ​​moving him from a midfielder role to a new position just ahead of the defense," Donatelli explains. "So when Oddo became the head coach of the first Serie B team, he believed in him and he immediately trusted him in that role, it is this decision that changed his career. "

By his own admission, Torreira took the time to adapt to his new role. At first, he felt lost. But he had the physical attributes and the natural intelligence to mark well. He also retained the ability to play pbades in front, which makes him much more than a spoiler. He was soon compared to Pescara's former playmaker, Marco Verratti, currently head of Paris Saint-Germain

Torreira has been a regular at Sampdoria for the past two seasons

Having played an important role in the promotion of Pescara, Torreira has moved into his parent club Sampdoria and is going straight into his first team for the next season. He missed only five Serie A matches in the two years that followed. Despite his small size – Torreira is only 5'6 "- he had a big influence in his midfield.

Torreira made more than 100 tackles last season, the third best player in Serie A and was in the top 10 for the pbades as well. Druda insists that there is much more to come after having recommended to Juventus as long-term heir of Andrea Pirlo

"He is a computer in the middle of the field, there is nothing to add. "

The impressive statistics Serie A of Torreira for the 2017/18 season with Sampdoria

This is the player that Arsenal receives. A person always delighted with his climb and the attributes that accompany it – he recently bought a butcher shop for his family in Fray Bentos. A young man who only made his debut in Uruguay in March. But significantly, someone who now has a World Cup experience and plays with a maturity that belies his years.

As Unai Emery seeks to reshape Arsenal at the Wenger exit, he faces two seemingly contradictory challenges. The new manager needs to recruit young players to refresh the team, but he also needs to bring greater tactical experience to the team's work. Unusually, Torreira and his "garra" can help to solve these two problems

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