Morning all.
Arsenal fans have been left tingling with excitement after new midfielder Lucas Torreira received a glowing report from one of his former coaches. The pint-sized powerhouse dazzled for Uruguay at the World Cup and he will be the holding midfield that the Gunners have long been crying out for. Marcello Donatelli, who coached Torreira at Pescara before his move to Sampdoria in 2015, said the 22-year-old is the strongest midfielder in Europe after Sergio Busquets. It is hard to think of a more positive comparison.
Xavi and Andres Iniesta have taken the lion’s share of the plaudits, but Busquets is the bedrock of an all-conquering Barcelona side that dominated Europe for many years. He is a supremely talented holding midfield, and his strength and tactical discipline has allowed the others to wreak havoc going forwards. He has been rewarded with three Champions League titles, seven La Liga winner’s medals, six Copa Del Reys, five Spanish Super Cups, three European Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups, while he was part of the Spain team that won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. Many consider him to be the finest holding midfield of all time, usurping even Claude Makele.
“After Sergio Busquets, he is tactically the strongest midfielder in Europe,” said Donatelli of Torreira. “His technique, his determination and his tactical intelligence always impressed me. He has always been strong in understanding those defensive tactical aspects and he is very mature tactically in terms of how he reads the game. He can cope with the gaps that emerge in midfield with great intelligence and he covers very well. He is the one who corrects the spaces and cuts out the passes between the lines in the defensive phase.”
He is everything Arsenal have been crying out for. Nobody has properly plugged that gap in the team since Gilberto Silva left more than a decade ago. Matthieu Flamini had a go before leaving for AC Milan; Francis Coquelin had a few good months before flopping; Lassana Diarra was never really given a chance; AbouDiaby, Mikel Arteta and Granit Xhaka have all proved to be the wrong type of player; and Mohamed Elneny has never really set pulses racing. Arsenal needed a strong, tactically mature, disciplined player who will throw himself into tackles, win the midfield battle and lead by example.
Torreira showed he is up to the task by producing a gargantuan display in Uruguay’s World Cup last 16 victory against Portugal. He went crashing into tackles on Cristiano Ronaldo, made some impressive blocks and displayed a great engine. If he delivers on his potential for Arsenal, they could spring a few surprises next season. Take a look at a Betonline review and find the best prices around, and you will see that Arsenal are huge underdogs to finish in the top four next season, let alone win the title. But there are plenty of encouraging signs this summer.
Under new coach Unai Emery, Arsenal have already brought in competition for Petr Cech in the form of the highly-rated German Bernd Leno, brought in 34-year-old Swiss stalwart Stephan Lichsteiner to keep Hector Bellerin on his toes and signed SokratisPapastathopoulos to become the main man in central defence. Now they are toughening up in midfield, and that sounds extremely positive. Arsenal can already annihilate teams going forwards, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a maestro, Alexandre Lacazette should improve and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil are dynamic creative talents.
A weak backbone has always been the problem for Arsenal over the last decade, and it seems the new regime is quickly trying to rectify that ahead of the new campaign.
Opinion concerning Lucas Torreira: “After Sergio Busquets, he is tactically the strongest midfielder in Europe”! Really? What about N’Golo Kanté, Marquinhos, Nemanja Matić, Toni Kroos, Eric Dier, Kevin De Bruyne, Casemiro, Ander Herrera, Miralem Pjanić, Emre Can!!! Stop fooling yourself!
Dan, as you’ll see from the article, that Busquets opinion is that of someone other than me. Personally speaking, I’ve only ever seen him play during this World Cup.
Morning Rico. I like what I’ve seen of him myself. He’s got an edge to him too.
Morning Adam. He’s certainly got an edge to him which s something we lack.
Good morning Rico and all.
Was that article written by Torreira’s agent or his mother? If he is only half as good as it suggests then my money is on an Arsenal treble next season, Premiership, Europa League and FA Cup. 😉
Good Morning to the Lady of The House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
Torreira would seem to a great signing. My only concern is his lack of height to cut out the long balls over the top.
Morning Cicero.
It was written by Torreira… 😉
Morning Cg, long time and all that. Hope all is well.
I thought something similar but height doesn’t seem to cause Kante many problems..
Hey Dan, are you an arsenal fan ? while all pro footballers are talented, some are very unique and Torreira falls into the unique category.
Torreira’s lack of height won’t be a problem CG, by definition long balls over the top are designed to bypass the midfield, so they will be dealt with by our newly reinforced defence.
Dan , I suppose you can make claims for Kante ,Matic ,Casemiro as defensive midfielders as the rest that you put in your list are not playing that role and certainly De Bruyne , Pjanić , Herrera play further forward although the latter is a kind of mistiming tackler in the mould of Paul Scholes that has Fellaini’s elbows as his main competitor in Mourinho’s army. Marquinos is actually a centre back.
Of course the article is one man’s opinion . Torreira is only 22 , considerably younger than any others stated above and if he is in their class already it would seem rather churlish to be critical of his signing. Time will tell how it all works out for him but we should not be so dismissive until it all plays out.
Rico – Its hard to post in the wee wee hours and spend time with the grandchildren during the day. So, I’ve been concentrating on them. They change/grow so much in their first six years.
Also, I was getting a bit tired of the constant Wenger out moans. I could understand it all, but I was just getting tired of the same old tune. This isn’t meant as a criticism of you or The House but, but I wanted to focus on something more positive in my life.
I hope the new manager, new players, new season and new era will renew my/our enthusiasm for all things Arsenal.
Cicero – Gilbert O’Silva was Arsenal’s last true DM and he was adept at cutting out those high long balls over the top, before they reached our back four. Something which he did on a regular basis.
All I can say is it is nice being positive about something as an Arsenal fan. I’ve seen Torreira use his head twice to block a short while on the floor in two different games. He was there to clear the box almost every time against Portugal. At 22 he’s certainly got something and we are lucky he is at Arsenal at this time
Agree Potter. I read the earlier comment and wondered why Torreira would be compared to the likes of de Bruyne as they play in totally different positions. As you say, see how he fairs before knocking the signing of him. I’m quite excited by the way Emery is building his team.
Cg, I totally understand. The last few years of Arsenal have been so depressing really and as much as the negative stuff is hard to read for us all, it’s hard to avoid really because Arsene Wenger had worn us into the ground. This new beginning is such a breath of fresh air and something we all desperately needed, as did the players I think.
Guendouzi signing has been confirmed by Arsenal.
Morning all and thank you Rico for a post that is not yours !
🙂
Too late Rico……………. I confirmed Guendouzi`s signing on the last post with a link showing him signing !…………………….crystal ball is what I is ! 😆
I thought it was impossible to sign players during a WC???
Morning all. Turned out nice again!
Torreira will be great at corners! As good as Giroud? But he,should be freak on the ground as he has a very low centre of gravity! What I’ve seen of him I believe he is just what we want and have been missing for years and years.
Think we’ve got lucky……at last!
Morning all. From what I’ve seen, he is also good at taking corners and free kicks. It’s puzzled me how poor we have been at taking corners for years, we even had Henry taking some when he should have been in the middle, and many were poor anyway!
What I can’t understand, is why he was available under 30 million, and why Sampdoria didn’t wait until after the World Cup to set the price. He was unlikely to go down much, even if he didn’t play, but there was every chance he would show good and his price rise? Or was it in his contract as was mentioned early on, and other bigger clubs didn’t activate?
You just beat me to it Wavy about corners 🙂
Potter @ 10:24, you beat me to it.
The one player that can be compared to Torreira is Casemiro; but even that, Torreira’s motor is better and he’s less rash than Casemiro. If you want to see how good this 22 year old is, watch him against the overrated Pogba and Kante when Uruguay played France. This kid is not spectacular just effective, he understands his job.
Perhaps we’ll see some Garra Charrua spreading through the team. It’s what did for us against Athletico I think.
CG, At six foot one inch tall that well known Irish/Brazilian midfielder was probably as tall as any of our centre backs, so was well equipped to deal with high balls. 😉
Only for one certain Frenchman Lee..
‘Freak’ = fantastic…….!
Andrew, sorry about beating you to it!
I think our new ankle biter had a buyout clause of £22m but the offer was staged, based on the never never payment principle so a further £4m was negotiated to soften the pill of not getting all the filthy luker in on fell swoop! Hence £26m well over the expected amount. Etc etc
Sun’s out again and it’s proper hot again! Lovely.
Dull here in Essex Wavy, but nice to be cooler last night. If he’s as good as we hope, he’s a bargain by todays prices.
How many is that we’ve signed and the window still open? Wenger always said two or three new signings in one window was as many as could be integrated at one go.
Partially cloudy here in arid Norfolk, but quite hot when the sun breaks through. Phew! What a scorcher?
Think we’ve done well with signings. Any more to come do you think or is that the lot. Brutally hot here in Alicante where I live. TG for aircon
Integrated or indoctrinated ? In Wenger’s day people were bought in to play his way and needed time to have their spirit and flair taken out for the common good. Emery realises that it will take time to remould those players and take the shackles off and probably he feels that some never could like Wilshere for instance . Therefor he is building a squad to play his way which may or may not work . we shall see.
My part of Norfolk has sunshine over the Thurne with a few wispy clouds . Shame that I am outside with a cement mixer going full tilt.
I’ve walked beside the Thurne at Thurne Mouth. Lovely walking on a Spring or Autumn day, but bloody cold in Winter.
This is true but they don’t put windmills where the wind don’t blow.
Come on England…. 🏴🏴
Over a 1000 days since Sterling last scored for England, could tonite be the nite, c’mon England !
Halftime one nil to Ingerland! Okay so far, as the guy who jumped off the fifty story building was heard to say, as he passed the twenty-first floor.
If my comment seems to be a little bit malicious i’m sorry! All i want to say it’s the fact Arsenal look now unexpected worse before Premier League starting time!
Manager: Unai Emery under Arsenal level!
Ready to play: Bernd Leno, David Ospina, Mesut Özil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexandre Lacazette, Héctor Bellerín,
Mohamed Elneny, Danny Welbeck, Sead Kolašinac!
Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Stephan Lichtsteiner under Arsenal level!
Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi, Lucas Pérez, Nacho Monreal to go out (sold)!
For the future: Dejan Iliev, Matt Macey, Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Joshua Da Silva, Charlie Gilmour, Jordi Osei-Tutu,
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joseph Willock, Reiss Nelson, Edward Nketiah!
So the only reasonable option for Arsenal this season it’s to rebuild the squad imminently!
Well I guess that was fairly predictable, we were totally reliant on Kane for goals from open play but he had no luck tonight. His so called strike partner, Sterling, has been hopeless in front of goal in every game he has played for England for a couple of years, and was no better tonight.
Just one more game, before they head home, Belgium in the third place playoff on Saturday. A game for all those bench-sitters who haven’t had a look in so far. A game that I don’t think I’ll bother to watch.
Good night all.
Ha Ha. It’s coming home, yeah to Paris. Nothing against the England team and rookie Southgate has done brilliantly but the English press and pundits piss me off. Sorry
To be honest I never thought I would see an England team win the World Cup in my life time and I was so full of hope tonite but looking back on it, it was never gonna happen with so many Yiddo’s in the side was it !!!
C’mon Arsenal, make us proud starting with Boreham Wood FC this weekend, I can see us dominating for the next 10 years under our new manager lol.
Dan, worse than before?
I really don’t understand that view at all. Odd imo.
I don’t understand it either Rico.
I think Emery is building a good squad Adam.
It’s looking better isn’t it? At least there seems like a plan and the will to carry it through.
I think so Adam.
Morning to you and all.
Morning Rico.
Good morning Rico, the fallout from England’s World Cup dropout has had a drastic effect on the country as a whole. The weather has taken a turn for the worst, a blast of unpleasant hot air due to engulf this sceptered isle today when Donald Trump arrives. The stock market has taken a dive, Theresa is desperately seeking backing for her latest Brexit plan and Jeremy Corbyn is rubbing his hands at the thought of getting them on the keys to Number 10.
The one good thing to come out of last night’s result, will be the diminishing number of over optimistic, and frankly ludicrous, outpourings from football pundits and journalists.
With the World Cup all but over and Parliament about to go into the summer recess, we can all get back to the important things in life…..The Tour de France and the Test Series against India.
Morning Cicero, Adam.
Once the disappointment has faded, I think the England camp will realise they’ve done well. An easier draw, yes, but they can only play what comes their way. This is a young group, inexperience told in the end perhaps but as they grow together, they could very well get better and better. My only question mark is team selection and possibly not enough rotation when Southgate had the chance.
Isn’t there another manager we know who had a squad but didn’t seem to use it? Just can’t think of his name.
Rico. You’ve lost me there. 🙂