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Torreira must heed Emery warning

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OPINION

If we cast our memories back to the heady early days of Unai Emery’s Arsenal tenure, when the Gunners were running up a fantastic run of games without defeat towards the start of the season, it was midfielder Lucas Torreira who was the conductor of the ship.

The 23-year-old appeared to be the defensive midfielder the team had been crying out for for years, but fast forward a year and he is scarcely involved for Emery’s team.

In fact, the Spaniard has had to issue the Uruguay international with a stark warning, saying, as per Goal, that: “He is a very good player, important for us, and his focus needs to be with us 100 per cent.

“This year he’s not being consistent but my challenge to him is to improve, to do better with some tactical issues on the pitch and above all be consistent and take consistency into the next matches.”

While the Gunners boss isn’t always universally praised for his methods, he’s hit the nail on the head with his assessment of Torreira’s second season in north London.

The statistics demonstrate that the former Sampdoria man hasn’t hit the heights of his debut campaign. As per WhoScored.com, Torreira has gone down in his average tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks.

Furthermore, his average WhoScored rating of 6.46 is way down from his tally of 6.76 from last time out. That may not sound like a lot, but when you consider that was what he achieved over 34 Premier League games, as opposed to nine, it shows you how much his form has dipped.

So he needs to heed Emery’s warning. He must look in the mirror, be honest with himself and improve his stuttering form.

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