Brazil face Uruguay on the Brasil Global Tour next month and former Selecão great Gilberto believes that Uruguay star Lucas Torreira is the man to fill the defensive midfield gap in North London.
Arsenal midfield legend Gilberto Silva is convinced that Unai Emery’s new look Gunners side are contenders to win this year’s Premier League crown and believes that Uruguay midfielder Lucas Torreira can become a key player at the Emirates Stadium in his early days at the club.
Brazil will meet Torreira and his international colleagues next month as the Brasil Global Tour returns to London.
Gilberto, who was part of Arsène Wenger’s Premier League-winning Invincibles in 2004, has been impressed with how quickly Emery has been able to introduce and integrate his coaching methods into the playing staff at Arsenal. After losing their first two Premier League games of the new campaign to Manchester City and Chelsea, Emery has overseen a 12-game unbeaten sequence that has seen Arsenal keep pace with the Premier League leaders.
“Before the season, not many people would have put them as contenders for the title, but they must believe and work hard and see what they can do in the first year of the new manager,” said Gilberto, who was helping to promote Brazil’s clash with Uruguay at the Emirates Stadium in London on November 16.
“The players have to give their answer on the pitch, and as long as they do they’ll look to be stronger game-by-game.
“They’ve started positively. Of course, the first two games were quite hard because they played Chelsea and City, who are two contenders for the title.
“But you also must observe that this was the beginning of the new manager there [at Arsenal]. You must give Emery the time to find the right players, the balance, the shape of the team, and start from there.
Gilberto played more than 150 games for The Gunners and formed a formidable midfield partnership alongside former Gunners skipper Patrick Vieira.
Many pundits and members of the greater global football community believe that Arsenal has never properly replaced the defensive security and maturity in midfield that Gilberto was so famous for. But after seeing the performances of Torreira in the opening weeks of 2018/2019, Gilberto believes that Arsenal has found a successor to fill the gap that he vacated at Emirates Stadium shielding the back 4.
“I thought in the World Cup he played very well for Uruguay,” added Gilberto. “It was nice because you compare the way this guy plays – his stature is not high, he’s a middle-sized player – but he knows how to position himself and play nice football.
“He makes things simple, and of course at Arsenal we have a lot of expectation for him to keep the team ticking, the support and the position.
“Arsenal need somebody like that, and I hope that he does well.”
Will Lucas Torreira’s defensive insticcst lead Arsenal to the Premier League title?