Scouting with Kognia: Replacing Lucas Torró at CA Osasuna

How can Kognia’s tactical insights inform CA Osasuna’s decision-making in the hypothetical recruitment context of needing to replace 31-year-old midfielder Lucas Torró?

To provide a clear focus for this article and some further context, we are going to assume that CA Osasuna have done their initial research on finding midfield replacements, and having identified these two options (Jorge Cestero or the internal option of Iker Muñoz), Kognia insights can be applied for that further layer of due diligence.

Within this particular analysis, we’ll be focusing on more detailed tactical behaviours from these players, including:

• Specific defensive traits such as tracking runners and having to move back into their own box.

• Anticipation and looking to assess how they cover for their defenders (when out of position), and recovering second balls.

Jorge Cestero: a possible replacement for Lucas Torró.

Jorge Cestero is the main positional pivot at “La Fábrica” and has made his debut for the first team this season.

From a defensive perspective, as analysed by Kognia, the performances of Jorge Cestero and Lucas Torró are very similar, with both ranking in similar percentiles in their respective leagues. Both are central midfielders who respond well to defending space behind the defence and can track opponents’ runs into the box.

Lucas Torró is a regular winner of second balls from set-piece situations, but Jorge Cestero, as well as being well-positioned in this regard, emerges as a highly effective central midfielder in regards to his second ball recoveries following direct play and from crosses. Naturally, there are further differences between the two, where can we see that Cestero's pressing on the ball-carrier is not quite as persistent as Torró's.

Or can Iker Muñoz, a player already at CA Osasuna, take on that positional role? 

Already at the club, Iker Muñoz is a central midfielder who came through the ranks at Tajonar and has established himself over recent seasons as a reliable substitute for Lucas Torró or Jon Moncayola.

Iker Muñoz is a very well-rounded central midfielder. With him on the pitch, CA Osasuna are a more proactive team out of possession. As an example, we take the team’s recent match against Real Sociedad. Iker Muñoz played the same amount of minutes played as Lucas Torró, and made 12 more pressures on the ball possessor.

Looking at this table below from our “Game by Game” section on the Kognia platform, filtering to CA Osasuna’s last eight matches and focusing solely on the metric for pressure on the ball-carrier, a trend emerges. It is no coincidence that in the two matches where the team has been most proactive and consistent, Iker Muñoz has started the game.

Below, to supplement the attached team statistics, we have compiled Iker Muñoz’s most recent performances for CA Osasuna, highlighting his significant contribution to this crucial tactical metric when not in possession. In fact, in two of the four matches in which he started, he achieved impressive figures, shown in green (colours that, within our platform, automatically select the best performances by tactic), against Girona and Celta de Vigo. Additionally, in a challenging match at Camp Nou where he came on in the second half, he managed 43 presses in 48 minutes.

In fact, Lucas Torró and Iker Muñoz’s performances are very similar, although the former performs better when it comes to his approach to winning second balls from crosses. In all other specific areas, they are on a par, particularly when it comes to pressing the ball carrier.

Lucas Torró and two promising candidates to replace him.

Jorge Cestero and Iker Muñoz offer two distinct approaches to replacing Lucas Torró. Cestero represents the most natural like-for-like option, closely matching Torró’s positional discipline and defensive awareness, although he still needs to refine his pressing consistency. Muñoz, meanwhile, brings a more dynamic and proactive presence out of possession, increasing the team’s intensity and defensive activity, which can be particularly valuable in modern high-tempo matches. While this comes with slight trade-offs in positional control, his profile may offer a more immediate and impactful solution depending on the team’s tactical direction.