From Selhurst Park – It wasn’t as bad as when he was dragged out after 34 minutes against Nottingham Forest in January, but Nuno Tavares’ performance when Crystal Palace played Arsenal on Monday night will have been even more worrying for Mikel Arteta.
From the start, it was clear that the 22-year-old, recruited by the injured Kieran Tierney, was extremely uncomfortable.
Even when facing off against Jordan Ayew, who was starting his first match at the Palace since February, Tavares defended madly, moving his limbs almost randomly as his opponents brushed past him. Positionally, things were equally fishy.
The low water mark of his defensive display was the part he played in Palace’s first goal. While he wasn’t the only Arsenal player to blame here, with the usually flawless Gabriel retracting his head like a timid tortoise at exactly the wrong moment, Tavares should have and could have done much more to prevent Joachim Andersen will head the ball without looking. The trajectory of striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Unfortunately for the young man, his struggles weren’t limited to his own half either. Whenever he ventured forward, his passes rarely hit the target and one inadvertently started one of Palace’s many dangerous counterattacks. Also, not a single one of his four forward long balls found his mark.
It was heartbreaking to again see a player who has shown real glimpses of promising work so poorly, and it came as no surprise when he was taken off by Gabriel Martinelli at half-time.
After the match, Arteta assured that the change was tactical and denied claims that another premature change would affect the player’s confidence.
“Today was just a tactical reason. How could we attack and control much better in that position? I’m sorry it was Nuno again but we had to do it,” he said at his press conference.
Player ratings from another Monday night special at Selhurst Park below ⤵️ @90min_Football https://t.co/jdvROmec4N
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Despite these claims, it is clear that a second horror show from Tavares leaves Arteta with a big decision to make at left-back for the rest of the campaign. Reports suggest Tierney’s injury is season-ending, and Arsenal’s failure to recruit in January has left them short in many areas, including defence.
After Tavares was taken out, Granit Xhaka was shifted to the left side of the back four. This coincided with Arsenal looking slightly more comfortable off the ball, although less aggressive pressing from Palace was also a reason for this.
Another long-term option would be to trade Cedric Soares or Takehiro Tomiyasu, when he returns, to the opposite side. All of these solutions have pros and cons that will likely be discussed intensively in the coming days and weeks.
However, the crux of the matter is this. Arteta must resolve his left-back dilemma with rivals Tottenham, who remain above Arsenal in fourth after this result, by stepping up at exactly the right time. It’s a problem that could end up defining his season.
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