Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares has dropped a huge line-up hint ahead of Southampton vs Arsenal in the Premier League as Mikel Arteta is set to make big left-back decision ahead of Saturday's clash on the South Coast.
Following the Kieran Tierney injury news, Arsenal have had a mini-crisis in the left-back position that has tainted the Gunners' chances of finishing in the top four. Since the Tierney news came out, Arsenal have lost both resulting games since this blow in dismal fashion against Patrick Vieira's side and Brighton. Granit Xhaka has so far deputised in these two games over someone like Bukayo Saka, who proved his worth in that same position during the Unai Emery reign.
But it seems Arteta is hesitant to move the Three Lions international back to a defensive position with him worried that doing that would reduce his attacking potential. "When I'm convinced that I'm going to do something that's best for the team, then it's going to be judged on whether you win or you don't win. The problem I guarantee was not Granit playing as a full back," Arteta said on the Xhaka switch in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
He added on the lack of trust shown in Tavares from this switch and the lack of belief on his behalf: "No, the trust comes from the way I communicate with them. That I give them the right reasons, when I put a player on the pitch it's because I can see that they are in the right condition to do that. To show trust and for the player to show trust to us is that I'm going to give them the opportunity when I believe that he is ready to do that.
"When I see in the moment that he is doubting I don't do him any favours by putting him in there. Then you can discuss whether Granit can play there, just look at the stats when the team has played with Granit as a left-back. They don't get much better than that.
"With Nuno? No. Not belief. He needs to go through periods like I can show you examples of any player that has been in this squad. Not always good periods, difficult periods. But those difficult periods are the best moments to learn and to overcome and to have the ability afterwards to develop into a much better player."
football.london understands from our predicted side for the Southampton clash, Xhaka is likely to retain his place at left-back, despite calls being made by the fans for Arteta to give the former Benfica full-back another chance in a clash against so-called lesser opponents with Chelsea following this game midweek.
If Tavares' Instagram story hint is anything to go by, regardless of whether he starts or not in what would be an incredible U-turn judging by the tone of Arteta's comments, the 22-year-old will at the very least be on the bench. This is because he has posted a video graphic on his Instagram looking ahead to Southampton vs Arsenal which usually is an indication that a player could be involved in some way.
Arsenal fans- Out of Nuno Tavares, Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka or even an unknown youngster, who would you want to see starting week in, week out in the forthcoming Premier League games in the absence of Kieran Tierney? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!
