Mikel Arteta Reveals The Reason Behind Nuno Tavares’ Early Substitution

Arsenal defeated in the FA Cup third round against Nottingham Forest with a 1-0 scoreline. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal had a shambolic defeat against the Championship side, as Lewis Grabban found the winner in the 83rd minute of the game. The most decorated team in the FA Cup history going out against a Championship side prompted many questions of the Arsenal side. One of the questions was Mikel Arteta’s early substitution of left-back Nuno Tavares. As Mikel Arteta reveals the reason behind Nuno Tavares’ early substitution.

Nuno Tavares Subbed Off Early, Why?

Arteta on why he subbed Nuno Tavares so early: "It’s a decision you have to make in certain moments to try to improve the performance of the team. That’s what I did" #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/E4nm7bf7Qq

— Gurjit (@GurjitAFC) January 9, 2022

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Arsenal fans were left to wonder when in the 35th minute of the game Nuno Tavares was replaced by Kieran Tierney. Some fans thought it could be due to an injury but that wasn’t the case. Mikel Arteta revealed in his press conference after the game that the decision was purely tactical. Nuno Tavares had one of the worst 35 minutes in an Arsenal shirt. Mikel Arteta from touchline watched everything. There were several misplaced passes and a horrendous back pass to Bernd Leno which almost led to an own goal.

Ian Wright on Nuno Tavares: "He started very poorly. You look at his reaction, there’s kind of like a – he’s coming off & he’s throwing his gloves down. I think this is the wrong manager to do that with showing this like, kind of like, attitude" #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/UOKoSHeazn

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— Gurjit (@GurjitAFC) January 9, 2022

Nuno Tavares showed his frustration by throwing off his gloves after being subbed off. Arsenal legend Ian Wright criticised the frustration shown by Nuno Tavares. Ian called this action by Nuno Tavares as showing disrespect toward the manager Mikel Arteta. Ian Wright warned that it will be a long way back for Nuno Tavares in the Arsenal squad. Not to mention Nuno Tavares lost the ball 9 times in 30 minutes. As a result, you could understand the substitution.

Was Mikel Arteta Right To Substitute Nuno Tavares?

Nuno Tavares completed just 65% of his passes in the first half, no other Arsenal player’s pass accuracy went below 80%. [@Squawka] #afc pic.twitter.com/nInYZFGTtl

— afcstuff (@afcstuff) January 9, 2022

You could support both sides of the story. The standards at Arsenal Football Club should be high. Mikel Arteta did something Arsene Wenger could have never done. Arsene Wenger, known for giving numerous chances to his players but with Mikel, it’s the opposite. No one is bigger than the club. Furthermore, Nuno Tavares will learn from this.