Micah Richards has claimed that Nuno Tavares was amongst the best players on the pitch when starring for Arsenal against Newcastle this weekend, but what does that mean to Kieran Tierney?
The Gunners came away with a 2-0 victory at the Emirates on Saturday, with the Portuguese credited with the all-important assist for the opening goal, having been ever-present in attack throughout the match, and his performance hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Nuno was named in Garth Crooks’ Team of the Week alongside team-mate Bukayo Saka, and Richards also sung his praises on Match of the Day also.
“He was excellent and I’m not just saying that because he’s a full-back, he was genuinely one of the best players on the pitch,” Richards told Match of the Day fans (via Football.London).
“What I liked about him was he just didn’t stay, every opportunity he went forward and he went forward with quality.
“Krafth had an absolute nightmare against him today, he ends up fouling him several times.
“He’s 21, from Benfica. He’s confident now and he’s having fun. He was brilliant today, he really was.”
It certainly was an amazing showing from Tavares, who seemed to be everywhere in both attack and defence, and he definitely deserves credit for the effort shown.
He did show a little of his inexperience by taking on a couple of outlandish efforts from outside the box when we had other options available, with none of those testing the goalkeeper, but his work rate on and off the ball was top notch throughout.
This was the fifth consecutive Premier League match that Nuno has been selected to start, with Tierney’s latest injury opening the door to his younger counterpart. Tavares has taken his opportunity with both hands however, and the Scot now appears to behind in the pecking order.
The former Celtic star returned to fitness during the international break, playing a key role for Scotland, but has been an unused sub in each of our last three outings, and should he stay on the sidelines against Man United on Thursday, I believe Arteta’s choice will have been made clear that he has work to do to get back into the side.
Has Tavares really done enough to displace Tierney in the pecking order?
Patrick