Noel Whelan has praised Mikel Arteta for his decision to take off Nuno Tavares in Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.
The Portuguese youngster was handed a rare start by the Spaniard for the FA Cup game, but he struggled at the early stages and was subbed off in the 35th minute.
That is an unusual time to replace a player when he is not injured, but the Arsenal manager made the right decision, according to the former Leeds United man, Whelan.
He claimed managers are paid to make tough decisions and Arteta showed he knows what is asked of him with that decision.
The player might not be happy, however, he has been very error-prone for much of this season and deserved to be subbed.
He tells Football Insider: “We’ve seen before that his distribution on the ball isn’t of the standard we expect from an Arsenal player. You can’t keep giving the ball away, it’s really disappointing.
“It’s so important to Arsenal that they keep the ball and recycle it properly. Sometimes you’ve got to cut a man loose for the benefit of the side if he can’t do that.
“It’s not to take a pot shot at one particular player, it’s about making a tough decision for the good of the team, as Arteta did.
“Even though they didn’t win, that shows the strength in character of the manager.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Tavares has had more than enough chances to prove his worth to Arsenal and knows he has to do better.
The embarrassment of being subbed off in the early exchanges should motivate him to become better than he has been in recent matches.
At 21, the former Benfica man will get better and he has an outstanding player to learn from in Kieran Tierney.