‘Why are they signing another left-back ?!’
- Advertisement -
That was the question that resonated around the Twittersphere on Saturday night when Arsenal announced the signing of Benfica left-back Nuno Tavares.
I mean, they already have the second-best left-back in the Premier League in Kieran Tierney, who himself is still young enough that Arsenal do not have to think about replacing him for another decade. So why are they signing another?
Welcome to Arsenal, Nuno Tavares? pic.twitter.com/379qyLXrxG
– Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 10, 2021
That’s a reasonable question, but those who ask it underestimate the importance of the humble understudy.
In modern football, you need two players for each position. The growing scheduling requirements mean that even those who do not play in Europe must be well covered, and this is especially true in specialist positions such as left-back.
However, it is not as if he is there to polish boots and warm the bench. Tierney will start more often than not, but there is nothing to hide from his spotty injury record. His inability to play 50+ games per season has led to Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka being pulled out of position to make the cemetery in recent years, so it was the logical solution to sign a special backup.
Arsenal have done it cheaply, while still landing a quality player whose best year awaits.
Tavares will benefit from working with Tierney, learning his trade from one of the best professionals around, but he also brings something else to the table.
He differs from the shots in that he is rough around the edges and far from the finished article defensively. But he is stronger, faster and just as good at crossing, which can mean that he is sometimes the preferred option.
Nuno Tavares on what he will give to Arsenal:
“I’m fast, I’m good at shooting with my right foot, but I’m left-handed. I can dribble, improvise. It’s my qualities, my technique. I have more qualities and I will find more in this club.” pic.twitter.com/0iTEhme3M1
– Charles Watts (@charles_watts) July 10, 2021
He was never the first choice at Benfica, and could never beat Grimaldo for a long period of time. But he collected many minutes, 1,302 last season, mostly against teams that were lower in the division when they came up against a stiff low block.
On the ball, he is the perfect transfer fullback, and there will be moments during the season where Arsenal are better at having Tavares on the pitch than their usual Scottish starts.
There may even be times when both are at once the way to go. Mikel Arteta likes to mix his tactics up and down and having two left-backs – one of whom is well able to drop into a back-three – means he can switch to 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 without playing any which is not in position.
Time to go ?????? ??? ?????? ? ️♂️
? Get access to all areas of Colney!
– Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 10, 2021
It may seem like a strange signing at face value – especially at a time when Arsenal desperately need reinforcements in various other parts of the park. But his presence in the squad reduces the burden on Tierney and gives Arteta another tool to play with as he tries to build Arsenal into a side that can mix it on top of English football again.
Logical transmission operations. It will never catch on.
