MIKEL ARTETA showed he doesn’t care much for player pride after hooking Nuno Tavares just 34 minutes into Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat.
Tavares was left fuming after his number was held up up in the first half of the third round tie against Nottingham Forest.
The 21-year-old left-back angrily took off his gloves as he realised he was in for an early shower, flinging them to the floor as he left the pitch.
Tavares wasn’t injured, with the substitution purely down to his poor performance.
Arteta didn’t acknowledge Tavares as he left the pitch, and sent Kieran Tierney on in his place.
Tavares shook his head in disgust as he trudged off, before being consoled by a member of the Arsenal coaching team.
He has impressed since signing for £7million from Benfica in the summer, directly competing with Tierney for the left-back jersey.
But after Sunday’s performance and tantrum, Tavares may well be banished to the bench for the foreseeable future.
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And Arsenal legend Ian Wright was critical of Tavares’ reaction, while on punditry duty for ITV, saying: “He started very poorly with this bad backpass, and with this one you look at his reaction.
“He is coming off, he’s throwing his gloves down, I think this is the wrong manager to do this with.
“The disrespect the is showing at the minute is something Mikel Arteta won’t like, he shouldn’t be acting like that with the performance he put in.”
Meanwhile Roy Keane added: “Why is he upset? He must know, he is in front of the dugout, he was sloppy in everything he has done.
“OK, a player can make a mistake, but that sloppiness, a lot of that is down to his attitude, the way he started the game. And you cant start a game like that, you get dragged off.”
And despite a poor half an hour, some Arsenal fans sided with Tavares when it came to the substitution, criticising Arteta for not waiting until the break to make the change.
One wrote: “Should’ve waited until half time, that’ll ruin his confidence.”
Meanwhile others thought the sub was justified, after a horrendous outing at the City Ground.
A Gunners supporter claimed: “I don’t blame Arteta. Tavares is having a shocker. Feel bad for the lad.”
Another said: “This is Arteta disciplining Tavares, rightfully so I think. He’s been too careless lately.”
Tavares wasn’t the only sub-par performance at the City Ground, with the Gunners crashing out of the competition.
Charlie Patino, making his first Gunners start, also struggled to get into the game, after scoring on his Arsenal debut against Sunderland in the League Cup.
The game stayed 0-0 until the 83rd minute, before substitute Lewis Grabban scored the winning goal to secure a memorable 1-0 win for Nottingham Forest.
Current holders Leicester City await Forest in the next stage of the competition, following the FA Cup fourth round draw.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk