Yesterday, Joe Aribo made his first Saints appearance under Simon Rusk, but turns out it had more to do with Lesley Ugochukwu's fitness fears than the manager's faith in Aribo.
Arguably, Southampton dropped their most decisive performance under pressure this season, yesterday. Restricting one of the best attacks in the Premier League, the Saints frustrated Man City to a stage, which in itself is an achievement.
Still, as is the nature of football, it's nearly impossible to have all the checkboxes ticked with a single matchday performance. And that proved true with Southampton, too.
While the Saints fans had a perfect evening from the matchday result to the post-draw celebrations, a Simon Rusk reveal must've poked them all.
Well, it was about the most underutilised asset in Rusk's system, again, midfielder Joe Aribo.
As you might know, Aribo has been consistently excluded from Rusk's recent matchday plans. And when it finally changed for the better against Man City, we now know it was not due to the manager's trust in the midfielder.
Simon Rusk's post-match reveal is a bad news for Joe Aribo
So, ahead of the second half, Simon Rusk brought Aribo for already-booked Lesley Ugochukwu. But unlike what was hoped for, the change to depict the manager's faith in Aribo for key moments, Rusk later made it clear it was for Ugochukwu's safety more than anything else.
As quoted by the Daily Echo, Rusk clarified Ugochukwu's substitution, saying: "I just felt that there might be a key moment where he really needs to commit to a tackle or to a particular moment and a bit of tiredness later on. I sort of wanted to eliminate that risk, really."
Honestly, this Simon Rusk comment just builds up on the fears about his disbelief in Joe Aribo. And at what worse timing for Southampton than when the midfielder's Rangers rejoin links only strengthens day by day.
Well, every fan knows, Southampton can't upset their biggest midfield asset in Joe Aribo for Rusk, who is to leave soon. Hopefully, the club intervenes in this situation and cool down the matter asap.