With Djed Spence a late scratch from the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham on Sunday, that was the perfect opportunity for Igor Tudor to right an obvious wrong from the 4-1 blowout loss to Arsenal and start young left back Souza.
Instead, the Spurs interim manager overthought things and pulled an Ange Postecoglou, though instead of starting young Archie Gray out of position at center back, Tudor chose to make Gray the starting left back against Fulham with predictably negative results.
Gray ended the night with an assist after Souza finally did come on in the second half to deliver another pretty tidy left back performance for Tottenham, and his English prospect counterpart thus improved in a role more suited to his style.
Souza needs to be in the starting lineup
But Souza is the real point of conversation here, and it is worth remembering that the Palmeiras prospect was actually the first signing of the winter transfer window. He was overshadowed by first the price tag of Conor Gallagher and now the poor performances of the big name transfer signing flopping - the only experienced addition of the window, in the end.
However, Souza is already showing that he can be a big success at Tottenham. When the 19 year old came off the bench against Fulham, he delivered a very positive performance alongside Mathys Tel and Richarlison, and the trio are now going to be quite important to Spurs making a charge to ensure safety by the end of the season.
Tottenham have to start Souza at left back when the time calls for it, and there is a real argument to be made that even when Djed Spence, who himself is not a natural left back, is available, Souza should still be the call. Destiny Udogie is the best man at left back, obviously, but his latest injury is a reminder of why Souza was signed in the first place; the Italian star cannot be counted on every week for health reasons.
Spurs had already seen how poorly Spence was doing, particularly at progressing the ball to help the left winger and striker, and that is why they invested heavily in Souza right at the start of the winter transfer window. Tottenham have to remember that and communicate to Tudor that Souza needs to play, but with how things went against Fulham, hopefully Tudor and the club already came to that realization loud and clear.