‘He plays for his own sake’: Arsenal 22-year-old slated for recent displays

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Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares has been criticised by Marseille consultant Jean Charles De Bono on Football Club de Marseille.

The 62-year-old says he was “pleasantly surprised” by the Gunners full-back at first. However, he has since “completely disappeared”.

De Bono says he now understands “better why Arsenal are lending him out”. He also challenged Tavares to “recover and prove his qualities”.

The 22-year-old struggled in his maiden campaign at Arsenal last season, looking defensively vulnerable at times.

The most notable example was when he came off during the first-half of their FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest.

With Oleksandr Zinchenko joining the Gunners this summer, the decision was made for Tavares to go out on loan.

He joined Marseille, the club where Saliba honed his skills ahead of his Arsenal breakthrough.

‘It’s up to him to recover and prove his qualities’

Tavares initially did really well at the Ligue 1 club, but he hasn’t hit those same heights in recent weeks.

And De Bono, speaking on Football Club de Marseille, didn’t pull any punches.

“I didn’t really know him when he arrived, I was waiting to see him and I was pleasantly surprised by his quality of speed, dribbling, crosses and shots,” he said, as translated by Sport Witness.

“I said to myself ‘he’s really the right choice, we don’t have an option to buy him, maybe it’s nonsense…’

“But in the end, no! Because in the end he played four very, very good games and then he completely disappeared.

“And I understand better why Arsenal are lending him out. I’m waiting to see how he’ll behave when he starts again. It’s up to him to recover and prove his qualities.

“There’s one thing that could upset his partners, and that is that he plays for his own sake. He plays to get himself burned and that can put the team in trouble.

“When OM had defensive problems, it was also because the pistons were not good and put in difficulty the last three.

“He can put a whole defensive block off balance, that’s what he has to understand too.”

Work to do

Last season, it was clear that Tavares is an ‘exceptional‘ talent, albeit in need of a bit more coaching and experience.

Initially, it looked as though he was on the right track at Marseille, like Saliba was last year.

However, it looks as though Tavares needs to improve – and hopefully he’ll get back on track for when he returns to Arsenal.