‘We may never see him again’: Campbell thinks Arteta may now ditch ‘fantastic’ Arsenal player

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Arsenal icon Kevin Campbell has urged Mikel Arteta to keep faith in Nuno Tavares despite his poor display on Monday night.

The Gunners cult hero was speaking on Highbury Squad about the team’s shock 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace.

Arsenal had been in great form prior to their trip to Selhurst Park, with six wins from previous last seven league games.

The Gunners did lose to Liverpool on 16 March, but given how strong the Reds are, that defeat wasn’t as hard to take.

“This was not good enough”

By contrast, Mikel Arteta was compelled to apologise to Arsenal fans for the “unacceptable” loss against the Eagles.

“We were poor, especially in the first half,” Sky Sports quoted him as saying.

“I apologise to our supporters… this was not good enough.”

Tavares started at left-back for Arsenal due to Kieran Tierney’s knee injury, for which he’ll undergo surgery.

However, Mikel Arteta ended up taking him off at half time, with Granit Xhaka going on to fill at left-back.

It was the £7million man’s first start since Nottingham Forest in January, when Arteta hauled him off after 35 minutes.

With Tierney likely to miss the rest of the season, the Arsenal boss has a real dilemma on his hands.

Does he keep playing Tavares at left-back, use Xhaka there, or perhaps even go for Lino Sousa or Mazeed Ogungbo?

“He’s the best man for the job”

Campbell reckons Arteta should stick with the former Benfica man.

“His confidence is low, that’s for sure,” he told Highbury Squad host Sophie Nicolaou.

“As you said, you fear for him because we may never see him again. You were concerned about where he was mentally.

“Sometimes, when you keep falling off the horse, you have to keep getting back on it. He’s got to gain some confidence from somewhere.

“Let’s be honest, playing well, he’s the best man for that job.

“We have to get him playing. Why not give him another go? I would rather try to build him. Build his confidence up.

“He hasn’t been around the first team for a long time, so he needs to be built up. He’s not going to hit the ground running where he was.”

“Hope he’s getting the coaching that he needs”

Fellow Arsenal legend Ian Wright has also stuck up for Tavares, saying he’s a “fantastic” player who can bounce back.

“There’s things he’s working on but you look at someone like Tavares and you think to yourself, I just hope he’s getting that coaching that he needs at the minute,” he told Wrighty’s House.

“We know that he’s fantastic, he’s a fantastic player.

“He can be attacking and we couldn’t get out [against Palace]. We have to take it on the chin.”