Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares has been accused of playing ‘for his own sake’, something which has caused issues during his loan spell at Marseille.
The youngster joined the French side on loan in the summer transfer window after an indifferent first year with Arsenal following a move from Benfica in July last year.
He enjoyed a flying start to life with the Ligue 1 side, bagging a goal in each of his first two games against Reims and Brest and adding another in the 3-0 win over Nice in their fourth league game of the season.
Marseille were more than delighted with how the deal was working out and talk of a permanent move from Arsenal being explored.
Things have deteriorated for the player since that point, though, with a series of disappointing performances for Marseille in the league and Champions League seeing Tavares criticised and any talk of a permanent transfer dismissed.
He will be hoping to get back to his best once the season resumes after the World Cup, but Marseille consultant Jean Charles de Bono believes that may be a difficult task.
“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 told Débat Foot Marseille.
“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 difficulty.
“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.”
