Often praised during the first half of the season, Nuno Tavares is quickly seeing his promising loan away from Arsenal turn into a nightmare.
The Portuguese defender was sent to Marseille for the campaign in hope that he could learn like William Saliba, and while it did look like he was, that’s all gone out the window.
His last few performances have been heavily criticised by the media, and the Arsenal loanee was once again targeted following the 2-2 draw against Strasbourg.
Marseille were winning 2-0 in the 87th minute despite being a man down after 29 minutes, only for Jean-Eudes Aholou to score two goals in two minutes and tie the game.
The Arsenal man was at fault for the first goal, which Football Club de Marseille pointed out, relayed by Coeur Marseillais.
They said: “Tavares is getting worse and worse. Marseille as a whole are less performant, but certain individuals are too. It’s the case of the Portuguese, who frustrates both in his choices and his attitude. On the left, he often made the wrong choices, lost 25 balls through poor passes or wrong runs.
“He crosses to the front post when Malinovskyi is free at the back post. The worst remains his attitude, nonchalant in defence. He jogs and doesn’t seem bothered. He’s at fault for the first goal, not watching the ball and allowing Alohou to shoot. On the equaliser, he allows the cross, too far from the his man and lack of aggression.”
This isn’t what Mikel Arteta will have wanted to see, and there will be questions being asked of the player if he returns to Arsenal having not managed to turn this poor form around.
