"Fragile, out of sync and often overwhelmed" - Arsenal loanee given 1/10 rating by Foot Mercato for his 'disastrous' performance last weekend
Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares has been given a brutal 1/10 rating by French outlet Footmercato (h/t HITC) for his performance in Olympique de Marseille's draw against RC Strasbourg on March 12.
Tavares played the full 90 minutes as a left wing-back as his team was held to a 2-2 Ligue 1 draw at home. The Portuguese full-back was signed by the Gunners in 2021 from Benfica for a fee of €21 million including add-ons.
He made 28 appearances across competitions for Arsenal in his debut season. However, his form dipped after Christmas, whereby he played just 46 minutes of league football in the first three months of 2022.
Tavares was loaned to OM last summer on a one-year deal. Just five of his 31 appearances in all competitions this season have come from the bench.
However, the 23-year-old had a night to forget at the Stade Velodrome against Strasbourg. He completed 57% of his 35 attempted passes and none of his five attempted dribbles while winning just five of his 15 contested duels (h/t FotMob).
Footmercato wrote:
"Worried and worrying in recent weeks, the left-back loaned by Arsenal was highly anticipated against Racing. Returning to his preferred flank, the 23-year-old Portuguese delivered another disastrous performance.
They added:
"Although he was willing to attack, he was mostly notable for his inaccurate distribution, his technical errors (25 balls lost), and his imprecise passing. Completely outplayed by Dagba, the number 30 of OM experienced the same mistakes after the break.
The French outlet concluded:
"Fragile, out of sync, and often overwhelmed, he couldn’t even take advantage of Marseille’s comeback. Even late in the game, he was slow to react to the Strasbourg’s goal, and Tavares is going through a very dark period. A reaction is expected."
Arsenal's current left-back situation leaves no place for Tavares
Arsenal are currently well-stacked in the left-back area, with Kieran Tierney serving as a backup for Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Ukraine international has been a revelation for manager Mikel Arteta since joining from Manchester City last summer for a fee of £30 million. He has scored once and provided two assists in 25 games across competitions this term.
Unless the Gunners offload a left-back, it seems hard for the out-of-form Nuno Tavares to find favor under Arteta. The Arsenal loanee, who has also played at right-back a couple of times this season, has failed to provide an assist in any of his 31 appearances this campaign.
He has, however, scored six goals during that time, which shows that he could be a decent attacking option for the Gunners at left-back if Tierney leaves.