Marseille edged Lyon aside to win 1-0 on Sunday but it was not a particularly enjoyable evening for Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares – after GFFN handed the left-back a 3/10 rating, claiming he was the “worst player on the pitch”.
Tavares, 22, has impressed on loan at Marseille. He has already clocked up 19 appearances in all competitions for the Ligue 1 side. Just nine short of the entire amount he clocked up in his first season at Arsenal, following his £8m move.
Already, the Portuguese defender has scored three goals. On Sunday, he started and almost finished in a 1-0 win over Lyon. It was defender Samuel Gigot that scored the only goal of the game, finding the back of the net before half-time.
A superb win for Marseille, their first Ligue 1 since September 30. But GFFN were not impressed with Tavares. They claim he was the worst player on the pitch and gave him 3/10 and it will be “unpleasant” viewing to watch it back.
“Comfortably the worst player on the pitch, he seemed incapable of finding a teammate. Whilst many of his stray passes are sure to make a highlights reel that will make for unpleasant watching, his first touch also deserted him.
“Many attacks ended with him, and he was arguably the only player to be bettered by his opponent. Tavares did, however, finally begin to feel the rhythm of the game in the final stages when Marseille needed to see out the result.”
Marseille win but Arsenal defender Tavares handed 3/10
The issue Tavares has is, Arsenal are flying. Oleksandr Zinchenko is back from injury and Kieran Tierney scored last week in a 1-0 win over Zurich. The Gunners have plenty of options all over the pitch. Tavares needs a perfect loan.
It started off pretty perfect. But since his excellent start, Tavares has struggled to replicate that form. He was poor against Lyon on Sunday and if any chance of breaking into Arsenal’s side, even if he is playing well, look all but over.
Ultimately now, Tavares is playing for his future – wherever that may be. Perhaps, a permanent move to Marseille but if he is going to play the way he did on Sunday, even that might be in question. Improvement and a reset is needed.
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