Kevin Campbell has defended Nuno Tavares after he struggled in Arsenal’s Premier League match against Liverpool at the weekend.
The left-back deputised for Kieran Tierney in the very tough fixture at Anfield, and he was up against an in-form Mohamed Salah.
He made a mistake that handed Diogo Jota a golden opportunity to extend Liverpool’s lead, and the striker took it.
The left-back had been doing just fine before that error and he struggled in the second half of the match.
Campbell admits Tavares made some costly mistakes, but he insists the Portuguese star did well and the loss shouldn’t be his responsibility alone.
“Tavares is going to be gutted,” he told Football Insider.
“Look, he did not have a great second half. He made a couple of big errors but by and large he did OK. They were elementary mistakes but these things happen.
“He is playing against [Mohamed] Salah – arguably the hottest player in the world right now. For the [Diogo] Jota goal, he robbed Salah of the ball and then got the simple part wrong – passing to a yellow shirt. Sometimes you cannot legislate for that.
“That goal made it a mountain to climb. Arsenal just could not hold out.
“It was painful for Tavares but it should be for everyone. It was a 4-0 defeat.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Tavares has deputised well for Tierney so far, but the game against Liverpool was probably too fast-paced for him.
At 21, he still has a lot of development to do, but the early signs show he is a top player in the making.
The mistake he made against Liverpool will not be used to judge his time at the Emirates.
He will get another chance against a top English club. Hopefully, he will learn from his performance at Anfield.
Tavares was not the only player who was culpable for the goal scored by Jota who displayed remarkable composure in leaving White and Ramsdale on the ground when the ought to have stayed on their feet.I think Tavares has been an excellent acquisition who could develop into a first class left sided player.Whether he has the ball skills and football brain to become an effective midfielder is perhaps open to doubt but he has the pace and physicality to be a very good left back or LWB.
I don’t think the ball skills are in too much doubt – I wouldn’t have been against starting both tavares and Tierney on the left-hand side against Liverpool to be honest; it could work.
Agree he’s been a great signing so far, really enjoyed watching him play
Tavares put on a blog that mo salaha didn’t know him but will certainly know him after the game. Now don’t you think that’s big headed, well sorry tavares he still doesn’t know you. Ha.
Although I tend not to take much notice of the many JA articles that depend on what that non legend CAMPBELL thinks – as they appear so very often and are so bland and underwhelming as would be serious comments – I do think that TAVARES shows real ability, though I doubt his Arsenal future is going to be as second choice behind Tierney.
He is not defensively sound enough IMO but has natural creative ability, so I see him used elsewhere than in purely defensive roles. I think he has a good future at our club though.
I will ignore CAMPBELLS attempt to defend TAVARES display at Anfield though, as the comment of a maverick. It was plainly a nonsense remark, even though I rate TAVARES overall ability, though not in pure defence.
I am from the school of thought that believes – and passionately so – that even wing backs need to be defensively sound.
That is why I believe Southgate was correct to leave Alexander- Arnold out of the Euros, despite his creative ability.
A very skilled player at just 21. His first half was magnificent. He made two mistkes during the 2nd half, due to his lack of expérience.
The Premier League Is by far the best in the world, and Liverpool an outstanding team whose players are speedy. Let’s give him time and these kind of mistakes will definitely desappear.
if he not good enough then he should not be on the field