Glenn Hoddle has hailed Nuno Tavares, suggesting that the Marseille ace looks like a ‘completely different player’ away from Arsenal.
Marseille headed to Tottenham on Wednesday evening in search of an unexpected victory in North London.
It didn’t happen though as Igor Tudor came up short against his former Juventus teammate Antonio Conte.
Richarlison bagged two second-half headers to give Tottenham a 2-0 win, handing Spurs a victory over three players with Arsenal connections.
Marseille started the game with ex-Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi in midfield as well as starting Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares at left wing back.
Marseille also brought on former Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac whilst ex-Gunner Alexis Sanchez missed out.
Tottenham fans booed Guendouzi throughout but Tavares didn’t quite get the same reaction from the Spurs supporters.
Tavares showed encouraging signs at Arsenal in the first half of last season but endured a truly dreadful 2022.
Tavares was ripped apart on multiple occasions and Mikel Arteta substituted him early twice before going into the market to sign another left back.
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s arrival pushed Tavares out, with the Portuguese talent joining Marseille on loan for the season.
Arsenal will be delighted with Tavares so far, having already bagged three goals in six Ligue 1 appearances.
The 22-year-old couldn’t add another goal against Tottenham but he earned praise from a Spurs legend in Glenn Hoddle, as well as Owen Hargreaves.
Speaking on BT Sport (07/09, 7:35pm), Hargreaves highlighted positions Tavares has been taking up for Marseille, believing he is ‘really good’ going forward and he is ‘flying’ after struggling at Arsenal.
Hoddle then added that Tavares looks at home in a Marseille shirt whereas he never really did for Arsenal.
Hoddle even suggested that Tavares looks like a ‘completely different player’ away from Arsenal and believes he has added a real attacking attitude to his game.
“Look how high he is, that’s where he wants to be, I think he’s really good there,” said Hargreaves. “I think at Arsenal, playing as a pure defender, he really struggled but it looks like he’s taken this position on and he’s flying.”
“He’s confident, he looks at home in a Marseille shirt, at Arsenal, he never seemed it. He’s making the difference here, he’s a player now with an attitude of ‘I’m going to make that run and score, I’m going to have a shot from there’, and he’s got three goals,” said Hoddle.
“He looks like a completely different player – it just shows you what confidence does,” he added.
