Nuno Tavares ‘does not understand’ Arsenal role, says Gunners left-back legend Nigel Winterburn

Nigel Winterburn has called on Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares to properly learn the role of full-back - if he is to rescue his subpar debut year at the Gunners.

Arsenal paid £8million to sign the Portuguese youngster last summer yet his form has been inconsistent, resulting in a poor performance at Crystal Palace earlier this month before he was dropped by Mikel Arteta.

A three-time league title winner in north London, ex-Gunners left-back Winterburn does not believe Tavares is defensively equipped to succeed in the position.

“I just don't think he fully understands the complete role of a full-back and I think there's a lot more he needs to learn defensively in terms of the situations he puts himself in,” Winterburn told the Mirror.

“He needs to learn that side of the game very quickly and get back to the form going forward that he showed earlier in the season.

“The problem is when you've had a couple of games like the ones he's had, then your confidence just drops so quickly. You can also lose the trust of the supporters, so it makes it difficult to come back when that happens.”

Kieran Tierney’s injury absence has put Arteta in a tricky spot, with Granit Xhaka moved to left-back for the loss to Brighton and Winterburn is not confident in Tavares coming back into the side.

“It's hard to say what's happened when you're looking from the outside, but it seems his level of performance has dropped,” he continued.

“I'm not sure if that's down to the amount he's played or if it's a confidence issue. For me, I don't see him at this minute in time as a viable option for Arsenal due to his performances. He played well in certain games at the start of the season when Tierney was out injured.”

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