Nigel Winterburn says an Arsenal player would be ‘perfect’ in any other position.

Speaking of Sailor Says PodcastNigel Winterburn opened up about Nuno Tavares this week following his shocking performance against Crystal Palace.

The Portugal full-back was utterly hopeless against the Eagles on Monday night as Arsenal lost 3-0. The defender was substituted at half-time after a lackluster performance and Winterburn says playing at full-back would be better than full-back.

what was said

Winterburn opened up about Tavares’ lack of defensive awareness and his thoughts on the Portuguese ace playing at full-back.

“It could be a combination of all those things, some players need to play regularly, it could be confidence. But for me, the most important thing for Tavares is to understand his defensive responsibilities. I know the role of full-back has changed but Jamie Carragher said on Sky that you have to expect your defender to screw up if you’re standing next to your centre-back. You have to be in that position. I don’t think he understands the true defensive side of the game and if you don’t understand that you can be exposed. If he played in a full-back role, that would be perfect for him,” Winterburn said.

Worth a try

Tavare’s poor performance as a full-back suggests it’s worth trying.

Arsenal certainly have the staff to move to a back five, with Rob Holding able to play as an extra centre-back, while Thomas Partey’s injury could make this reshuffle much less painful.

Of course you might sacrifice some creativity by playing Martin Odegaard a little deeper, but at the end of the day, goals conceded are probably the most important thing for Arsenal at this point in the season as they look to pick up as many points as possible.

In other news, ‘Everyone Was’: Emil Krafth opens up on how the Newcastle squad reacted to the 5-1 defeat in training