Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles Has To Be Nearing Francis Coquelin

Francis Coquelin was underwhelming yet again against Manchester City and one has to wonder how much longer he will be preferred over Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Francis Coquelin only does one thing – he wins the ball back. That is it and that is all it will ever be. There is use for that, no doubt. There is no attack if someone doesn’t win the ball back. But starting in the Arsenal XI is not the place for such a one-dimensional player.

Manchester City walked all over the Gunners defense in the first half. Francis Coquelin got himself into early trouble, as did Granit Xhaka, and the Frenchman did not change much throughout the course of the match. He did shore up his act a bit in the second half, but the casual reminders are always there that he is so incredibly limited.

Which made me turn to the bench, at Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and wonder how far off the 19 year old lad was from being a first team contender.

The young Englishman is growing into such a versatile weapon that I can’t imagine him being that far behind the ball-hawk Frenchman. Maitland-Niles was never supposed to be a holding midfielder, but after spending time out on the wings and also at fullback, it has become apparent that his skill set may be too tied up if he were to be forced into strictly attacking or strictly defending roles, particularly out wide.

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A more central position such as at the base of then midfield, would allow him to strut his stuff more freely and it would provide for an exciting growth trajectory at a position that desperately needs answers.

Maitland-Niles has been a mainstay on the U23 side and in his brief appearances for the first team, he has shown to be perhaps a bit closer to relevance than we thought.

And if the only thing in his way is Francis Coquelin, which, given the set up against Manchester City, appears to be the case, then in the name of progress, let the kid have a shot at the spotlight. Again, could he really do much worse?

Maitland-Niles was on the bench against City, preferred over Jeff Reine-Adelaide, which is another telling sign of progress. It looked for awhile like Reine-Adelaide was being groomed to be the next big thing, but as him and Maitland-Niles both play the same position and the latter was preferred as a fail safe, you have to imagine he is the closest to actual first team relevance.

Next: Arsenal's Potential Starting XI Under Diego Simeone

Given how flimsy this midfield has been, shouldn’t we be pulling the trigger on that soon?

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