Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles isn’t the beneficiary of Sead Kolasinac dropping

Sead Kolasinac has been dropped from the Arsenal starting XI. But Ainsley Maitland-Niles is not the beneficiary; it’s Nacho Monreal.

When Sead Kolasinac did not start in Arsenal’s midweek Premier League trip to West Ham United a week ago, it was assumed that he was being rested. There is little depth at the position, the fixtures were beginning to pile up, and having spent most of his career in Germany where he enjoyed a winter break, the unique physical challenges of English football could have perhaps taken a greater toll on his fitness. The thinking made sense.

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It was thrust into doubt, though, when Ainsley Maitland-Niles started at weekend against Newcastle United. Two consecutive Premier League starts. It was fair to question whether Kolasinac was not being rested, but had instead been dropped.

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That question has now, ostensibly, been answered. Kolasinac started in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against West Ham, again, on Tuesday night. The team was made up of a plethora of reserve and youth players. And given that the next Premier League game is on Friday night against Liverpool, it would be surprising that any who Arsene Wenger intended to start again Jurgen Klopp’s side would have played just three days before in a lesser competition.

So if Kolasinac has seemingly been dropped from the Premier League starting line-up, it would be reasonable to assume that Wenger has highlighted Maitland-Niles as his replacement at the position. Maitland-Niles, after all, has started the last two league games in his stead, performing excellently in the latter of those two matches. But I do not think that that is Wenger’s thinking. I think that he is taking another avenue.

Nacho Monreal, with Shkodran Mustafi unavailable for selection, has been starting at centre-half alongside Laurent Koscielny. Well, Mustafi returned to training last week, with Wenger saying that he could have risked him against Newcastle had he wanted to.

I believe that Wenger did not want to risk Mustafi because of the upcoming Liverpool match. With their visit to the Emirates not on the immediate horizon, I think that Wenger will reinstate Mustafi to the starting line-up, recognising the importance of the German to shape and structure of the Arsenal defence.

And this is why Kolasinac has been eased out of the line-up: Monreal, upon Mustafi’s return, will slide into the left-back position, with Mustafi and Koscielny reigniting their centre-half partnership from last year. Given Wenger’s favour of experience in defence, especially in the big games, it is not all that surprising.

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Kolasinac perhaps deserves to feel a little slighted by the decision. Although he has not quite replicated his early season form, he has not exactly been disappointing since then. Nevertheless, this is the decision that I believe Wenger has taken. Let’s hope that it is the right one.