Arsenal Vs Liverpool: Ainsley Maitland-Niles is wonderfully ratty

Ainsley Maitland-Niles was up against Mohamed Salah in Arsenal’s 3-3- draw with Liverpool. He worked hard and combatted well. He is wonderfully ratty.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles is now Arsenal’s starting left-back. It was not all that surprising to see him usurp Sead Kolasinac initially. The Bosnian has never played in the Premier League football and he had played a lot of minutes. Resting him for a midweek game made quite a lot of sense, actually. But since then, Maitland-Niles has played every minute of Premier League football; Kolasinac has played none.

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Maitland-Niles was afforded the somewhat challenging task of keeping tabs on Mohamed Salah on Friday night, who is perhaps the most exciting and potent winger in English football, currently sitting atop the Premier League scoring charts.

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For the most part, Maitland-Niles acquitted himself well. Early on, there were moments that he was caught out of position: One or two crosses from the left flank drifted over his head at the far post, one to Roberto Firmino in particular, that could have resulted in a goal; he was dragged too far up the pitch and too central when Arsenal lost the ball for the first goal, vacating the wide channel that left Laurent Koscielny defending space again Salah on his own. But as he settled into the game, the 20-year-old only improved.

When defending one-on-one, he was extremely proficient. Strong and decisive in the tackle, knowing when to commit to a challenge and when to stand off his opponent, Maitland-Niles was rarely beaten. His positioning improved as the game progressed also, and although, in being right-footed, his attacking input was a little limited, he did have the second-best pass completion rate in the Arsenal XI, with Nacho Monreal, who departed at half-time, the only player to better him.

What is immediately noticeable about Maitland-Niles is his ratty ability. He is a nuisance to defend against. Because of his range to cover the ground, as well as his explosive quickness and sharpness to track the slaloming, spinning dribbling of opposing attackers, he is extremely to difficult to shake. He latches on and does not relent.

Salah, for a player who scored and assisted a goal, was relatively quiet for much of the game. Maitland-Niles, bar the one moment where he was caught badly out of position for the first goal, which given that this was his third Premier League start in his career, is not all that surprising, was able to keep a hold of him. He should be praised for that, and fans, thankfully, are doing.

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It will be interesting to see how Wenger deals with the left-back position moving forward. With Shkodran Mustafi still to return, Nacho Monreal is now another option to return to a wide defensive position. But, for now, there is no reason to drop Maitland-Niles. He is wonderfully ratty, which is a nice complement to the passive play that usually litters Arsenal defending. Why not continue with him?

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