Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles needs to make hay now

Ainsley Maitland-Niles flourished in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea. The youngster has a wonderful talent that needs nurturing. The time to make hay, though, is now.

Arsene Wenger is renowned as a player developer. It is a narrative that has stuck with him from the early years, during which he acquired players with the building blocks of ability, but required a little fine-tuning, a little polishing, a little coaching to truly deliver on their talent. But, actually, how many players in this Arsenal current squad have actually improved under Wenger?

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast here

The answer, sadly, is very few. Laurent Koscielny is an obvious example. Hector Bellerin may be another, those his recent struggles perhaps suggest otherwise. Aaron Ramsey perhaps has much to attribute to Wenger. But, beyond that, there is very little talent that has been developed. Given the history of the club, steeped in the course of its youngsters, that is extremely concerning.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

There have been many heralded prospects from the Arsenal youth ranks that have never delivered. Chuba Akpom, Serge Gnabry, Gedion Zelalem, Carlos Vela, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Chris Willock, Alex Iwobi. Now, not all of these are at the fault of Wenger. And, many have still have had a good career, if not quite the one that was expected of them, or still have their careers before them, in which they can truly deliver on their potential.

But it’s difficult to point to any youth products, other than Bellerin and Jack Wilshere, though the latter is an exceptional circumstance given that he was starting in the heart of the Arsenal midfield at 18 years of age, that have established themselves as a regular starter. All that brings me to Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Maitland-Niles was phenomenal against Chelsea on Wednesday night. Playing in an unfamiliar left wing-back role, thrust into the team because of an injury to Sead Kolasinac, and asked to match up against Victor Moses and Davide Zappacosta, two extremely capable wing-backs, the 20-year-old showed the type of calmness and composure that only special talents have in such demanding circumstances.

Defensively, he was exposed only once — unfortunately it led to the second goal, though the blame can be apportioned more to the centre-halves than it can Maitland-Niles. He was confident in the tackle, assertive and unwavering in his decision-making, and quick across the ground. Offensively, he also brought an element of speed that has been missing from Arsenal’s flanks. He overlapped Alexis Sanchez on numerous occasions, nearly assisted the Chilean with a delightful chipped cross which was marginally too high after skipping past Moses with a shimmy and a shake, and provided width to what can often be a narrow attacking force.

The problem is that we’ve been here before. Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell, even Aaron Ramsey to some extent. The young-20s period was wasted because they were in and out of the side, unsure of their role in the team and the squad, slipping between the cracks of responsible veteran and prospective youngster. That is the fate that awaits Maitland-Niles if he cannot capitalise on his opportunities quickly.

Next: Arsenal Vs Chelsea: 5 things we learned

It is vital that he proves himself worthy of a place in Arsenal’s starting XI. We have seen far too many talents come and go. Maitland-Niles is as good as many of them, but that does not mean that his future will be any different if he does not make hay swiftly. The time is now.