Arsenal: How to prevent Ainsley Maitland-Niles from becoming Alex Iwobi

Arsenal are struggling massively to get the best out of Alex Iwobi, so with Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the rise, how can they avoid a repeat let-down?

Every player in the history of the world has gone through rough patches. It’s not like Arsenal are the crowned champions of struggle (although they might be). Still, seeing what Alex Iwobi looks like today compared to what he looked like at the close of the 2015/16 season is tear-jerking. It’s like seeing Thierry Henry and then watching Yaya Sanogo, which may be an exaggeration.

Still, it’s disheartening. And he’s still a kid at 22 years of age, there is no hiding from that. But it’s hard not to be discouraged by a year and a half of abject misery from him on the pitch. It’s not like he’s just sputtering, he is face down in the mud lately.

Which is why there is a fair amount of trepidation that Ainsley Maitland-Niles may be the next to set fire to the league at the roaring age of 20 and then not reach that height again until, well, whenever Iwobi finally comes around. Assuming he does.

There are theories galore. People say Wenger ruins players. People say Iwobi just doesn’t have it, but there seems to be a common theme with players that Wenger (for lack of a better word) dicks around with.

They struggle.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain never had a position to call his own. He struggled to find consistency. Aaron Ramsey only found his best when he was used the way he was meant to be used. Calum Chambers is hitting his stride now that he is a real center back and not a defensive midfielder or a right back.

It’s a clear theme.

Alex Iwobi doesn’t have a position. He hasn’t ever. He soared as a winger when he was high on confidence, but that faded quickly. Wenger flirted with him being a straight CM while also accepting that his creative potential makes him a CAM candidate. And through it all, Iwobi never had a set position. Just like the Ox.

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What position does Maitland-Niles play, Wenger?

“He’s a defensive midfielder basically,” he says (as quoted by the Evening Standard). Yet what is one position he has yet to be played at despite playing nearly 1000 minutes? Anything central midfield.

He is tearing it up as a wingback. Iwobi teared it up as a winger. Ox teared it up every so often as a nomadic utility man. Don’t let the theme continue. Give a player a home in the starting XI and he can grow. Throw him around like silly putty, molding him into whatever you want on any given day, and he will never solidify into a true threat and he will struggle. As so many have done.

Thankfully, the reasons why Wenger was talking about Maitland-Niles is because Francis Coquelin has been sold and a spot is opening up in the midfield for fresh blood. The first name Wenger mentioned was Maitland-Niles.

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Meaning that, barring anything stupid (which is never a guarantee), Wenger may be catching onto this theme of nomadic players one wrong.