Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles in midfield counts as “full strength”

Arsenal are going to employ a “full strength” squad against Ostersunds FK, but doesn’t that include Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the midfield for once?

Arsenal have let Ainsley Maitland-Niles sort of fade from the spectrum a bit. He had a really positive run at left back – out of position, mind you – and it looked like he was never going to have a hiccup in his entire professional career (that may be an exaggeration).

Then Bournemouth happened and Maitland-Niles was an absolute horror show. He misplaced one pass when he was the last man on defense and from that moment forth, he just looked like a broken man. His confidence could be seen oozing out his ears. It was awful.

And we literally haven’t seen him since. He made an emergency appearance against Crystal Palace, but that was due to an injury problem with Nacho Monreal.

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He hasn’t started a game in nearly a month.

But with Ostersunds FK on the docket, Arsene Wenger has come out and indicated that he had no reason to rest players, and would employ a squad at full strength, perhaps in the mind that this is their best and perhaps only chance of making it into the Champions League.

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That could mean a multitude of things. The midfield is where Arsenal will win or lose this match. With a battered striker corps and a defense that is perpetually skeptical, there is an abundance of quality to choose from in that midfield and, if Wenger is speaking the truth, then Ainsley Maitland-Niles doesn’t stand a chance against the usual Premier League midfielders.

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But is this the wrong way of approaching it? There should be some rotation involved against Ostersunds FK. As much as I’d love to see a 10-0 thrashing with all our top players out there doing a masterclass, I find it more practical to start poking around at players who may be more effective subs then the subs we are reagularly stuck with.

In particular I’m thinking of Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and, yes, Maitland-Niles. These are guys that a lot of people think could be in the first team spectrum, and could potentially overtake Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck and perhaps even Mohamed Elneny. But we won’t know that until we see what they can do among other first-teamers.

Against, Osterdunds should not be taken for granted, but putting faith in players that you already have a nice foundation of faith in shouldn’t count as taking anything for granted.

Next: Arsenal vs Ostersunds FK Predicted XI

Let’s just say I’d rather see one or two, hell, maybe even all three of those guys than their more senior counterparts. Especially when it comes to Maitland-Niles, who can absolutely say that he has proven his starting XI credentials at left back, which isn’t even his natural position.