Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles isn’t needed like he was

Last season, Ainsley Maitland-Niles was needed to cover a vast array of positions in the Arsenal team. Next year, however, he won’t be needed in the same way. It’s time for him to evolve.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles made his breakthrough into the Arsenal first team last season. Before last season, he had not played more than one minute in a Premier League season — he had featured in 1682 Championship minutes for Ipswich in 2015/16 during his year-long loan spell at the club.

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Maitland-Niles was nothing more than a prospective youngster trying to make his way in a hugely competitive world. He was offered nothing more than meaningless cup games preseason friendlies to play in, in which he was mildly impressive but not necessarily stand-out, and he needed a breakthrough to happen.

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He got that breakthrough last year because of his positional versatility. He first started at left back in the Premier League with Nacho Monreal injured and Arsene Wenger not trusting Sead Kolasinac at the position. By season’s end, Maitland-Niles would have made starts at left back, right back, central midfield and left wing-back, all of which showcased his composure on the ball, his calm and controlled touch and distribution, and his staggering speed and athleticism, which gets him out of some troublesome situations at times.

He played in all of those positions because he was needed at all of those positions, not because they were his best or most comfortable positions. Wenger did not trust Kolasinac, Monreal was oft-injured in the second half of the season and there was no other natural right back in the squad other than Hector Bellerin, who, by the end of the year, had totted up over 3000 minutes of game time and needed rest.

But this season, that is not the case. Monreal and Kolasinac are still present at left back, and with no signs of a back-three being played, will both be used as left backs and not switched to a left-sided centre-half position, while Stephan Lichtsteiner has been brought in to accompany Bellerin on the opposite flank. There is no need for Maitland-Niles to cover so many positions.

That means that it is time for him to evolve. Specifically, it is time for him to specialise in a particular position and role, and work to forcing his way into the starting XI on a regular basis at that position. And it seems fairly obvious what position that is, central midfield.

Both Maitland-Niles and Arsene Wenger have spoken about midfield being his future, Ivan Gazidis revealed Emery’s admiration for the player, seemingly implying that he would be tried when he feels most comfortable, and the 21-year-old agreed to a new long-term contract in the summer, a sure sign that Emery wants him to be a part of his plans.

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Maitland-Niles isn’t needed like he used to be. Arsenal have enough players at other positions for him to solely focus on his best role. It is time for him, therefore, to evolve and to specialise. Let’s hope that he’s capable of doing precisely that.