Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles versatility wonderful and worrying

Ainsley Maitland-Niles played right wing in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Blackpool on Wednesday night. His versatility is wonderful, but it also brings worrying consequences.

The EFL Cup often provides young and reserve players the chance to play for the senior first team when they would not previously have been given the opportunity to do so in league and European competition. There are few clubs that such an approach has been more central than at Arsenal.

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Throughout the Arsene Wenger years, it was the League Cup that was the breeding ground for the brilliant raft of young players to learn their trade and establish themselves in the senior squad. From Jack Wilshere to Cesc Fabregas, there has been a myriad of young players earning their stripes in the EFL Cup.

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And now, in Wenger’s wake, Unai Emery is taking the same approach. In Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Blackpool, the individual that impressed me the most was Ainsley Maitland-Niles, the 21-year-old returning to the team after recovering from a broken left fibula that he suffered on the opening weekend of the season. This was only his second start of the year for the first team. He made quite the impression.

While it is difficult to provide truly critical and insightful analysis of his performance because of the pattern of the match and the disparity in quality between the two teams, what was undoubtedly surprising to see was the position that he played in. Maitland-Niles was fielded on the right wing. He did play there in his younger years, and Freddie Ljungberg used him there in an under-23 match last week as he continued his rehab from injury. But this was not the role that many had him pegged for.

Off the top of my head, that is now the seventh different role that Maitland-Niles has played for the first team: Left back, right back, left wing-back, right wing-back, holding midfield, central midfield and now right wing. And that might not even be all of them. There are few players that possess the same versatility.

It is a wonderful trait, one that illustrates his great awareness, positional poise, understanding of the game, vision, and athletic and technical skills. And it will lead to him being handed more first-team opportunities than other young players who can only ever play in one position. Eddie Nketiah is currently learning that the hard way.

But it is also a worrying sign for the remainder of his career. Like Phil Neville at Manchester United or Owen Hargreaves and England, Maitland-Niles could become a victim of his versatility. Because he is being used in so many positions, and can play so many positions effectively, he could easily become the jack of all trades but the master of none.

Maitland-Niles needs to specialise, to hone his craft, to delve into the detail of one or two positions, not to slip through the cracks of appeared flexibility. He is an excellent player with a great many gifts, but his versatility, while currently a virtue, could easily turn into a vice. He needs to be careful.