Pain in the Arsenal
Fansided

Arsenal Vs Vitoria SC: 5 things we learned – Nicolas Pepe papers over cracks

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal scores his team's second goal during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal scores his team's second goal during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 24: Denis-Will Poha of Vitoria Guimaraes and Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal battle for the ball during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 24: Denis-Will Poha of Vitoria Guimaraes and Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal battle for the ball during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images) /

3. The Ainsley Maitland-Niles death knell?

When Unai Emery arrived at Arsenal, one of the players named as someone who he would look to build the team around was Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Emery impressed the Arsenal board with his detailed approach to the interview, with Maitland-Niles name highlighted as a key one. But this season, it has only been downhill for the now 22-year-old.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Maitland-Niles started the season as the first-choice right-back amid Hector Belleirn’s recovery from a torn ACL. He lost that place to Calum Chambers after a sending off against Aston Villa. He then tried to tell everyone, for the umpteenth time, that he is a midfielder, not a defender, but he is yet to prove as such.

And after all this, Maitland-Niles put in his worst performance of the year — and perhaps of his Arsenal career entirely. There was the wayward touch that led directly to the second goal. That was bad enough. But beyond that one poor moment, his overall play was extremely poor, especially the positions he took up.

Was he playing as a right-winger a number 10 or an anchoring midfielder? You would be hard-pressed to provide a good answer. His pass success rate was just 71%, he provided little defensive cover for Hector Bellerin, and was rightly hooked at half-time. This might just spell the end of Maitland-Niles as a first-team player for some time.