Arsenal: Does Mikel Arteta have an Ainsley Maitland-Niles dossier too?

One of the main perks of Unai Emery was his dedication to Ainsley Maitland-Niles. That faded quickly. Would someone at Arsenal please figure him out?

Unai Emery’s “dossier” on Ainsley Maitland-Niles was framed by many media outlets as one of the main reasons he was given the job at Arsenal. Supposedly he had a plan for maximizing this immensely talented young man and not wasting him where he didn’t belong.

That didn’t last long, and true to his predecessor, Freddie Ljungberg has used Maitland-Niles as a fill-in rightback as well. All the while, Maitland-Niles has to be wondering where his future at this club lies.

Surprisingly (or not), Maitland-Niles is one of our most positive statistical players. That’s a hard thing to manage when you’re used as sporadically as he is, but when you stack him up against guys like Mesut Ozil, Dani Ceballos, even Nicolas Pepe, he holds his own.

Maitland-Niles has tied for the second most assists on the team while ranking in the three in dribbles and chances created as well. He’s dispossessed less than Dani Ceballos and Pepe and he takes fewer poor touches than Ozil and Pepe.

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Defensively, he wins the ball back more than any other player. He leads the team in tackles—more than Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira and tied with Granit Xhaka. He leads the team in interceptions as well, and that’s even less close than in tackling.

He gets dribbled past less than once per game, mirroring Lucas Torreira and surpassing Guendouzi’s 1.5.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has numbers to match all those players who he should be competing with. Stack him up against our wingers and he fits in. Stack him up against our creative attackers and it’s more of the same. Stack him up against our central midfielders? He’s the best.

So why is it so hard to figure him out? The numbers back him up. The performances on the pitch back him up. The guy isn’t a rightback. He’s filling in there until the right opportunity comes but no one has been willing to give him that opportunity. Which makes this whole “bide your time” thing moot, because if no one is willing to work with him, then what’s he waiting for?

Maybe Mikel Arteta can do something about it. Who knows. Each new face brings new opportunity for everyone. No one on this team needs more opportunity than Ainsley Maitland-Niles.