Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles exposed by young teammates

Ainsley Maitland-Niles was once again left out in the cold by Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta. He is being exposed by his young teammates, who are outworking — and now outperforming — him.

When Mikel Arteta arrived at Arsenal, he had no fit right-back available. Hector Bellerin was dealing with a hamstring strain as he recovered from an ACL tear that he suffered last season, Cedric Soares was not yet in the building, while the only options he did have were adopted centre-backs and midfielders. In the end, Arteta turned Ainsley Maitland-Niles, a natural central midfielder, into a right-back.

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But while Maitland-Niles may protest to be a midfielder, in all reality, his skill set forecasts a much more suitable fit as a full-back. He is quick, athletic, a good one-on-one defender, comfortable and composed on the ball, if lacking the elite control and skill to play in tight midfield areas, and he reads the game well when not suffering from his moments of complacency.

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And so it played out. In a hybrid right-back role that made the most of his central midfield experience, Maitland-Niles flourished. While Bellerin was recovering from injury, he started five Premier League matches in succession. But as soon as Bellerin returned, Maitland-Niles dropped out of the picture entirely. He has now played just two of the last 540 minutes of action. In that time, Arteta has used Sokratis at right-back despite the Greek international looking hugely uncomfortable in the wider position.

The final straw came on Monday night against League One Portsmouth in the FA Cup, a game that Arteta rotated heavily for, resting almost all of his Premier League starters. Therefore, after Bellerin started against Everton in the league and Olympiakos in the Europa League, it was expected that Maitland-Niles would finally return to the starting XI. Not so. Sokratis was again ushered into the right-back spot, the third time he has played in that position since Arteta took over.

After the match, Arteta was asked why Maitland-Niles has slipped out of his thinking and what he needs to do to re-establish himself in the first-team rotation. His response was stern, to say the least:

"“Ainsley needs to put his head down and work hard and show me every day in training that he wants it more than anyone else, he wants to play for this club and fight for his place.”"

Contrast that to how he spoke about Eddie Nketiah, who has started the last two Premier League games in Alexandre Lacazette’s place:

"“He has been phenomenal. The workrate that he puts in, the rhythm that he goes into pressing.”"

Similarly, Arteta spoke in glowing terms about all of the young players who featured heavily in the Portsmouth victory:

"“I am pleased with all of them, the kids really responded really well. The energy. I was looking at them in the 94th minute and they were still pressing and going and chasing. It is a joy and I am really enjoying working with them. They fully deserve the chance and I don’t know if it risky to play them in this competition but they are worth a risk.”"

It is quite clear, then: Maitland-Niles is not featuring because Arteta is not impressed with his work-rate in training. Arteta did not state it as explicitly as that, but it does not take much to read between the lines. And so, for Maitland-Niles and his Arsenal future, it is time to start working, because, at present, he is being exposed by his young teammates while seeing his Gunners dream slip away.