Arsenal: Ainsley Maitland-Niles only has himself to blame

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has reportedly fallen out of favour with Mikel Arteta because of his attitude in training. Given Arteta’s consistent valuing of players’ attitude in training, the Arsenal man only has himself to blame.

Mikel Arteta has proclaimed a simple and consistent message ever since he took as the new head coach at Arsenal: work hard, show a positive attitude in training, and follow instruction dutifully and you will be rewarded with playing time and starts.

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The likes of Eddie Nketiah, Dani Ceballos and Reiss Nelson have benefitted from Arteta’s integrity and actioning in what he has said. He is steadfast, and he is done what he said would do. But after an excellent start in the Arteta era as a makeshift right-back, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has since fallen foul of Arteta’s demands.

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Maitland-Niles has played just two of the last 630 minutes under Arteta. After impressing greatly when Arteta first took over at the club, including starting the first five Premier League games under the Spaniard, it has been quite the fall from grace. And, thus far, there has been little explanation for Maitland-Niles’ exclusion. Until now.

This week, in The Ornstein and Chapman Podcast for The Athletic, David Ornstein reported that Maitland-Niles’ attitude in training has been poor, including turning up late to several sessions in recent weeks, and that Arteta has frozen him out of the starting XI and senior squad as a result.

Arteta himself was asked why Maitland-Niles has suffered this recent fall from grace. His answer spoke more to what Maitland-Niles must do to get back into the team, but it does not take much to read between the lines:

"“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.”"

It is fair to believe Ornstein’s reporting here, then. Arteta wants to see Maitland-Niles working hard in training, which is consistent with what he has said throughout his time in north London, while Maitland-Niles is busy turning up late and not showing the commitment and application that his manager demands of him. It is quite clear what the reason for Maitland-Niles’ recent absences is.

And this reason is nothing new. Arteta has not made any secrets about what he expects from his players and how he will make decisions about who deserves to start matches. He said it from day one, talking about every player having a ‘clean slate’, about the ‘non-negotiables’ that he demands from all involved with the club. Maitland-Niles would have been aware of these and was not willing to behave by them.

The redemption tour starts now for Maitland-Niles. As Arteta says, he must get his head down and work hard. But the recent demise has been disappointing, irrespective of what Maitland-Niles is able to recover, and he only has himself to blame.