Arsenal: 4 reasons Sambi keeps his place over Maitland-Niles

Mikel Arteta went for a team against Liverpool that there could have been few complaints about pre-kick off. Arsenal were on an unbeaten run of ten matches in all competitions and while there were changes throughout that spell, the Anfield side was deemed, at the time, as the strongest available.

Whether one wants to pin the result on those selections or not, it didn’t work. Pretty much nothing was going to work away at the toughest away ground, arguably in Europe.

In order for this current Arsenal to have gone to Merseyside and beaten this current Liverpool there would have had to be magnificent performances from back to front, as well as some unfavourable ones from the team on home soil.

Inexperience came to the fore against a side who’ve been playing with each other for six or so years, winning Premier League titles and tasting Champions League glory. It was a mismatch however the game was approached.

4 reasons Albert Sambi Lokonga should keep his place in the Arsenal midfield next to Thomas Partey over Ainsley Maitland-Niles

As a result that is best left brushed under the carpet – after some careful consideration in regards to post-match analysis, of course – the focus rightly turns directly towards facing Newcastle on home soil in the Premier League.

Who should be part of that team will be interesting. Alexandre Lacazette has helped solve an issue in this team since his reintroduction, but the time now feels right to bring Martin Odegaard back into the fold as the long-term solution.

Similarly, Nuno Tavares could be taking out of the limelight with Kieran Tierney coming back in at left-back. But what about Albert Sambi Lokonga? A second half performance he will not look back on fondly has seen calls for Ainsley Maitland-Niles to be be brought into midfield to partner Thomas Partey.

Is that a knee-jerk response? Absolutely it is.

As encouraging as Maitland-Niles’ displays have been on the chances he’s been given this season, there is no reason to take Sambi out of the team on the back of Anfield. Here are four reasons why the Belgian should keep his place.

1. Liverpool Was All Part of Sambi’s Development

Understandably, a lot of focus has been put on the horror eight minutes the Belgian went through straight after the half-time whistle before he was hooked. There were three standout damaging misplaced passes he made in a short period of time that put Arsenal under severe pressure, and those will be the lasting memories of his evening.

When you go out and invest £18m in a then 21-year-old from the Belgian Pro League, there has to be an acceptance of bumps in the road. It shouldn’t be forgotten that he wasn’t even due to be playing anywhere near the volume of minutes that he has. Injuries to Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka have thrust the midfielder into the Premier League team.

His first season would always have been designed as a development year with occasional appearances here and there, but here is is starting regularly each week against some of the best sides on the continent.

There is no better way to develop a player than to play him. Nothing else comes close. Coming unstuck against Liverpool’s ferocious high intensity pressing in that second half is the best possible education he can have. There are few attacks around who can execute such a strategy to that elite level.

Being a young player also means you learn faster. You’re more malleable. Sambi will come out of Liverpool like he has in every game he’s played with valuable minutes under a belt he’s still fitting himself into. Let him learn the right way by handing him an opportunity unlike any he was ever expected to have.

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2. Sambi Lokonga Has Incredible Bravery & Courage

What about Sambi’s second half against Liverpool did we learn? An awful lot, and as much as it’s true he failed that particular test, which player in the Arsenal team showed as much bravery as him?

Jurgen Klopp’s side upped the tempo after the break, giving even less time to their opponents on the ball, yet who was it who never shied away from receiving possession in tight areas? Indeed. While the choices of pass could have been more thoughtful from the defenders as Sambi was surrounded by bodies every time he got the ball, he never once shirked the responsibility. He always moved into space and never stopped calling for the pass.

That is incredible courage and bravery from a player who will never have played against opposition of that quality away from home.

Lacazette had to run back towards his own goal to try and calm Sambi down such was the intensity of the Liverpool press, and still he didn’t let his emotions get the better of him even if he ended up having a nightmare with loose passes everywhere.

His first half performance was exactly the same, minus the problems: Partey was being marked out of the game and the Belgian assumed the role of trying to offer an option in the middle to progress play. While it didn’t always come off, he kept plugging away. This is the kind of attitude you want to see. Sambi won’t be overly down-beaten by what happened. He’ll go again.

In all his interviews he oozes determination and humility. He knows he’s not there yet but he’ll fight tooth and nail to get there. When you’re building a team for the future, it’s those characters you want by your side.

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3. Ainsley Maitland-Niles Might be Sold in the Summer

Arteta has made a conscious decision this season in comparison to last term that acts as a fine example of how he’s learning as a coach: Pablo Mari would start over Gabriel, Mohamed Elneny would start over Joe Willock, Willian would start over Nicolas Pepe, etc.

Now, he’s abandoned that. Those who will not be contributing to the long-term future of this will not play: Maitland-Niles over Elneny, Gabriel over Mari, and so on.

The case with Sambi and Maitland-Niles is slightly similar. While the latter is now two years his senior, who is the more likely to be contributing in Arsenal teams two years from now? With only a year left on his deal come the end of the season, while it isn’t out of the realms of possibility that Maitland-Niles could sign a new deal, he will want assurances of regular first team football.

He won’t get that at Arsenal. Sambi might, though.

What happens now with the developing players like Sambi will impact the long-term. It may be that he isn’t what Arsenal need at this stage of the journey and another midfielder comes in or Xhaka is reinstated, but in order to find that out he needs to continue playing. For better or for worse.

It’s no slight on Maitland-Niles either, it’s just that in building for the future the most beneficial course of action is to select those who are more likely to be part of it.

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4. Thomas Partey Needs Continuity in Midfield

Xhaka is often considered the foil to Partey. The player who loosens his defensive shackles and allows him to express himself more freely in an attacking sense.

He doesn’t have that at the moment, and he won’t have that until the Swiss returns from injury, which is scheduled for sometime in January (knowing him he’ll be back sooner).

So what does Partey need alongside him in midfield? He needs Sambi more than he needs Maitland-Niles. The latter is more of the No. 8 ilk, whereas the Belgian fits more comfortably into the No. 6/8 crossover. Much in the same way to the Ghanaian.

The 28-year-old is at his best when he can combine the deep intercepting role with more of the ball-carrying brutality he has in his locker, and that is more possible when he is alongside someone like Sambi who is much more suited to the No. 6 role than Maitland-Niles.

Not only is there more room for them to dovetail as a pairing, it’s also the partnerships that has played together the most this season. Keeping that in tact for as many of the games as possible is vital for continuity ahead of this hectic period, and as a duo they’ve looked strong across this unbeaten run.

In general, the idea that Sambi should be taken out of the team to face Newcastle is an overblown response to what was a nightmare eight minutes against one of the best teams in Europe. He should keep his place without question.

The only reason for keeping him out against the Magpies would be if the goal was to rest him for the following fixture away at Manchester United. Otherwise, he plays.