This summer, with most fans pre-occupied by the excitement and fear surrounding the comings and goings of established first teamers, it’s easy to forget those players who are trying to create a foothold for themselves at the top level.
Intro
For them, the pre-season is one of the best chances they have to show that they have the technical, mental and physical readiness to participate in the first team when the manager needs different options to call upon.
We have seen in the not too distant past the benefit of such an opportunity to the likes of Alex Iwobi and Hector Bellerin, and how other promising talent has for one reason or another failed to take advantage, such as Benik Afobe’s serious injury against NYRB or Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’s reluctance to bust a gut.
It works for other teams too. Eagle eyed watchers of the Emirate’s Cup seven years ago may have noticed a Lyon debut for a certain Alexandre Lacazette. I was there, and didn’t notice much beyond a decent turn of pace and a good first touch. But then I was more excited about the prospect of the aforementioned JET and the ever-lethal-in-low-priority-games Carlos Vela.
Of course most fans are too busy getting on with their lives to invest too much time in all but the Fabregas/Wilshere level of youngsters, and the second string are not covered in any great detail in the mainstream media.
However, here at Daily Cannon, we all take a rather greater (and perhaps unhealthily obsessive) interest in everything that happens at Arsenal and as such, are always on the lookout for the next home-grown talent.
Since their impressive outings against Sydney FC, we’ve already touched on the prospects of 17 year olds Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock, but I wanted to focus on a player closer to the first team who has always managed to fly slightly ‘under the radar’.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – Conservative
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, despite sounding like a Conservative politician (as pointed out by The Tuesday Club podcast), is in with a very good shout of cementing a place in Arsene Wenger’s plans this season.
Having been officially promoted to the Arsenal first team squad, the versatile youngster has clearly been earmarked for game-time by the manager, with his positional flexibility being a particular attraction.
While there have rightly been question marks over his effectiveness so far this pre-season, it’s worth remembering that in all three games he was playing out of position. Left-wing back against Western Sydney Wanderers was already a stretch, but both his substitute appearance against Sydney FC and in the second half against Bayern at centre-half were definitely putting him in a position to fail. Versatile he may be, but putting a player that 18 months ago was a right winger and has subsequently moved into central midfield at the heart of the defence is akin to one of Pep Guardiola’s failed experiments last year.
So if the pre-season glimpses don’t tell us a lot, what should people know about the new owner of the Arsenal number 30 shirt?
Born in Ilford, Maitland-Niles is a rarity in the squad – a proper Hale End Academy product. He joined Arsenal at the age of six, the year of The Invincibles, and signed his first professional contract just over ten years later, having cemented himself in the u21s before his 17th birthday.
At this stage he was still mostly playing on wing or as a number ten, but soon found himself increasingly deployed in a central midfield role. Despite the extra defensive responsibility his creativity and the threat of his long-range shooting remained undiminished, and he proved dominant as a 17 year old in the UEFA Youth League.
As it happens, this positional move was accelerated to ensure regular appearances at u21 level for his close childhood friend Alex Iwobi, but it also allowed Maitland Niles to make better use of his commitment and desire to be involved as much as possible.
Soon evidence of his maturity was demonstrated, as he became Arsenal’s second youngest ever Champion’s League player, behind Jack Wilshere, replacing Aaron Ramsey at half-time in a 4-1 away win at Galatasaray in early December 2014. The game as most memorable for Ramsey’s astonishing 30 yard left foot half-volley into the top corner (and Yaya Sanogo’s look of utter disbelief), but despite playing conservatively, the young Maitland Niles didn’t look out of place.
By the end of the season he had made his Premier League, FA Cup and Champion’s League debuts, all while still only 17, and he was seemingly unaffected in his progress by some unsavoury incidents involving his mother, who found herself arrested and subsequently banned from the training ground.
Looking at his performance at this level both before and after his positional move, it’s easy to see why the club felt that he needed to progress beyond the u21’s in order to keep being pushed, particularly as he was seen as being both shy and a little lacking in self-belief, despite performances above that of his peers.
Loans
With this in mind, it was sensible to send him on loan to Ispwich Town for the 2015/16 season, where he was immediately thrust into the first team and given the number 7 shirt, being mostly employed on the right flank by Mick McCarthy. Following the first few fixtures, and a couple of man of the match awards, McCarthy was enthusiastic.
“He’s an outstanding player…if he doesn’t end up being outstanding for Arsenal I’ll be very surprised. Thanks to Arsene (Wenger) for lending him to us because he’s done us a right turn.”
His excellent start continued, winning the club’s September ‘Player of the Month’ award, but eventually the toll of an unusually heavy schedule for an 18 year old began to tell, and his form tailed off after Christmas.
He wasn’t helped by a few minor injuries and the return to fitness of more established players as Ipswich chased the playoffs, and subsequently McCarthy’s stated desire to plan for the following season once the playoffs were missed. Worse still was the impact of his aforementioned mother leaving “a lengthy…abusive and threatening… expletive-ridden voicemail” on McCarthy’s phone when the manager wouldn’t let him attend the England kit launch the FA had requested him for. Maitlind-Niles was immediately dropped, and barely got a sniff after that, as others took their opportunities.
That said, he still chalked up 32 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice and creating a fair amount of chances for team-mates with his quality crossing and driving runs. Reflecting on his time in Sussex upon return to Arsenal, his attitude was characteristically mature.
“It was a great confidence boost, that’s for sure.It started very, very brightly. I didn’t get to play as much as I wanted to at the end of the season but I still got to play regularly in the Championship so I can’t be sad about it. It changed the way that I’m thinking now, and I’ve grown up as a person and a player too. Football can be ruthless so you’ve got to learn to be a man quickly.
“You don’t see a lot of 17 or 18-year-olds playing week in, week out in the Premier League so you have to grow up fast and take things as they come. You can’t moan about things because they’re not going your way – you’ve got to find a way to change it.”
“Mick McCarthy was very old school and liked to play a certain, direct way like most teams in the Championship, but he also maintained a very high standard. If you weren’t up to that standard, you were out of the team, regardless of who you were. In that sense, playing Under-23s is really different to first-team football. Now, it’s about me using that experience, applying it to under-23 football, and also sharing those experiences with team-mates. It’s now my responsibility to show them what’s right from wrong and help them push on in their careers.”
His maturity and focus is also self evident in his recent interview with Arsenal.com’s video team, even if it does also display his naturally quiet nature.
Limited action
Many young players in recent years have found it hard to cope with limited first team action after a loan spell and have forced moves to ensure continued regular football, with only David Bentley for a while and Serge Gnabry (who did a last minute contract U-turn) making any impact at the top level. Maitland-Niles however, seems to recognise that patience is key at a club of Arsenal’s size, and as well as a willingness to adapt to the team’s needs.
He is very much a modern midfielder, with the pace and close control that served him well as winger at youth levels, helping him to both recover defensively and break forward from midfield to transition the play. He’s more than capable of beating a player or two to create space, and has a great ability to strike a ball from range.
More recently he has also played at right full back, and the crossing ability he developed earlier in his career is still very much in evidence when he came off the bench in our EFL cup defeat to Southampton, replacing the panic stricken Carl Jenkinson. He’s barely played in that role, and his defensive awareness would certainly need work, but he does have the basic attributes to flourish in that position. Alternating between full-back and centre-midfield did no harm to Michael Thomas back in the 1980s, and there something of a reminiscence between the two – apart from the fact that Mickey T was so laid back as to be almost horizontal.
Probably Maitland-Niles’ most impressive impact for the first-team to date was a part of the double-barrelled triple threat in midfield alongside Oxlade-Chamberlain and Reine-Adelaide in the 5-0 spanking of Southampton at St. Mary’s in the FA Cup back in January (before the season’s wheels totally fell off). On the day, he was stationed at the base of the Arsenal Midfield, making significant contributions defensively and going forwards, winning tackles, covering for Hector Bellerin’s attacking forays and having a hand in the opening goal. Praise on social media was suitably gushing with comparisons to a young Paul Davis, and even Claude Makalele.
While both reference points are a touch optimistic either in style or effectiveness, he did display a willingness to sacrifice showcasing his full skill-set in order to give the team what it needed.
Alongside his progressing club career, Maitland Niles has also been a mainstay for the England age group teams with over 30 appearances for the u18s, u19s and u20s, scoring on his debut at each level, including this cracker:
His efforts for England to date have culminated in him being a regular during England’s surprise u20 World Cup win this summer. Though a tactical change saw him dropped for the final following an impressive performance in the semi against Italy, it was he who was brought on late to maintain England’s winning position, showing he had retained the manager’s trust.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is not the most eye catching of the young gunners vying to get a break in the first team, and is certainly not as prodigiously talented on the ball as Reiss Nelson, but those only really seeing him for the first time this pre-season have not seen anything like the best of what he has to offer. Because of a vague connection with the guy who scouted him all those years ago, I’ve been following his development more closely than most, and firmly believe his combination of character, focus, athleticism and technique will lead him to have a significant impact on the Arsenal squad over the next two years if he can stay injury free.