So far in his Arsenal career, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been shoehorned into a number of different positions. The versatile midfield man has been used as a full-back on both sides, a right-winger, a defensive midfielder and a box-to-box midfielder, and the fans have been having their say on where he’s best used.
What do you think is Ainsley Maitland Niles’ best position?
— LTArsenal (@ltarsenal) 6 January 2019
The Gunners love their young academy product and always enjoy seeing him start wherever he plays. This season has mostly seen the youngster deployed as a full-back considering the amount of injuries they’ve had at the back this season. However, the fans seem to believe that the 21-year-old would be best utilised as a box-to-box midfielder, and have been calling for that to happen.
Unai Emery has little choice at the moment, though. He’s missing as many as four defenders through injury and whilst last season saw Maitland-Niles thrive in midfield, a position where he won the man of the match award at Old Trafford, this season simply hasn’t offered the Englishman the opportunity to be fielded anywhere other than as a makeshift defensive option.
You can read the Gunners’ verdict on Maitland-Niles best position here:
He's B2B or wingback, same as Ox.
— ∞ (@TheFalseNein) January 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/SeimohD/status/1081848458330492928
Midfield, easily. That’s where he produces the best performances. Man United (a) last season.
— Pádraig (@afcpadraig) January 6, 2019
Best CM. Remember He was MOTM at Man UTD when he played CM. Really hard because we got Torreira, Xhaka and Matteo for first team
— Craig (@KentGooner77) 6 January 2019
CM. A box to box
— Tshepo (@DeeBoikanyo) January 6, 2019
Box to box midfielder. Reminds me of Gerrard, who also got used on flanks to good effect due to his athleticism.
— D82 (@Detective82) January 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/BellerinThanOut/status/1081848272841527297
CM – Box to Box. Anything else is a lie.
Give him a dozen games only playing/coming on/focusing on that position and watch him explode.
It was always the long term plan.
— Dougy (@Bantz_AFC) January 6, 2019
The 8 in a 4-3-3
— Nate Smith (@nws13) January 6, 2019
The Gunners want to see more of Maitland-Niles in midfield, although they may need to wait until they have some defensive reinforcements for that to happen.
