• ! ! ! IMPORTANT MESSAGE ! ! !

    Discussions about police investigations

    In light of recent developments about a player from Premier League being arrested and until there is an official announcement, ALL users should refrain from discussing or speculating about situations around personal off-pitch matters related to any Arsenal player. This is to protect you and the forum.

    Users who disregard this reminder will be issued warnings and their posts will get deleted from public.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: Yutility

CaseUteinberger

Established Member

Country: Sweden
Complete lack of effort from him
Don't understand this behaviour at all. He gets a couple of run outs with the first team and he brings so little effort. Makes you wonder about what intensity we have when we practice. Maybe he is just so used to taking it easy and jogging that he doesn't have another gear at the moment.
 

dashsnow17

Doesn’t Rate Any Of Our Attackers
Trusted ⭐
Some of you are overreacting a wee bit, although of course he had a poor game. It’s about expectation management. AMN isn’t gonna become a starting midfielder for us, or a winger, he’s a back-up RB or utility player. That’s fine.
 

FinnGooner

Established Member
Bit worrying that this guy is in the absolute top group of talents talents our youth pipe has to offer. Never seem a good performance from him in a real game. A few decent ones but that's it. His reading of the game isn't good, his technique is bang average and even physically he is nothing special. And at 21, he's not even particularly young.
 

Red London

Anti-Simp Culture
Trusted ⭐
Some of you are overreacting a wee bit, although of course he had a poor game. It’s about expectation management. AMN isn’t gonna become a starting midfielder for us, or a winger, he’s a back-up RB or utility player. That’s fine.
What do you mean by that, now? I think he has the ability to one day start for us, it just depends if he meets the potential. I want to see him get more chances at CM
 

Dennis_Bergkamp_10

Established Member
Bit worrying that this guy is in the absolute top group of talents talents our youth pipe has to offer. Never seem a good performance from him in a real game. A few decent ones but that's it. His reading of the game isn't good, his technique is bang average and even physically he is nothing special. And at 21, he's not even particularly young.

Felt the same way.
 

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
But if he passes like he did today, he won't get a shot in midfield either. And he's not a full back.

Smarten up, Ains.
Yeah his passing was atrocious today but my personal issue with him is he looks way too lax at times. I think that is down to his confidence. He used to beat people for fun when playing on the wing for the U21. He seems to be almost too defensive now following his stints at full back but I think this is also down to the fact the Lichsteiner has been awful when called upon to provide cover for Bellerin.
 

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
Some of you are overreacting a wee bit, although of course he had a poor game. It’s about expectation management. AMN isn’t gonna become a starting midfielder for us, or a winger, he’s a back-up RB or utility player. That’s fine.
Not true. He has always been a winger but the fact he has been shifted to so many positions has stunted his development. Poor player management from the club IMO.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Yeah his passing was atrocious today but my personal issue with him is he looks way too lax at times. I think that is down to his confidence. He used to beat people for fun when playing on the wing for the U21. He seems to be almost too defensive now following his stints at full back but I think this is also down to the fact the Lichsteiner has been awful when called upon to provide cover for Bellerin.
It's his body shape going into tackles, going into dribbles - even when he passes. He telegraphs everything he does when he plays in that languid way he likes to play now. I don't even think being composed is an issue but the level of concentration needed to play at the highest level has to be solid at worst. AMN loses focus way too much - no position he plays is gonna hide that. I agree that he's proving more effective further forward as he did in his youth team days but even his attacking today was quite poor at times.

I don't want him to become another of these Arsenal players that does good work from time to time then continuously undoes it with careless performances. It's happening too much IMO, and because I rate the player and have for a long time, I've been backing him despite this because he does have the ability but he's not applying himself well enough IMO. Emery hooking him for Bellerin told the story, and I'm not even sure if Bellerin was ready.
 

nick gould

Well-Known Member
Always said he was too casual but again I am reliable told that many clubs felt the same with Van Dirk before he went to Southampton and he is proving everyone wrong.

I am not going to go into overdrive criticism at moment because I may say something I will regret. I feel though that it wasn't just him. Something is not clicking in the team anymore. We have lost the self belief. We don't come out strong in the second half anymore. But I would say to the young man. At least give the fans the impression that you care. At least put an act. Don't jog back lacadasically. Roy Keane would have kicked the sh*t out of youngsters showing that kind of attitude. But let's not be too hard on him. It's the system.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
Roy Keane would have kicked the sh*t out of youngsters showing that kind of attitude. But let's not be too hard on him. It's the system.
That's something I've underestimated before, but when you look at our squad, who should be an example for them? Squad is full of spineless losers and clowns with the addition of a few mercenaries who are bad examples for young players.
We need someone who will tell young players that's not good enough when Keane is not available for the ass kicking.
 

teamsoutheast

Well-Known Member
It's his body shape going into tackles, going into dribbles - even when he passes. He telegraphs everything he does when he plays in that languid way he likes to play now. I don't even think being composed is an issue but the level of concentration needed to play at the highest level has to be solid at worst. AMN loses focus way too much - no position he plays is gonna hide that. I agree that he's proving more effective further forward as he did in his youth team days but even his attacking today was quite poor at times.

I don't want him to become another of these Arsenal players that does good work from time to time then continuously undoes it with careless performances. It's happening too much IMO, and because I rate the player and have for a long time, I've been backing him despite this because he does have the ability but he's not applying himself well enough IMO. Emery hooking him for Bellerin told the story, and I'm not even sure if Bellerin was ready.

I see what you are saying, but he should not have been in that position in the first place IMO. If Lichtsteiner was alot better, we wouldn't have to rely on AMN being played in a positon he is clearly uncomfortable playing in. I think he needs to play higher up the pitch and be allowed that freedom to create and focus on his game more. I think he was probably one of the few wingers who have given Robertson (Liverpool), a run for his money this season.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Always said he was too casual but again I am reliable told that many clubs felt the same with Van Dirk before he went to Southampton and he is proving everyone wrong.

I am not going to go into overdrive criticism at moment because I may say something I will regret. I feel though that it wasn't just him. Something is not clicking in the team anymore. We have lost the self belief. We don't come out strong in the second half anymore. But I would say to the young man. At least give the fans the impression that you care. At least put an act. Don't jog back lacadasically. Roy Keane would have kicked the sh*t out of youngsters showing that kind of attitude. But let's not be too hard on him. It's the system.
It's an intangible quality that's often dismissed in modern football by a variety of new school thought leaders in the game, but sometimes having the type of character that epitomizes the system the manager plays, who demands of himself and his teammates, cajoles them and acts as the manager's tactical general on the field is necessary. I agree that we don't have that profile of player. Any player we have who may potentially have that quality are still young and impressionable enough that it never blossoms as the older characters begin to rub off.

I don't like to make light of players being emotional but you look at the (alleged) story about Koscielny supposedly crying because they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing towards the end of Wenger's reign - remember that he's currently the club captain. We're a team of game soldiers without a general on the field IMO. The funniest thing to me is that the closest thing to a leader out there IMO is a 19 year old we signed from Ligue 2 this summer. Some people will cry Xhaka but he lacks the focus to be a real general on the field IMO.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
I see what you are saying, but he should not have been in that position in the first place IMO. If Lichtsteiner was alot better, we wouldn't have to rely on AMN being played in a positon he is clearly uncomfortable playing in. I think he needs to play higher up the pitch and be allowed that freedom to create and focus on his game more. I think he was probably one of the few wingers who have given Robertson (Liverpool), a run for his money this season.
I think so too - I think had he been trusted in midfield or on the wing a bit more we may see a different AMN but that's just my own opinion. What we saw vs Liverpool was a far more focused AMN, he played with more urgency and intensity and he was a better player for it. Every time he plays at a quicker tempo and with energy, he is 10 times the player. I think that while he's a comfortable technician, he's not Pirlo. At one point, when he was playing as a #6, he was giving off vibes of a deep midfielder and it disappointed me that they never went full blast on that trajectory aswell. Every time he builds up time in a position, they move him somewhere else.

Playing him as a full back messed him up IMO. He's not the utility player people think he is IMO - he's fairly straightforward. A midfield player - on the wing or in the middle, but midfield. And even in the midfield side of things, they need to find an identity for him and fast. Additionally, he needs to inject some urgency and focus into his game consistently.
 

celestis

Arsenal-Mania Veteran
Moderator

Country: Australia
Think AMN needs to fashion his wing play after Ramsey not a conventional winger . Supply the full back to cross , attack the box with late runs as many times as possible .
 

krackpot

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
It's an intangible quality that's often dismissed in modern football by a variety of new school thought leaders in the game, but sometimes having the type of character that epitomizes the system the manager plays, who demands of himself and his teammates, cajoles them and acts as the manager's tactical general on the field is necessary. I agree that we don't have that profile of player. Any player we have who may potentially have that quality are still young and impressionable enough that it never blossoms as the older characters begin to rub off.

I don't like to make light of players being emotional but you look at the (alleged) story about Koscielny supposedly crying because they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing towards the end of Wenger's reign - remember that he's currently the club captain. We're a team of game soldiers without a general on the field IMO. The funniest thing to me is that the closest thing to a leader out there IMO is a 19 year old we signed from Ligue 2 this summer. Some people will cry Xhaka but he lacks the focus to be a real general on the field IMO.
I kept thinking why is he so forward? He was getting so far ahead that they couldn't pass to him. That had to be a instruction from the coach.

He should've adjusted his position so he could receive the ball under less pressure;
 

Latest posts+

Top Bottom