✍️ OFFICIAL Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Out)

[HairSprayGooners]

 

[ash_rasul]

That's sweet.

 

[lomekian]

You misunderstood what I said. I didn't say he's useless physically I praised his physical stats just wrote it poorly.



Honestly the biggest muppet on here. TAA had the freedom of the right hand side ffs. Set up Robbo's goal, almost set up Mane but for an excellent reaction save from Leno? Wtf are you on about.

And that is the direct result of Klopps clever tactical shift of Keita into AMN's in/out channel, overloading that side (nulifying our most attacking patterns and removing AMN's ability to shut down TAA. When Keita wasn't pulling AMN away, TAA got nothing, but Klopp specifically targeted Auba being our most attacking threat and our tactic of trying to leave him more advanced. Really smart from Klopp.

That said, AMN got a 'sort of' assist and had he a slightly better touch on that long ball from Luiz (incredibly difficult from that range and height), may have got another.

AMN's biggest problem has been a lack of confidence and lack of focus, and reluctance to be a full back. He's stepped forward in all 3 areas, so now needs to try and tidy up his play, as his excellent technique is often undermined by looseness. Its what sets Saka apart - his absolute focus when playing the final ball. At present AMN is a good squad guy, but as well as his athleticism, he actually has excellent technique. But he doesn't have that decision making in certain areas or consistency of touch/delivery that could make him a fantastic midfielder. Can he develop in those areas? The answer will define his career.

That said, I still think he could do a job on the right side of a central 3. But NOT in a2

 

[lomekian]

People who are thinking AMN is good are probably the same who thought Yaya Sanogo is the next Henry

No one thought that bar those who last saw Sanogo before his terrible injuries as teenager.

 

[Gooner416]

Of course he has a poor game against Pool at Anfield and now our prized English international who we should be valuing in excess of 40m is worth 20m euros to some and being written off. I don't get this forum.

 

[lomekian]

Its honestly embarrassing. I'd sympathise with people if he was a first team player but he isn't, and his long term future isn't as a first team player either. He is the black Milner.

Milner has been a regular contributor to 2 teams way beyond our current level. If AMN can be as good as Milner, I'll be very happy indeed!

And no its not embarrassing. Being Home Grown, particularly in anticipation of likely post Brexit legislation, should add another 30-50% on to his price tag, as it does for most other selling teams.
Also, despite it being unlikely that he'll reach the ceiling suggested by his athleticism and technical capacity, you don't let a player with those gifts go while they are still developing if they are still valuable to your team now. If someone wants to Pony up £45m or some equally brexit inflated fee, he's gone, but for £20m? That would be self defeating.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

And that is the direct result of Klopps clever tactical shift of Keita into AMN's in/out channel, overloading that side (nulifying our most attacking patterns and removing AMN's ability to shut down TAA. When Keita wasn't pulling AMN away, TAA got nothing, but Klopp specifically targeted Auba being our most attacking threat and our tactic of trying to leave him more advanced. Really smart from Klopp.

That said, AMN got a 'sort of' assist and had he a slightly better touch on that long ball from Luiz (incredibly difficult from that range and height), may have got another.

AMN's biggest problem has been a lack of confidence and lack of focus, and reluctance to be a full back. He's stepped forward in all 3 areas, so now needs to try and tidy up his play, as his excellent technique is often undermined by looseness. Its what sets Saka apart - his absolute focus when playing the final ball. At present AMN is a good squad guy, but as well as his athleticism, he actually has excellent technique. But he doesn't have that decision making in certain areas or consistency of touch/delivery that could make him a fantastic midfielder. Can he develop in those areas? The answer will define his career.

That said, I still think he could do a job on the right side of a central 3. But NOT in a2

You just summed it up right there. Could do a job in a three. But we don't want players who can just do a job...

 

[Sebastes]

For me, having actually re-watched the game vs Pool, he’s actually very good off the ball. On the ball, in this game, he’s pure poverty. Has a lot of bad touches and sloppy passes. Even when it actually seems he does a decent thing and finds a way out of a somewhat tricky situation, he follows it up with a poor 5-10m pass (to Tierney for example). It’s not that the pass doesn’t find it’s intended target, but rather that it’s just a little bit sloppy and we have to take that extra half second to find the next pass. It ultimately invites unnecessary pressure.

This being said though, he’s been excellent lately and is actually quite technical. His issue is lack of focus/nonchalance which result in inconsistency. The game on Sunday reminded me of the AMN of two seasons ago, who was usually good but you never really knew what you’d get.

If he can become more switched on when handling the ball he has the potential to an extremely good fb and maybe even cm.

 

[SingmeasongSong]

"Arsenal admire Messi, but are not in talks to sign him."

 

[OnlyOne]

That's sweet.

Bit like me and @Ibadan

 

[Beksl]

Also, despite it being unlikely that he'll reach the ceiling suggested by his athleticism and technical capacity, you don't let a player with those gifts go while they are still developing if they are still valuable to your team now. If someone wants to Pony up £45m or some equally brexit inflated fee, he's gone, but for £20m? That would be self defeating.

I think it's clear AMN is held in high regard within the Club. Wenger, Emery and now Arteta have all shown a degree of trust and gave him important role(s) on the pitch.

The problem was always AMN and how he percieved himself. If you have an unhappy player, publicly expressing he doesn't want to play in a way the coach wants him there's only so much you can do as a club or manager to keep him. At the end of the day it's detrimental to the team because it undermines coach's authority. You need to sell even if it's under his true value.

Fortunately it seems Arteta managed to show him where his abilities can shine the most. If he follows his manager's advice he'll look back at his career in ten years and feel grateful to be gazed by the brilliance of Arteta's coaching.

 

[Ibadan]

Bit like me and @Ibadan

Remember what we got up to during the protests... we were some wild boys

Spoiler

Mod Edit: won't allow that even with a spoiler

 

[OnlyOne]

Remember what we got up to during the protests... we were some wild boys

Spoiler

.

**** SAKE.

 

[Gooner416]

Remember what we got up to during the protests... we were some wild boys

Spoiler

Mod Edit: won't allow that even with a spoiler

Ibadan switched teams after the playlist fiasco. I'm sleep. :rofl:

 

[OnlyOne]

'Won't allow that even with a spoiler'

:rofl:

 

[TakeChillPill]

This place is schizophrenic....one minute don't sell him next min the same people sell him.

You lot make rawk seem sane.

He's a great utility player that's it's he's going to come in handy as cover on both fullback positions. Only thing I don't get is why the hell did we sign Cedric.

 

[lomekian]

You just summed it up right there. Could do a job in a three. But we don't want players who can just do a job...

Surely as squad players that's exactly what we want, no?

 

[AbouCuéllar]

AMN's biggest problem has been a lack of confidence and lack of focus, and reluctance to be a full back. He's stepped forward in all 3 areas, so now needs to try and tidy up his play, as his excellent technique is often undermined by looseness. Its what sets Saka apart - his absolute focus when playing the final ball. At present AMN is a good squad guy, but as well as his athleticism, he actually has excellent technique. But he doesn't have that decision making in certain areas or consistency of touch/delivery that could make him a fantastic midfielder. Can he develop in those areas? The answer will define his career.

I don't think what separates AMN's technique and Saka's is just focus/concentration, that seems a weird way to understand two players whose effective technique and ability on the ball are on opposite sides of the spectrum.

I agree AMN has better technique than decision making, but players of AMN's technique level are many, if you watch AWB his technique is actually of a pretty similar level to AMN's. I think we lose a bit of perspective if we call AMN's technique 'excellent', way too many footballers will fall under that category using such categorisations.

AMN at youth level kept it simple in possession, he started as a pacey winger, then we (rightly) saw more potential for him as a midfielder, first attacking, and quickly moved deeper, because he just doesn't have the creativity or ability on the ball to be an attacking player. He's never demonstrated a good range of passing, when he settled into a defensive midfield role he was the keep it simple midfielder in a pivot, akin to Akinola now. His close control and composure and decision making on the ball are obvious areas of major deficit, which prevent him from being a real option as a CM, hence why no one, even Wenger, has really prioritised finding minutes for him there in the first team.

If you watch James Milner at 23 years old and Ainsley Maitland-Niles you won't see many similarities in terms of quality on the ball, comparing him to Milner in this sense is a bit disrespectful to the latter, and a bit fantasyland in terms of projecting a future career for AMN.

There is some projection in terms of AMN's technique; I guess in an optimal scenario he turns into a slightly more efficient in attacking AWB. At the moment he is probably not quite that level defensively (AWB is simply elite, probably the best defensive RB in the game), nor offensively (AWB is bad offensively, but actually is a rather effective dribbler, surprisingly, which is more than we can say for AMN offensively). AMN as a midfielder or as a top two-way RB is fantasyland stuff, though, those kind of projections probably have less than a 1% of being realised, he'd have to have massive developments in areas of his game that are quite under-developed for his age. The 99% chance is that he is surpassed by people who are just better at these things at a younger age and still getting better.

This place is schizophrenic....one minute don't sell him next min the same people sell him.

Tbf some of us have been saying sell him all along. Very nifty squad player but even Madrid can't afford to keep very nifty squad players if they have value in this economic climate, so it goes without saying we need to sell off these types of players, especially given what important (and costly) needs we have in the squad. Selling AMN to raise funds for Thomas and Aouar, and buying or loaning a back-up LB on the cheap would've been a far more sensible approach to the market.

 

[senna]

AWB is horrible going forward, AMN whilst of avergae technique has much better technique than him. Agree AWB is way way ahead defensively but Man Utd will always have troubel attacking down their right unless they get an elite RW (hence why they are after Sancho i guess) cos AWB offers nothing. They shoudl actually just move AWB to CB he's prob do a better job than Lindelof.

AMN is pretty good going forward, many good crosses he has put in from RWB/RB - opening day Newcastle last year comes to mind. He's fairly useful at timing his runs to get in on the end of a move as well e.g. the anfield last year. He has good physical attributes as well in terms of recovery pace and power with the ball & can learn the defensive side - I mean he's no worse than TAA as a defender. AMN problem is he doesnt have TAA's passing range, so f we are playing out from the back then he is a bit limited hittting those 60yd crossfield balls to cut out the press as Arteta mentioned. Still I think he could be developed into a RB but he needs minutes there and we need better midfielders who can cover for his lack of passing range.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Surely as squad players that's exactly what we want, no?

The point is he doesn't want to be a squad player and he has a value of £25M+... You don't keep a squad player with such a high value who is unhappy with being a squad player