Ainsley Maitland-Niles: Yutility

[Stannis]

Giroud and Coquelin signed new deals in January 2017. A new contract does nothing other than protect our investment.

Strange. People complain about our inability to get people signed on new deals whilst simultaneously complaining about us tieing guys down to new deals.

Giroud was told to move by Deschamps and more importantly we needed him to go so we could get PEA due to the while merry go round between us, Chelsea and Dortmund. why do you think his contract was only 18 months at Chelsea? I suspect that if Wenger stayed, Giroud would have come back to Arsenal.

Coquelin was limited and I also think has some delusions about playing for France.

Elneny plays for a crap national side, so he would be happy to warm the bench if it meant living in London and playing for a prestigious club. Id be surprised if he goes anytime soon because he is a decent squad player.

 

[Wryer]

A not so sly dig at Kane. I like it.

Are you claiming it?

 

[Hunta]

Cross between Kante and Essien currently.

 

[BBF]

Very impressed with this guy. Moved the ball well, good passing decisions, gets stuck in, comfortable with the ball under pressure, can carry it etc etc.

Surprised more people aren't raving about him when he did what Elneny does and much more.

 

[TakeChillPill]

Always rated him, excellent talent, has a rare combination of tenacity, speed, technique and seems to be a bright lad. Definitely happy to see him ahead of jack, el neny and xhaka.

His ceiling seems very high, he deserves as much game time as possible.

 

[MutableEarth]

I think he could thrive at the 6 or 8

I think playing as an 8 is a good benchmark for him. He'd be a good 6 but with his dribbling ability and technique in tight areas, he'd be a better complement to a 6.

Xhaka could be the 6 but I hope we either sign or produce one. Or we could use 2 8s who can defend. Dasilva is a player I like for such a role. Ndidi is also a good shout but I'm unsure of his passing from deep. One thing that Xhaka is good for definitely.

 

[HBL]

I think playing as an 8 is a good benchmark for him. He'd be a good 6 but with his dribbling ability and technique in tight areas, he'd be a better complement to a 6.

Xhaka could be the 6 but I hope we either sign or produce one. Or we could use 2 8s who can defend. Dasilva is a player I like for such a role. Ndidi is also a good shout but I'm unsure of his passing from deep. One thing that Xhaka is good for definitely.

Kondogbia is our man

 

[Ashybashy86]

Kondogbia is our man

I've always liked Kondogbia. I also like Danilo Pereira.

 

[MaraDon]

cant wait till he starts playing regulary so people can start moaning about his "lack of desiree" because of his plain face.

Özil mk2 incoming.

 

[TakeChillPill]

I'd prefer two b2b midfielders rather than a limited no.6 and no.8.

At the top level to be a no.6 you need to be elite at what you do I.e. kross, otherwise you become a liability as we've seen from xhaka this season.

I'd love to have two all rounders that can offer a bit of everything. It'll be interesting if we sign max Meyers, despite his height is a great all round midfielder.

 

[Trilly]

Surprised more people aren't raving about him when he did what Elneny does and much more.

Think you'll find a post from me early in this thread or elsewhere saying pretty much the same thing.

It was all theoretical at that point anyway but players like Elneny should be the base for an Arsenal CM. Every Arsenal midfielder should be described as Elneny + attribute x/y etc.

Hopes for AMN are Elneny with some pace and ball carrying ability. He's so young we don't even know what he could add to his game in the coming years. Fingers crossed.

 

[MaraDon]

from the kids we promoted in the last couple of seasons Bellerin, Chambers and AMN are the ones that im really insterested in.
I still dont see what iwobi can bring to the table but i still have faith in him as well.

 

[OSBK]

cant wait till he starts playing regulary so people can start moaning about his "lack of desiree" because of his plain face.

Özil mk2 incoming.

 

[ksarp]

I still dont see what iwobi can bring to the table but i still have faith in him as well.

I don’t have much faith in Iwobi. The IQ just isn’t there in my humble opinion. I belive Reiss is a much brighter prospect once he adjusts to the EPL intensity.

 

[ksarp]

I think playing as an 8 is a good benchmark for him. He'd be a good 6 but with his dribbling ability and technique in tight areas, he'd be a better complement to a 6.

Xhaka could be the 6 but I hope we either sign or produce one. Or we could use 2 8s who can defend. Dasilva is a player I like for such a role. Ndidi is also a good shout but I'm unsure of his passing from deep. One thing that Xhaka is good for definitely.

That Xhaka, an enigma he is isn’t it? He sits on the base of the offense, has good long range passing, decent tackler and leadership qualities. Yet he is slow to react. I guess if we go with Ramsey long term, then we have to decide if Xhaka stays or leaves. I just feel like the attributes Niles brings to the game is tailored for a 6.

 

[Hunta]

Loved his interview after the game. Guy is a killer, if he was French he’d be starting in that farmer league and ballin. Need to let him run free in midfield.

 

[Aevi]

Where you at @Furious?

 

[dashsnow17]

I think playing as an 8 is a good benchmark for him. He'd be a good 6 but with his dribbling ability and technique in tight areas, he'd be a better complement to a 6.

Xhaka could be the 6 but I hope we either sign or produce one. Or we could use 2 8s who can defend. Dasilva is a player I like for such a role. Ndidi is also a good shout but I'm unsure of his passing from deep. One thing that Xhaka is good for definitely.

How would a 3 man midfield of Ramsey-AMN-Xhaka fare do you think? I'm of the opinion that we need a b-2-b player with defensive abilities to complement the attacking b-2-b of Ramsey and the DLP of Xhaka. I think it'd be a risk to rely on AMN for this role and so would need to recruit someone, but the urge to promote youth is strong in this one.

 

[MutableEarth]

That Xhaka, an enigma he is isn’t it? He sits on the base of the offense, has good long range passing, decent tackler and leadership qualities. Yet he is slow to react. I guess if we go with Ramsey long term, then we have to decide if Xhaka stays or leaves. I just feel like the attributes Niles brings to the game is tailored for a 6.

He has decent defensive instincts definitely - but he has to remain focused and ahead of play.

How would a 3 man midfield of Ramsey-AMN-Xhaka fare do you think? I'm of the opinion that we need a b-2-b player with defensive abilities to complement the attacking b-2-b of Ramsey and the DLP of Xhaka. I think it'd be a risk to rely on AMN for this role and so would need to recruit someone, but the urge to promote youth is strong in this one.

AMN has problems concentrating over 90 mins which is the big risk with relying on him. However, I think that with more game time he can iron this out easily. The sloppy passes and occasional positional lapses in particular.

I think this 3 man midfield can work because all of their strengths in theory complement each other very well.

 

[dashsnow17]

He has decent defensive instincts definitely - but he has to remain focused and ahead of play.


AMN has problems concentrating over 90 mins which is the big risk with relying on him. However, I think that with more game time he can iron this out easily. The sloppy passes and occasional positional lapses in particular.

I think this 3 man midfield can work because all of their strengths in theory complement each other very well.

Yes, for sure at 20 he has a lot of things to iron out. I guess it's just the perennial question with young players: do you play them instead of recruiting someone and suffer the inevitable shortcomings of inexperience, or do you recruit someone and magically hope it doesn't impede their development.

There are a number of so-called defensive b-2-b players out there that I really like, Denis Zakaria, Kondogbia, Ndombele, Doucoure etc. AMN is not performing at their level right now, but will he ever be if they're brought in and keep him out of the first team?