Mikel Arteta has laid down a challenge to Ainsley Maitland-Niles after dropping him from the starting lineup.
It has not been the easiest transition for the Englishman since Arteta took over at Arsenal.
Ever since, Hector Bellerin returned from injury, Maitland-Niles has had to ride then bench every game, even Cup fixtures like the one against Portsmouth on Monday. He is primarily a winger who can play in midfield and at right-back.
For the 22-year-old, it is difficult to digest that Sokratis Papastathopoulos is getting picked in his position over him. That is a clear sign from Arteta that the Spaniard does not rate him highly at North London.
“Ainsley needs to put his head down, work hard and show me every day in training he wants it more than anybody else,” Arteta said. “That he wants to play for this club and fight for his place.”
Almost every player in the Arsenal team has found a new lease of life ever since Arteta took charge. There are meant to be one or two casualties in this process as we have seen before like Yaya Toure at Manchester City when Pep took over. However, it also might be too soon to give up on Maitland-Niles.
He is technically strong, very versatile and did perform well during the festive period. He certainly could have a long future at the Emirates as a backup option. Could Arteta’s ultimatum bring about a change? We will have to wait out the remainder of the season.
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