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Allardyce offers Arsenal loanee Ainsley Maitland-Niles advice
Sam Allardyce has suggested – – that Ainsley Maitland-Niles should be prepared to play wherever he is needed as the youngster edges closer to the end of his loan spell and a return to Arsenal.
Maitland-Niles h꧅as endured an interesting season. He left the Gunners in the winter after struggling to hold down a spot in Mikel Arteta’s plans.
, his decision to join West Brom on loan was i🏅nf🉐luenced by the fact that he would be able to play in his preferred role in central midfield.
The 23-year-old has impressed at times during his spell at the Hawthorns. But he has arguably not been able to stake a real claim for a midfield cha🌃nce upon his return to Arsenal.
And Allardyce has now suggested that Maitland-Niles’s beওst chanc🌄e to earn a prominent role with the Gunners will come by being flexible.
“If I were him, I’d play wherever the manager picked me – and I’d never turn it down because if you are able to play in a number of positions, then you are going to get more games than if you had one position and one positio꧋n only,” he said, .
“Perhaps you don’t want to be tagged as a ‘utility player’ but sometimes those people are played mo🅷re often than those who are stubborn and say: ‘I want to play in that position and nowhere else.’”
TBR View: Maitland-Niles’s loan may have done little for his midfield hopes
It is really 🔯d💛ifficult to see Maitland-Niles making the grade at Arsenal as a central midfielder. It certainly seems that he could struggle to become a key player.
Arteta has a number of players to pick from. And it is arguably an ominous sign that he has predominantly stuck to using the𒀰 England international as a full-back.
Unfortunately, his spell at the Hawthorns has probably not seen Maitland-Niles prove enough of a point. He has done extremely well at times. But it does not seem like Arsenal fans have♚ been ruing the decision to loan him out either.