In a now-infamous Sky Sports interview back in 2019, Ainsley Maitland-Niles left no one in any doubt about how he felt filling in at right-back for an Arsenal side stumbling towards the end of the Unai Emery era.
“I’m a midfielder by trade. I’m not a defender so I do get a lot of stick about my defending being poor, but it’s something I’m learning and have been learning for a couple of years now,” Maitland-Niles said.
“If I was a defender as a kid, and my defending was poor, I would understand where the criticism is coming from, but I’m trying my best for the team and for the manager.
“(Right-back) is not where I would choose to put myself in the team, as I’m an attacking player by trade.”
Unfortunately for Maitland-Niles, his new manager at AS Roma – Jose Mourinho – appears to have taken a leaf out of the Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta playbook.
Making his Giallorossi debut on Sunday during a topsy-turvy 4-3 defeat to Juventus, the five-time England international started on the right-hand side of Mourinho’s backline.
Given that Roma have Nicolo Zaniolo, Jordan Veretout, Bryan Cristante, Amadou Diawara, Ebrima Darboe and the masterful Lorenzo Pellegrini fighting for a midfield berth, it seems that Maitland-Niles will have to get used to life in a position he doesn’t exactly relish.
“(Rick) Karsdorp (Roma’s first-choice right-back) played every minute. When he was suspended, we were not a team. Deranged. Lost,” Mourinho said last week when asked about Maitland-Niles.
“Obviously we need a right-back.”
Now, they’ve got one. Albeit a right-back who doesn’t want to be a right-back.
Was Maitland-Niles right to leave Arsenal for Roma?
According to The Sun, Everton were interested in Maitland-Niles before his mid-season switch to Italy, having missed out on the £20 million-rated Londoner on the final day of the summer transfer window.
And though Everton are not exactly overloaded with options at right-back – their ongoing inability to replace Seamus Coleman remains a major concern – Maitland-Niles certainly would have found opportunities in his favoured central midfield role easier to come by at Goodison Park than at the Stadio Olimpico.
Rafa Benitez’s hapless Toffees side were crying out for a player of Maitland-Niles’ energy, tenacity and drive in the centre of the park during their 3-2 defeat to Brighton last time out.
Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan were out-manned, out-ran and out-fought by Graham Potter’s stylish midfield triumvirate.
At least Maitland-Niles is back playing again after six months of inactivity at Arsenal. Playing at right-back is better than not playing at all surely.
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