{"id":1079228,"date":"2019-03-19T10:47:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T10:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1079228"},"modified":"2019-03-19T10:47:09","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T10:47:09","slug":"maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/","title":{"rendered":"Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding Arsenal full-back switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has hailed Unai Emery for his help in turning the winger into a more capable defender.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 21-year-old has often been used as a wing-back this season with Arsenal’s right-backs Hector Bellerin and Stephan Lichtsteiner struggling with injuries and form respectively.<\/p>\n

Can Maitland-Niles become Arsenal’s first-choice right-back? Five key things to know…<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Ainsley Maitland-Niles has featured predominantly in defence for Arsenal this season.<\/li>\n
  2. The 21-year-old has provided good cover for Hector Bellerin, who is out with a long-term injury.<\/li>\n
  3. The natural attacking player had also played defensively under Arsene Wenger last season, with some expected faults.<\/li>\n
  4. But Maitland-Niles feels he has improved in the role this season thanks to the help of Emery and his coaching staff.<\/li>\n
  5. And he also believes he could prove tough competition for Bellerin when the Spaniard returns.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7205446-man-utd-need-to-sign-england-s-duel-master<\/p>\n

    Maitland-Niles had previously filled in at wing-back under Arsene Wenger last season but still looked like a winger playing in defence, rather than a natural defender.<\/p>\n

    However, he has improved this season, something he puts down to the help of Emery and his coaches.<\/p>\n

    “I’m still adapting to [the position] but the manager and coaching staff are helping me a lot at the moment,” Maitland-Niles told football.london<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    “My best qualities are going forward, creating. I’ve spoken to the manager and he seems to think the same as me.<\/p>\n

    “When Hector comes back maybe it’ll be a good challenge for me and him.<\/p>\n

    “It all depends on how he comes back. Hector is a fantastic player and I wouldn’t want to force anybody out of the team, it’s more about healthy competition with him.”<\/p>\n

    Of Maitland-Niles’ 19 appearances for the Arsenal first-team this season, only one has not been in a defensive position – either at full-back or wing-back.<\/p>\n

    https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=buROq74yI1o<\/p>\n

    Subscribe to Squawka\u2019s Youtube channel here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Maitland-Niles’ favourite positions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Despite his recent comments on potentially challenging Hector Bellerin to become Arsenal’s number one right-back, Maitland-Niles has also spoken in the past about his desires to play other positions.<\/p>\n

    As a 19-year-old, the Englishman spoke of central midfield being his favourite position, having played there in Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Southampton.<\/p>\n

    When asked if centre-midfield was his preferred role Maitland-Niles told the club\u2019s official website in 2017: \u201cYes, it is! I prefer to play centre mid than right back, but I\u2019m happy to do a job for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

    But two years later, he expressed his desires to become Arsenal’s first-choice winger amid rumours of an exit in the January transfer window.<\/p>\n

    Then, he said<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019d like to be a winger. I feel comfortable there and I\u2019ve been playing there this season.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI was a striker growing up. Thierry Henry was the perfect role model at the time. Then everybody started growing but I was still a bit short.<\/p>\n

    “As I was still quick, direct and could run at players they thought they would put me on the wing. So up until the age of 16, I was a winger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ainsley Maitland-Niles has hailed Unai Emery for his help in turning the winger into a more capable defender. The 21-year-old has often been used as a wing-back this season with Arsenal’s right-backs Hector Bellerin and Stephan Lichtsteiner struggling with injuries and form respectively. Can Maitland-Niles become Arsenal’s first-choice right-back? Five key things to know… Ainsley…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":1079231,"parent":0,"menu_order":7654,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Arsenal's Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding full-back switch","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-1079228","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"\nArsenal's Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding full-back switch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding Arsenal full-back switch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Squawka | EN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/03\/19104525\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@squawka\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Harry Edwards\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d\"},\"headline\":\"Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding Arsenal full-back switch\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-19T10:47:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":526,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/en\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/19104525\\\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arsenal's Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding full-back switch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/en\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/19104525\\\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-19T10:47:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/en\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/19104525\\\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/en\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/19104525\\\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 13: Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Group E match between Arsenal and Qarabag FK at Emirates Stadium on December 13, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins\\\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Squawka\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding Arsenal full-back switch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Squawka | EN\",\"description\":\"Football News, Stats, and More...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d\",\"name\":\"Harry Edwards\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Harry Edwards\"},\"description\":\"Harry Edwards has been writing for Squawka since 2017, producing match content, betting tips, news, features, quizzes and a lot more. He has additional focus on women's football, FPL and FIFA\\\/EAFC. Harry is a Chelsea fan and also has an interest in tennis and darts.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/harryedwards16\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/harry-edwards\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Arsenal's Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding full-back switch","description":"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding Arsenal full-back switch","og_description":"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/","og_site_name":"Squawka | EN","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/03\/19104525\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@squawka","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/"},"author":{"name":"Harry Edwards","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d"},"headline":"Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding Arsenal full-back switch","datePublished":"2019-03-19T10:47:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/"},"wordCount":526,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/03\/19104525\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/","name":"Arsenal's Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding full-back switch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/03\/19104525\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-19T10:47:09+00:00","description":"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/03\/19104525\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/03\/19104525\/maitland-niles-arsenal.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 13: Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Group E match between Arsenal and Qarabag FK at Emirates Stadium on December 13, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/maitland-niles-full-back-arsenal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Squawka","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding Arsenal full-back switch"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/","name":"Squawka | EN","description":"Football News, Stats, and More...","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/4e62e4b7416dff4a81adf12d6340823d","name":"Harry Edwards","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0026fa9c4643646cbd6cb2bfceaaec1552223b05885c8c1ea9b98ffcc00c20f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Harry Edwards"},"description":"Harry Edwards has been writing for Squawka since 2017, producing match content, betting tips, news, features, quizzes and a lot more. He has additional focus on women's football, FPL and FIFA\/EAFC. Harry is a Chelsea fan and also has an interest in tennis and darts.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/harryedwards16"],"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/author\/harry-edwards\/"}]}},"yoast_title":"Arsenal's Maitland-Niles praises Emery for aiding full-back switch","yoast_description":"Ainsley Maitland-Niles is adamant that Arsenal boss Unai Emery has played a key role in his full-back switch this season.","yoast_keyword":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/1079228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/1079228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1079231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1079228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1079228"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=1079228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}