Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 2019/2020 Performances

[SingmeasongSong]

Bellerin is nothing special, nice guy though. He gets overrated because of his upbringing in La Masia but he's not too dissimilar to most fullbacks these days. The evolution of the fullback role means they're more like midfielders rather than wingers. TAA, AMN, Alphonso Davies and Kimmich, these are all the prototypes of the new types of fullbacks. I believe all of them have their education in midfield before transitioning into fullback. Even some fullbacks have transition into full time midfielders such as Partey, Fabinho and Lahm under Pep. I just think Bellerin doesn't fit this model and will unfortunately suffer.

I have to finish on this note. AMN has the best fitness in this squad. 3 intense pressing games and he has shown no signs of tiredness or cramp. He's a fantastic athlete.

I've always been one of AMN's biggest fans, but, even though I agree to a certain overhyping of Bellerin, I think it is as much unjust as the bashing of AMN over the last year when he was merely playing as RB which wasn't his natural position.

Like anyone else within the squad that turned from a **** show into absolute beasts on the field, Bellerin could very well undergo a similar process under Arteta. You just know that he is going to be a lot better with the new setup and manager as well.

And it's only going to be benefitial. Similarly to the competition between Pepe and Reiss, whilst I've always been screaming out for Pepe to start, I like how Arteta all of a sudden has created an environment of constructive competition between the two which makes them both perform beyond what has been seen before.

AMM and Bellerin could do the same whilst maybe one day, we could see AMN indeed get his CM role as well which he kinda has slightly in his current role as well, depending on the stage of play.

 

[North5]

Really do want to see him at DM just to see what he can do there. I like him at RB in this system a lot though too. But he could be the solution in the midfield.

 

[Maybe]

Really do want to see him at DM just to see what he can do there. I like him at RB in this system a lot though too. But he could be the solution in the midfield.

I think that was the main reason why he didn't develop properly with us, he can play everywhere so all the managers (including youth) wanted to try him somewhere. He played too many positions and needs to take one for himself now, and RB is there to be taken. There is no real competition in that position and with coaching from Arteta he can be one of the best there.

 

[CaseUteinberger]

I think that was the main reason why he didn't develop properly with us, he can play everywhere so all the managers (including youth) wanted to try him somewhere. He played too many positions and needs to take one for himself now, and RB is there to be taken. There is no real competition in that position and with coaching from Arteta he can be one of the best there.

Looking at the latest tactical summaries from since Arteta took over his RB position is a blended DM position also, so it should probably suit him. Think he has looked very solid over the last couple of games in a deeper more defensive position. Think when he gets closer to the opposition box that at times his limitations have become more obvious. Like all young players he will benefit from good coaching. Happy days!

 

[EmeryCouldnt]

Bellerin is nothing special, nice guy though. He gets overrated because of his upbringing in La Masia but he's not too dissimilar to most fullbacks these days. The evolution of the fullback role means they're more like midfielders rather than wingers. TAA, AMN, Alphonso Davies and Kimmich, these are all the prototypes of the new types of fullbacks. I believe all of them have their education in midfield before transitioning into fullback. Even some fullbacks have transition into full time midfielders such as Partey, Fabinho and Lahm under Pep. I just think Bellerin doesn't fit this model and will unfortunately suffer.

I have to finish on this note. AMN has the best fitness in this squad. 3 intense pressing games and he has shown no signs of tiredness or cramp. He's a fantastic athlete.

I think Bellerin gets overrated because he was fantastic when he was introduced to the first team. He was blazing fast, was beating defenders, and worked hard to get back for some game winning clearances. He just hasn’t shown that since a he became a vegan fashionista.

 

[Football Manager]

He is still a player the opponent will target when we are defending. Too easy to be dragged out from his defensive position.

And also he still need time to adapt to this new tactics. When we are attacking, sometimes he stays on the side instead of tucking inside as an inverted fullback. This lead to us overcommitting players on the side unnecessarily, and reduced the effect of our central overload and central protection.

 

[Trilly]

He’s playing well but don’t think he has genuine quality on the ball though.

Not expecting him to be TAA but for somebody who came up as a mid I expected a bit more quality from him. For example, Tierney seems to be the better dribbler and crosser of the two.

However Bellerin is just as average if not worse on the ball than AMN. There’s a huge opportunity for AMN to become a starter if he can develop his attacking game to be comfortably better than Bellerin’s.

 

[razörist]

Needs to stop with starting the game with a brain-dead moment and maybe he’ll have a future here. Using him as a tucked in midfielder in possession seems a tailor made role for him.

 

[Jakarta]

Kept Zaha in his pocket

Or was Zaha just having a day off?

Man Palace have wasted a season of Zaha’s career. He looked ready to take that next big step, but now looks like he is fed up and has even regressed somewhat.

 

[Kroket]

If Arteta can help him get rid of his weekly brain fart in possession he's comfortably ahead of Bellerin for me. Putting in the best performances at RB we've seen since Hector's 15/16.

 

[krengon]

Haven’t seen Zaha this quiet against us that I can remember..

 

[Pepes blue pill]

Keeps on looking good under arteta, hope the boys keeps it up

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Another great performance today kept Zaha quite improving game by game

 

[Eaststander74]

Kept Zaha in his pocket

Or was Zaha just having a day off?

Man Palace have wasted a season of Zaha’s career. He looked ready to take that next big step, but now looks like he is fed up and has even regressed somewhat.

Funny how people make this excuse for the myth that is Zaha, yet they'll readily crap on the young french Arsenal winger in his first season in England, who has had a much better season stats wise than Zaha.

He's never done anything for anyone in his career. Zero. It's as if his languid style has a hypnotic affect on people.

He's 27 and he's just not very good.

 

[Jakarta]

Funny how people make this excuse for the myth that is Zaha, yet they'll readily crap on the young french Arsenal winger in his first season in England, who has had a much better season stats wise than Zaha.

He's never done anything for anyone in his career. Zero. It's as if his languid style has a hypnotic affect on people.

He's 27 and he's just not very good.

Zaha is a myth? Guess we ain’t watching the same player.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

I had almost given up on him, but i am a grown man so i can admit when my judgement of a player was to quick. Well done AMN.

 

[The_Playmaker]

People forget that Bellerin can easily play as an inverted fullback also. He is smart enough. I would love to see AMN playing where Xhaka is. I think his passing is underrated and he could actually drive, recover and win the ball, rather than running around hacking people to the ground and pulling shirts when they go past.

 

[Eaststander74]

Zaha is a myth? Guess we ain’t watching the same player.

Guessing would suggest a degree of uncertainty. We definitely aren’t watching the same player. The one I’ve been watching was born in the PL, is 27 years old and has not had a noteworthy season in his life.

Imagine if we had Zaha since he was 17 and he was still at Arsenal, aged 27, with the stats he has now... Considering the level of patience we've had so far, with the likes of Nelson and Saka... we’d have been burning effigies of him for the last 8 years

 

[truth_hurts]

Very impressed with him recently. Have gone full circle with him.

 

[TromsoGooner]

Really starting to like the look of him at RB. Didn`t contribute much going forward today but that is understandable considering he was up against Zaha.

Look switched on for the entire match, his positioning was and has the athleticism to handle players like Zaha. Very encouraging to see.