Ainsley Maitland-Niles Still 'Learning' Defensive Game, Prefers Midfield Role

Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles has said he is "still learning" about playing in defence and has said he would prefer to be used in a midfield berth by the Gunners. 

The 22-year-old has been deployed as a right-back by Unai Emery in recent months, with the club's standout man in the position, Hector Bellerin, still recovering from a long-term injury.

Maitland-Niles has endured mixed fortunes in the role so far in 2019. Speaking about his stint in the team, the England youth international has said he's happy to be in the XI, but believes he would be more effective in midfield, per Ben Grounds of Sky Sports:

"I'm a midfielder by trade, either central or on the wing, it's all the same to me. 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.

"It's not going to come overnight. 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.

"It's not where I would choose to put myself in the team, as I'm an attacking player by trade. That's all I can try to bring to the team. I'm still learning the defensive side, so when players are running at me, and they're throwing skills at me, I'm still learning how to deal with that."

Maitland-Niles has shown he can be a threat going forward this season after setting up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second goal in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Watford. The same combination materialised on the opening day of the season, when the Gunners beat Newcastle United 1-0:

Even so, it's clear that Maitland-Niles is not a natural full-back. 

Bellerin has been injured since January, and his absence has been a big blow to the team. The Spain international not only provides a threat in the final third, he's a more natural defender than Maitland-Niles and searing pace needed to recover position.

Filling Bellerin's shoes was always going to be a test for Arsenal and Maitland-Niles. Per Kieran Canning of Agence France-Presse, in fairness to the makeshift full-back, the rest of the Arsenal defence lacks quality:

Emery has Bellerin, Rob Holding and summer signing Kieran Tierney working their way back to full fitness. The introduction of that trio into the defence should plug some gaps.

It should also free up space for Maitland-Niles to be used in a midfield berth more frequently. However, with Dani Ceballos, Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka all in the squad, there's plenty of competition for places.