You read those quotes and then you remember that Maitland-Niles started at rightback for Roma that same evening. Maybe it's neither here nor there since Arteta seems reluctant to consider him a real option on any position, but surely he could have been of massive use to us during this period.
I'm struggling to make sense of the strategy, and I'd like to think it's not just because I rate Ainsley higher than most people here apparently do. We force the lad to stay back in August when he's not needed and we make signings in both positions he covers, but when the squad gets thin we finally send him packing? Was it really that important to save a few quid on his wages?
