Maitland-Niles must be more clinical in the attacking third for West Brom
When West Brom boss Sam Allardyce signed Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan from Arsenal in January, what sort of player did he think he was getting?
The youngster had been quite vocal about his positional preferences, with his desire to play in the heart of midfield more after years at wing-back.
But what does he actually offer in the centre of the park? Since making the loan switch, he’s played the full 90 minutes of the Baggies seven Premier League games. In this time he’s failed to score or provide an assist.
His ball carrying skills haven’t been extraordinary, either. Of his 24 attempted dribbles, only six have been successful. In the last two crucial games with Newcastle and Crystal Palace, the England international has lost the ball more times than he’s won it.
There is no doubting his fantastic energy levels, he covers a lot of ground and gets up and down the pitch very well. He is also useful in possession, although, not much usually happens as a result of his passing.
So far, he’s been successful with 84.8% of his passes, which is actually a good return. The majority of these passes go sideways or backwards.
Being a product of the Arsenal academy, he is clearly used to playing the ball on the floor, and there is nothing wrong with that. The issue is, being in a relegation battle, you simply have to be clinical in your decision making.
In this example, Maitland-Niles wins possession excellently in midfield. West Brom have a three-on-two attacking opportunity. Instead of an early release to Phillips, he carries the ball 20 yards.
He gets his head up and see’s the opportunity. Phillips would have Shelvey for pace all day long. Gallagher is also making a good run down his right-hand side, but still, he holds onto the ball.
He releases the ball five seconds or so after gaining possession 30 yards back. It’s an awful pass, to close to the Newcastle defender and the chance is gone. Despite having an excellent passing return, he isn’t clinical when it matters up the pitch.
It’s this sort of weak passing that is letting Maitland-Niles down. He shows excellent drive and energy to get us up the pitch but loses composure when it matters.
If he wants to play in central midfield for England this has to improve. Players like Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and James Maddison are deadly in these scenarios.
With his attributes, maybe Maitland-Niles’ best position is playing as a wingback. He has bundles of energy to get up and down the pitch for 90 minutes and is good usually at short distant passing.
His goal involvements need to drastically improve if he is to play in the middle at the top level, and his ability to deliver in critical situations. A goal here would have gifted us three points, crucial in our current state.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips has slammed this new Baggies recruit.