#3 A day of contrasting fortunes for Arsenal’s wing backs
On Thursday, Unai Emery adopted a 3-4-3 formation and fielded Kolasinac and Ainsley Matiland-Niles as the wing-backs.
The move partly paid dividends, as the former was Arsenal’s best attacking outlet. On countless occasions, the Bosnian got in behind the BATE defence and it was just a shame that he couldn’t cap it off with any end product. Moreover, his partnership with Iwobi was a bright spot in an otherwise dull display.
However, things didn’t pan out as well on the other flank. Maitland-Niles got up and down the flank with energy yet couldn’t contribute anything to the Gunners’ offensive play. The Englishman was horrendous with his decision-making and tried to complicate things a little too much.
Though he didn’t have a lot to tackle defensively, his lack of invention going forward rid the Gunners of a lot of promising positions.
At the weekend, Maitland-Niles was the subject of some choice remarks by some Gooners. And with an equally appalling performance against BATE, the Englishman should expect harsher opinions to come his way.