There was a very good Everton post on Twitter (sorry Elon, I’m sticking with it) doing the rounds last night.
Annoyingly, I can’t find it now, so apologies to whoever wrote it for not being able to give them the credit they deserve.
The gist was this: is Ainsley Maitland-Niles actually really good, or is this simply what it feels like whenEverton have a competent, regular right-back?
Good question.
Maitland-Niles quietly settling in at Everton
Maitland-Niles arrived from Lyon for £4.3m on deadline day after Everton had spent most of the summer trying to sort out the right side of David Moyes’ defence.
There was probably as much relief as excitement when the deal was done. Everton needed a right-back and had finally signed one. A few weeks in, Maitland-Niles is doing a decent impression of making the whole thing look simple.
He played 89 minutes of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town and had another good afternoon. One post-match assessment credited him with winning seven of his nine duels. He also got forward when the chance was there and supplied the cross for Thierno Barry’s second-half header.
Nothing spectacular. But steady. And competent.
And at right back, Evertonians could probably get used to that.
Man U goal helped
Of course, Maitland-Niles’ Everton career got off to a flier! With Moyes’ side heading for defeat against United earlier this month, he produced a superb 25-yard equaliser in the 96th minute to make it 2-2 at the Hill Dickinson.
No better way to introduce yourself.
The games since have been rather less dramatic, which is no bad thing.
Maitland-Niles has looked comfortable at right-back. He knows the Premier League, is decent on the ball, and, at 29, was never likely to need months to settle into English football.
For £4.3m, Everton didn’t need anything complicated.
Have Everton finally sorted right-back?
Which brings us back to that tweet. Everton supporters have spent enough time last season discussing makeshift right-backs, ageing right-backs, injured right-backs and whether somebody who isn’t really a right-back might be able to do a job there.
Maitland-Niles just plays there.
Three Premier League appearances are nowhere near enough to start getting too excited or even the word ‘bargain’. There will be tougher afternoons than Ipswich at home.
But so far, so good.
He scored a belter on his debut and has since done the ugly bits of the job without giving Evertonians too much to stress about. So apologies again to the person whose tweet prompted all this. If I find it, I’ll happily add the credit.
As for the question itself, maybe the answer is a bit of both… Maitland-Niles looks a good player. And having a regular, competent right-back feels good too.
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