David Seaman reveals why he felt sorry for Arsenal star Ainsley Maitland-Niles during Manchester City defeat
Arsenal legend David Seaman says he felt sorry for Ainsley Maitland-Niles during Sundays defeat to champions Manchester City.
Pep Guardiolas side picked up from where they left off last season, with goals from Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva either side of half-time clinching a 2-0 win.
Maitland-Niles, 20, started the Premier League opener at left back and was given a rough time by Man City summer signing Riyad Mahrez and England star Kyle Walker.
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His afternoon was then cut short before the break as he limped off with an injury, replaced by experienced Swiss star Stephan Lichtsteiner who joined from Juventus in the summer.
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Seaman, who won two Premier League titles with Arsenal, says he felt sorry for Maitland-Niles as he did not receive sufficient support from his Arsenal team-mates.
I think we saw a lot of the same old Arsenal from last season, the legendary goalkeeper told talkSPORT.
We saw them a little bit disorganised at the back, I felt sorry for Maitland-Niles, he got isolated too much.
Youve got Mahrez and Walker attacking him for fun and he didnt really get backed up by any other defenders.
Arsenal finished 37 points behind champions Man City last season and Unai Emery will hope to close the gap during this campaign after replacing Arsene Wenger.
But the Gunners were outclassed at the weekend and must improve quickly with a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea next on the agenda.
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The worrying thing was the game management, Seaman added.
Sometimes I feel like both full backs [were] really pushing on and that wouldnt have happened in the old days. One of them would push on and the other one would drop back.
It was a bit worrying as to why people werent talking during the game. Just that game management was a little bit worrying.
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