Unai Emery has revealed that he's working with Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sead Kolasinac to strengthen their defensive play.
Both players featured in the 2-1 friendly win over Bayern Munich in California, where an own goal from Louis Poznanski and a late Eddie Nketiah penalty were enough for victory.
Of course, the German giants possess huge attacking threat within their side, and Emery said that Maitland-Niles can be an excellent defensive option for his side going into the new season.
Speaking to the press, Emery said: "I spoke with him [Maitland-Niles]. It’s good to have this problem in the pre-season.
"Today my objective with Ainsley and Sead [Kolasinac] above all; we were playing lots of matches last year with three centre-backs to allow them to go to the attacking moment.
"Today our target was to work defensively, the first objective is to keep the back four [protected].
"They struggled in one moment because Bayern Munich have very good wingers. But it’s good.
"It's one process for us and them. Individually when we can play maybe against players like Coman and Gnabry we can play five to have more balance.
"Today one-to-one working is good for them."
