Adrian Clarke discusses how Mikel Arteta is developing the academy graduate with a new inverted left-back role
‘It’s like Myles was built in a lab!’ Lewis-Skelly rated by Rice
Adrian Clarke looks at key players, team tactics, and where matches can be won and lost in Matchweek 19.
Player analysis: Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal)
When a young player comes into first-team football and immediately exudes a calm temperament, confidence and natural strength, they quickly gain the trust of their team-mates and manager.
This is certainly the case with Arsenal’s latest gem from their academy in Hale End, Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Fresh from completing his first 90 minutes in the Premier League against Ipswich Town, on his third successive top-flight start, the 18-year-old looks like he has been playing senior football for years, not a matter of weeks.
Currently keeping players such as Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney out of the starting XI, left-back Lewis-Skelly has made a wonderful early impression.
Passing with distinction
As Arsenal are a possession-based side, Mikel Arteta requires his players to look after the ball with care and that is very much one of the teenager’s main qualities.
Whether it is knitting moves together by shifting the ball with one or two touches, coping with pressure applied by opponents inside his own half, or picking out the occasional incisive pass, Lewis-Skelly is reliable in possession.
Indeed, his 96.3 per cent passing accuracy is a competition-best among defenders to have made at least three Premier League starts this season.
In all areas of the pitch, he looks after the ball outstandingly well.
In his 233 minutes of Premier League action so far, Lewis-Skelly has made only three key passes, but on his first UEFA Champions League start against Monaco, he provided a glimpse of his capabilities in this department.
Turning his man cleverly, the youngster then opened up the Monaco defence with a fantastic through ball between defenders (below).
