At a Glance:
- Ian Wright reveals what Myles Lewis-Skelly has done in training “for three months”.
- Mikel Arteta’s masterplan.
- Lewis-Skelly is thriving in midfield.
From being on the periphery of things at Arsenal to suddenly becoming a mainstay again, Myles Lewis-Skelly has had a turbulent season at the Emirates Stadium.
However, Lewis-Skelly’s bright showing against Atletico Madrid was another example of the 19-year-old repaying Mikel Arteta’s faith in him as a central midfielder.
Lewis-Skelly replaced Martin Zubimendi against Fulham and looked like the real deal as Declan Rice’s partner in the middle of the park.
Ian Wright has revealed the secret behind the youngster returning to the fray for his boyhood club.
Ian Wright reveals Mikel Arteta has played Myles Lewis-Skelly as a midfielder in training for months
With Lewis-Skelly impressing in midfield, Wright claimed that Mikel Arteta played him in his natural position in training even when the Englishman was on the bench.
The veteran told The Overlap’s Stick To Football podcast: “What’s happened, especially the last five, six months is he’s not been involved, he’s hardly been involved in it. But what’s been happening is Mikel has been playing him in training in the midfield.”
Ian Wright claimed that Lewis-Skelly has actually been deployed as a midfielder for three months behind the scenes.
“He’s always been a midfielder, they reverted him to left-back. I don’t know if it’s genius management from him and the fact that Zubimendi’s form dropped off at the right time but the fact that he’s been playing, it was Declan saying about his attitude, what he’s done. He’s been playing in midfield for the last three months.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly has an elite mentality
Having burst onto the scene at left-back last season, the Gunners academy graduate would have understandably been dejected to have spent most of the ongoing campaign as a squad player.
Lewis-Skelly was linked with an exit at points and it seemed like he could very well depart Mikel Arteta’s side in favour of more playing time in the summer. However, the versatile technician has seemingly kept his head up in the meantime and done his talking on the pitch in recent weeks.
If Arsenal go on to win the Premier League and the Champions League this season, Lewis-Skelly’s redemption will be remembered by supporters for years to come.
