Arteta admits he may have made wrong decision on Lewis-Skelly
Arteta admits he may have made wrong decision on Lewis-Skelly Mikel Arteta has admitted he perhaps should have played Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield sooner, adding that the teenager more than earned Saturday’s opportunity. Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images Myles Lewis-Skelly started in midfield for Arsenal against Fulham on Saturday, playing a very positive role in what turned out to be a 3-0 win for the team. Lewis-Skelly has almost exclusively played as a left-back during his senior career for Arsenal so far, but he was almost always a midfielder during his youth career.
This was a chance to prove he offers something in the middle in the senior game, and it’s a chance the player grasped with both hands. Speaking afterwards, Mikel Arteta admitted Lewis-Skelly has worked hard to get this opportunity. Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images “He fully deserves it,” Arteta said .
“I’ve been tough on him. He had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team. “He had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused, very aligned with what we wanted to do, and I knew he was ready.
“He’s been showing in training every day the opportunities that he had to play. He’s done it and today he really stepped up and I thought he had an incredible performance. ” Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images As for why Arteta didn’t start Lewis-Skelly in midfield sooner, the Arsenal manager suggested he probably should have.
“Because probably I don’t have a clue and maybe I should have done it earlier, I don’t know! ” Arteta answered. “But I have to do things when I believe that the player is ready, the team is ready and the opponent is the right one to play with him in that position.