Gary Lineker urges Arsenal to play Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield ahead of Martin Zubimendi
Gary Lineker urges Arsenal to play Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield ahead of Martin Zubimendi Gary Lineker has lauded Arsenal academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly for his performance in midfield against Fulham at Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Gunners manager Mikel Arteta started the 19-year-old ahead of Martin Zubimendi against the Craven Cottage club, and the left-back impressed, helping the North London club to a huge 3-0 victory. The Spaniard came on in the 64th minute to replace Declan Rice, with the Arsenal boss deciding to rest the England international ahead of the second-leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Lewis-Skelly was one of the best players in the game, and Lineker thinks he should be starting ahead of Zubimendi. “I am going to throw something in here because I think it’s a fundamental difference between the Arsenal that we have seen in recent weeks,” the former striker said on the latest episode of The Rest is Football podcast . “No disrespect to Martin Zubimendi , but he’s a cautious player.
He is a defensive midfield player, and he is a player that predominantly knocks it back. I thought Myles Lewis-Skelly came in, in a midfield position, not like a left-back, in a midfield position, and his first thought is to turn and look forward, and quickly, and I think that really enabled Arsenal to get it forward quicker. “And obviously it was a bit of a plan that pushed the wingers higher, and Saka was getting the ball in time to actually take someone on.
And I think it made a fundamental difference, and I think that’s quite interesting because he’s a young player, we’ve known him as a full-back, but in that midfield area, and I think the way he was so positive and moving forward. “Rice is a different kind of player in the sense that he’s probably at his best when he’s running with the ball, but he’s also not really a player that tends to look for forward passes particularly quickly either. So, I think he really helped them.
” The teenage sensation was in full flow against Fulham and has now handed Arteta a selection headache ahead of the mid-week game. Zubimendi remains the man for the job if the Gunners want to go cautious against Atletico, but it could be a dangerous game play following a 1-1 draw in the first-leg.