I am so happy that the the real football is coming back to us at last, and after spending the boring summer watching the (very boring) Euros and the Copa America, I have had to find my fun playing FIFAPRO, watching boring TV or playing with the raviator betting game to keep me occupied. So to watch Arsenal playing in America against Man United and Liverpool came as a welcome relief to me.
I really enjoyed the Man United match as it is always great to see us get one over on our old rivals, and seeing some of our up and coming youngsters blending well with our seasoned campaigners gave me a bit of pride to hang on to, and then it was time to face yet another of our bitter rivals.
Though Arsenal lost to Liverpool 2-1, the preseason friendly had some positives, such as Myles Lewis Skelly’s performance. Lewis-Skelly was outstanding versus the Reds; he accomplished more in 20 minutes than Zinchenko did.
It was evident that the Ukrainian star struggled defensively, but the local-boy Hale End star demonstrated that he may be a better version of Zinny because he showed he was already a better defender than the ex-Manchester City star and has excellent passing ability.
In addition to his passing and defending abilities, he impressed with the ease with which he released the ball, skillfully pinging passes through the lines directly to his teammates’ feet. You should have been impressed by how quickly he moves as well as his ability to anticipate what he’ll do before receiving the ball.
Although the 17-year-old is normally a midfielder, Arteta and the Arsenal development squad coaches have been shaping him into an inverted left back. Does his exploit as a left-back remind you of anyone? Personally, it reminds me of Bukayo Saka’s introduction to the first team, where he also started at left-back.
What if Arteta is simply introducing Lewis Skelly to the first team, as he did with Saka, and has other plans on the cards? Coaches can experiment with players in multiple roles early in their development to generate extremely versatile and high-IQ football players.
Considering there’s no hint of acquiring a new No. 6 this summer, the assignment of Ethan Nwaneri to an offensive midfielder position, and the arrival of Mikel Merino to play the LCM role, is it possible to eventually develop Lewis Skelly into a No. 6? Could he be Thomas Partey’s replacement come the 2025–26 season?
Saka never started his first team career as a Left Back, he started as a Winger under Emery. It was only after injuries to our Left Backs that Mikel used him there.
As for Lewis-Skelly, I’ve been quite impressed by him, along with Heaven.
Lewis-Skelly is making me wonder if we really needed to spend the funds on Calafiori for the LB position. Then again, it’s possible the plan isn’t for him to be the starting LB. We’ll see soon enough.
??. We already bought Calafiori !
“if we really needed to spend” i.e. yes I know we bought Calafiori
He does not remind me of Saka but looks a very decent player and I would love to see him get some league cup games.
All the kids who went to the tour from the academy need to be moulded as part of the the squad for the future. They should be loaned out to teams where they are guaranteed game time; not going to warm the bench as Charles Sagoe unfortunately did at Swansea. That was a poorly calculated move.
It doesn’t make sense for Skelly to be warming the bench to wait for Carabao cup. Surely Nwaneri should integrate the first team with guaranteed minutes in the PL.
Any of those that went to the tour is capable of defending themselves in the first team if given the opportunity. So the team must manage them carefully to see that they don’t leave the tgeam as Amario and Walters did.