Mikel Arteta's Arsenal squad is stacked but Myles Lewis-Skelly has been particularly impressed by the work ethic of one team-mate
Myles Lewis-Skelly has heaped huge praise on one Arsenal star for his work off the pitch
Myles Lewis-Skelly has heaped huge praise on one Arsenal star for his work off the pitch(Image: (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))
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Myles Lewis-Skelly has revealed Arsenal summer signing Christos Tzolis is a "mentality monster" and hinted he could be back from injury sooner than expected. The 24-year-old has made a good start to life at Emirates Stadium after joining from Club Brugge, but he is set to miss the next few weeks because of a hamstring injury.
Tzolis suffered the issue on international duty with Greece and will be out "for a few weeks", as confirmed by Arteta. That presents a significant dilemma for the Gunners having sold Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in the summer.
Following the clash against Leeds United, Arsenal play four times in the next fortnight with no Tzolis certainly a blow. Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke - with the latter starting against Leeds - are likely to be the players deployed in his absence, but that may not be for too long given how Tzolis will likely treat his recovery.
When speaking about the Greek winger, Lewis-Skelly told the Premier League: "He's a mentality monster, his approach to the game, his approach to recovery. He is always doing massages, ice baths, sauna. And it shows on the pitch because he can run forever."
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Injury concerns had also emerged over Kai Havertz and Ezri Konsa while they were away with Germany and England, respectively. The former returned to north London almost immediately with Konsa later following in his footsteps.
Despite the concerns, both were included in the starting XI to face Leeds. Havertz had the best two chances of a tense first half for the Gunners, after Arteta had a big decision to make with concerns over the German star's fitness.
Viktor Gyokeres and Mikel Merino were the alternatives, having impressed over the domestic pause. Lewis-Skelly has particularly been full of praise for the latter with his versatility also making him a bit of a midfield role model for the Arsenal academy graduate.
He said: "That guy [Merino] there, I don’t feel like he gets the credit he deserves, man. Because even today I was speaking to him about, well, how do you score so many goals?
Mikel Merino of Arsenal
Mikel Merino has been impressing for club and country
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"I want to learn because I want to add that to my game. The way he sees football is really good to learn from. He should get the props that he deserves.
"The desire to score, the positions, where to be on the field I feel like he always knows where to be, when to be there. That’s something. as a football player, that’s everything."
Merino was joined on the bench by Bruno Guimaraes, Gyokeres, Jurrien Timber and several others with Arteta opting against making a substitution until the hour-mark - just a few minutes after James Justin had put Leeds in front.
Even before those three players came on, Arsenal equalised through Riccardo Calafiori as he tucked home Ben White's header back across goal following a deep Noni Madueke cross.
Guimaraes then made an impact off the bench as he finished a flowing move to put the hosts in front just 15 minutes after Justin's opener.