This Monday marks six months since Arsenal defeated Fulham 3-0 at Emirates Stadium. The game offered a rare oasis of calm in an otherwise fraught season of nailbiting wins. The Gunners, in the midst of a five game ‘playoff’ for the league title with Manchester City, as well as a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid on the horizon, raced into a three-goal lead by half-time at the Emirates, earning an uproarious reception as the players made for the tunnel at half-time.
The previous weekend had seen Arsenal labour to a nervy 1-0 win over Newcastle and a stodgy 1-1 away draw with Atletico Madrid. Bukayo Saka had been parachuted back into the team after an extended absence; but it was clear that Mikel Arteta was looking for ways to try to ease the ketchup out of the bottle, so to speak.
Martin Zubimendi, who, at that point had played more league minutes than any other outfield Arsenal player, dropped to the bench. Myles Lewis-Skelly started in midfield for the first time in his short Gunners career. Myles was supposed to start an FA Cup tie at home to Wigan in that position before Riccardo Calafiori was injured in the warm-up, meaning Lewis-Skelly reverted to left-back with Bukayo Saka playing in a central role instead.
[The BBC Sport match report for the Fulham game said](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/c362np6j0ndt), ‘Boss Arteta has to be given credit for taking what could be perceived as risk by playing left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly in midfield for the first time and leaving out Martin Zubimendi, who has played the most minutes of any outfielder in the Gunners squad. The 19-year-old Lewis-Skelly looked assured in the role and, with Calafiori, Saka and Eberechi Eze all in the side, the Arsenal attack flowed better than it has done for many weeks.’
Myles kept his place for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Atleti and again for the crunch away win at West Ham. He then started the Champions League semi-final. Probably a week prior to that Fulham game, many Arsenal fans were talking of an inevitable summer sale following the purchases of Piero Hincapie at left-back and Martin Zubimendi in midfield.
His homegrown status made him a potentially attractive sale. His path appeared to be blocked. The talk clearly wasn’t lost on Lewis-Skelly. When he posted a picture with the Premier League trophy on his Instagram account, he captioned it ‘pure profit.’ It was an amusing clapback.
His destiny appeared to change with a roll of the dice. Arteta made a brave call to sit Zubimendi down in favour of a teenager who had yet to really play a senior game in central midfield. Lewis-Skelly repaid his manager’s faith. Lewis-Skelly, who had burst onto the scene in an unfamiliar left-back position, had repeated the trick in central midfield.
It is a quite extraordinary achievement for a teenager to break into a team the quality of Arsenal’s twice, in different positions. He has achieved it so matter-of-factly that I feel like everyone has barely noticed. This summer could also have proved complicated for Myles.
Firstly, his late season resurgence wasn’t quite enough to win a place in England’s World Cup squad. I think that was a short-sighted decision from Tuchel. However, in the September international break, MLS started three of England’s four Nations League games in central midfield.
In many ways, being spared an exhausting summer at the World Cup probably did Myles a favour in the long run. It enabled him to play a full pre-season and in central midfield too. With Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi going to the final weekend of the tournament, as well as Odegaard, Eze and Bruno going to the latter stages, he had a clear run at the position.
This put him in a strong position to start the season. However, his pre-season was complicated by two things. The signing of Bruno Guimaraes, who could have offered a further road-block to Myles’ progression. There were also strong rumours that some people in the club (!) were touting Lewis-Skelly around in a bid to raise the funds for a much-needed attacking A-lister.
While this talk was swirling around in the summer, Myles’ response was to score in a pre-season friendly against Como. What followed was even more impressive, Bruno came into the season with some fitness concerns. Lewis-Skelly’s form was such that his presence in midfield made that a total non-issue. He starred in wins at Villa Park and at home to Chelsea.
In truth, I still don’t think Bruno has done enough to firmly dislodge Myles from the role of Declan Rice’s midfield partner. His apprenticeship at left-back has also proved hugely useful and is helping him to pick up even more minutes. At Fleetwood, he played in both positions during the game, while he started games against Everton and Lille at left-back too.
Having a minor and a major is very useful for a young player looking to build his CV. He came on for Bruno in the Allianz last week and, in my view, outshone his more experienced, more expensive teammate. (Please don’t think I am having a dig at Bruno here, he has clearly conjured up some huge contributions this season too).
In a September interview with Men In Blazers, Lewis-Skelly talked about how he uses mindfulness techniques to deal with pressure and nerves. ‘There’s a Buddhism concept; it’s about the monkey mind. It’s practically about the restless mind, how you can jump from concern to concern.
‘So whenever I feel a type of weight, for me it’s important to bring my nervous system down and to bring stillness back to my mind, to be calm. Whether it is through breathing techniques, music or talking with other people, I just feel like it is important I always remain calm.’
It shows in his play and it shows in how he has dealt with certain situations. His re-ascension in the last six months has been very far from frictionless. Nothing has been given, pieces haven’t fallen into place. He has forced his way in and when he got the shirt, he gripped it for all its worth.
Just think how unlikely it felt in January that Lewis-Skelly would be significantly ahead of Zubimendi in the midfield pecking order before the clocks went back for winter. It takes a special player and a special character to negotiate those numerous challenges and to get into this team. He has met those challenges so firmly that we have barely even noticed them. His is a significant talent.