Mikel Arteta handed Myles Lewis-Skelly a surprise start in central midfield against Atletico Madrid, told the 19-year-old at the Emirates he would play, and watched Arsenal grind out a 1-0 win in a match that may have changed the shape of the youngster's season.
Lewis-Skelly won seven duels, more than anyone else in red and white, and later said he was thrilled to be trusted in midfield. “That’s the boss, I’m grateful for him,” he said. “Inside I was buzzing, but I was just glad the manager put his trust in me [to play in midfield].”
The decision mattered because Lewis-Skelly has played far less this season than in his breakthrough campaign. He has made 31 appearances and logged around 1,000 fewer minutes than last year, when he burst into the first team and quickly became one of the club's brightest young stories. This time, his role has been reduced, and there had even been talk around the club that he could leave in the summer.
Arteta said he had been tough on the teenager this season, but said Lewis-Skelly handled the setback well. “He had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team, but he had some difficult moments after that,” Arteta said. “He stayed very humble, very focused and very aligned with what we wanted to do, and I knew he was ready.”
The Arsenal manager added that Lewis-Skelly had been pressing for a chance in training and delivered when it mattered. “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,” Arteta said. “Because probably I don’t have a clue, and maybe I should have done it earlier, I don’t know.”
Lewis-Skelly came through Hale End as a midfielder, but he has also slipped down the left-back pecking order after making that position his own last year. At one stage he looked a strong candidate for Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad, which only sharpened the sense that his minutes at Arsenal mattered beyond one night in north London. Tuesday's move back into midfield offered a reminder of what the club may have been holding back.
The bigger question now is whether this was a one-off tactical call or the start of a more permanent shift. Lewis-Skelly did enough against Atletico to make the case that the position he grew up in may still be the one that best suits him, and Arteta sounded open to the idea that the club should have found out sooner.