Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly sent warning by former England star despite fine form | Football

Given the obvious talent of Arsenal and England’s Myles Lewis-Skelly, he is going to have to deal with a lot of noise, attention and criticism on his way to the top, warns Danny Murphy.

The 18-year-old only made his Premier League debut in September but earned a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad this month.

Not only was it a place in the squad, but the teenager started the wins over Albania and Latvia, scoring on his international debut in the former.

This season is proving to be a wild ride for the left-back, who can also operate in midfield, and he has attracted immense praise.

Former Liverpool and England midfielder Murphy is one of those people who are huge fans of Lewis-Skelly, but has warned the Gunners wonderkid that he will have to keep his feet on the ground and develop a thick skin.

Criticism will come, as will the distractions of stardom, but Murphy believes that if he can handle the ‘noise’ then the teenager is set to be at the elite level for a long time.

‘Myles Lewis-Skelly could be England’s left back for the next decade,’ Murphy told Poker Firma. ‘He has so many wonderful attributes, he’s quick and brilliant on the ball.

‘He’s happy to step into the midfield and get on it and he has a real tenacity. He has that passion you need and fans love it. He’s already got his goal and he’s a brilliant defender.

‘He still needs time to make mistakes and develop but he’s proved that he’s capable and can play at the top level, that he’s good enough to play every week for Arsenal in the Premier League and Champions League, there’s going to be a serious amount of expectation upon him.

‘He has what it takes to be whatever he wants to be and go to the top, but he needs to deal with the noise and attention that comes with it. He will get criticism when he doesn’t have a good game.

‘We’ve seen it when he’s been sent off on occasion, he still needs that time to grow. However, in my eyes, he has all the attributes he needs to grow into an England player for many years to come.’

Tuchel was certainly very impressed with the teenager on his first international outings, deploying him in various positions as he displayed immense versatility for such a young player.

‘The second half, he played as a No.8 because we wanted to take more risks and have a little bit closer connection between the players,’ Tuchel said after England’s win.

‘The first half we played in a 4-1 and 4-1 up front. He played more conventional and scored more from there. In the second half he played as a No.8 or No.10.

‘I think his very best position is where he plays for Arsenal in the left double six, the double six inverted role. He’s a fantastic footballer.

‘If you see him in possession games in training, the level of first touch, the quality of first touch, the quality of body movement, how he opens up his body, how he plays the passes, he has a very high understanding of the game, it comes very natural to him.

‘He’s very versatile and I think he can do a lot of things. We tried to play more conventional today because it’s easier to learn, we have many players from many different clubs, he did very well because he can adapt because he understands very quickly.’

Lewis-Skelly will be back in action on April 1 when Arsenal host Fulham in the Premier League, but will already be eyeing up the huge Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid when he will be really put to the test.

The first leg is in north London on April 8, with the second the following week.

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