“Lewis-Skelly is a fantastic player but Mikel Arteta is killing his talents by using him in a wrong position”: England tactical General Thomas Tuchel names Lewis-Skelly perfect position
Thomas Tuchel believes Myles Lewis-Skelly’s best role for Arsenal is in midfield after his impressive debut for England on Friday night.
Lewis-Skelly was named in England’s squad for the first time last week ahead of their two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia during the international break.
The 18-year-old was handed his first start for the Three Lions at Wembley and scored the opening goal as Tuchel’s side sealed a 2-0 victory over Albania, with Harry Kane completing the win in the second half.
Lewis-Skelly also made history by overtaking Marcus Rashford to become the youngest player (aged 18 years and 176 days) to score on his senior England debut.
And Tuchel believes the Arsenal left-back has plenty of potential to make an impact in midfield at club and international level.
‘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.’
Meanwhile, Declan Rice insisted after the game that he was confident that Lewis-Skelly would make an immediate impact when given the chance to play for England.
‘I said about it before Christmas, and a lot of people laughed at me and questioned it and said I was speaking out of turn by saying good things about him,’ Rice said.
‘But week on week he’s shown how good he is, and the fearlessness he has in his performance.
‘That’s on him… how much you want it and how much you want to keep going. He needs to be hungry every day.
‘He needs to keep being himself around the training ground at Arsenal, around England, and keep pushing himself.
‘He’s an asset for us now. He’s 18 years old and has got a long career in the game if he keeps doing good things.
‘He didn’t even know he was going to be starting until today and I just knew he was going to have a good performance because he has that belief in himself.’
