This is true but the other side of that coin is you have to go on relevant information to date. Everything else is even more speculative. History is littered with players that looked class at youth levels but couldn't make the step up. As you say, maybe he'll take a while to make the step but I don't reckon he's shown anything at senior level to date to suggest he's someone we should be signing.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
- Thread starter Zoo
- Start date
This is surely not true. Also, just offloading the ball as quickly as you can to the nearest player doesn't make you press resistant
You 100% haven’t watched him properly if you think that’s his playstyle. He receives the ball on the half turn, and uses his extremely gifted balance, physical and technical skills to ride challenges effectively. It’s Moussa Dembele-esque. It’s his one elite trait as a young player that’s made its way into seniors. If anything he holds onto the ball for too long.
There’s literally a video titled “it’s impossible to press Myles Lewis Skelly” on YouTube.
@GoonerBear @Daydreamer will confirm this.
Obviously I'm being tongue in cheek but he looked fairly pressed against Southampton 
Has there actually been any credible links to us yet? The most unambiguous report I've seen is that he's on a list of potential LBs. No stories that he's unhappy or up for sale...
A 19yo not playing much for a team fighting for a quadruple is hardly surprising and I doubt that this market opportunity actually exists.
A 19yo not playing much for a team fighting for a quadruple is hardly surprising and I doubt that this market opportunity actually exists.
Honestly though, if the plan is to play out and out wingers on the left and building our midfield around Mainoo he makes a good amount of sense.
He would be great at covering the ground for Mainoo as he pushes forward. Getting advanced of Mainoo as a progressive option when Mainoo is deep.
And he can cover Mainoo when he's unavailable or rested
He would be great at covering the ground for Mainoo as he pushes forward. Getting advanced of Mainoo as a progressive option when Mainoo is deep.
And he can cover Mainoo when he's unavailable or rested
Well looking at a couple of sites, statistically he's near the bottom percentile for being dispossessed. In fact his stats generally are terrible outside of basic passing and dribbling.
Is this from this season (very limited gametime narrowing down the accuracy of stat-based analysis) or last season?
Either way, the eye test shows differently. It’s most definitely his one strength that has elite level potential.
This season, for whatever reason I cannot seem to get them for last season.
Come on now, one YouTube video doesn't prove anything beyond he's had enough impressive actions for someone to make into a short video. It's a compilation of his best moments. It also doesn't mean that he does much with the ball - the stats don't lie.
Also, asking two arsenal fans to comment on whether a player of theirs is one of the best in the world at something isn't that likely to yield balanced takes.
I was challenging your comment that he passes the ball off quickly. His playstyle is the complete opposite of that. Like I said, he trusts his ball carrying ability and physical nature to shrug off challenges too much and holds on to it for too long. Which sees him being dispossessed.
I’m not disagreeing that he doesn’t do much with the ball. I’m just stating that he has one elite quality as a footballer. His press resistance has been known to be his top quality from youth teams and that’s translated to senior football. His usage of the ball is basic, but his progressive carries and shielding of the ball is something a top team can nature and harness.
Those two Arsenal fans are quite balanced, maybe slightly Gooner-leaning in their takes, but they have watched him far more than you and I. Interested to read their takes on his press resistance. They might agree with your opinion that he passes the ball on quickly but I doubt it.
I'd say you were correct. His favourite play is to draw his opposition player into making contact, and he has a fantastic ability to be able to roll that player after contact is made to get past him and then drive with the ball. it can be slightly risky, he draws a fair amount of fouls doing this & very occasionally will be caught in possession doing so, but i'd say it's worth it because it's getting harder and harder to disrupt blocks and break lines.
This video claims to be from this season, i've not actually checked to make sure it's true. But if it is, bearing in mind the limited game time he's had, & the actual drop in performance levels this season compared to last, it emphasises how good he is at that aspect of play.
His biggest issue he has, is he doesn't have great acceleration those first few yards, so at left back, if you isolate him, you can get past him, and quite often you'll see him yellow carded for fouling his opponent when this happens. It's 1 of the main reasons Arsenal fans want to see him played in midfield, so he isn't isolated at left back & it should help cover this weakness.
Last edited:
The point has already been made here that MLS' forward passing is pretty much non-existent. One of Mainoo's biggest drawbacks right now is also a lack of expansive passing game. The two of them together in midfield seems far from sensible, with their similar weaknesses.
If Mainoo doesn't have or develop an expansive passing game, but can progress with dribbling and short passing then getting pass and move players, or rangey ball carriers around him is an option to progress the ball in that zone
I've posted about this before, but progressing the ball from midfield via passing is much more effective and efficient than dribbling.
The vast majority of CMs, including Anderson and Tonali, will generate between 2-4x as much Threat from their passing as they will from their ball carrying.
The most threatening CMs for passing, eg Bruno Fernandes and Tielemans, will also generate c. 3x more threat from their passing than even the most threatening CMs for carrying ball progression eg Rice and Gravenberch.
It's kind of obvious when you think about it - a person can pass a ball much more quickly over a longer distance, and beyond tighter spaces, than a person can carry the ball with it at their feet. Also, probably especially nowadays in the Premier League, unless you are fortunate enough to play against Amorim's United midfield it is very rare you'll get loads of space in midfield through which you can carry the ball in to a dangerous area.
Take this part of Tonali's data as a simple demonstration:
He passes the ball in to the final third 5.6 times per 90. He carries the ball in to the final third only 1.0 times per 90.
And according to some on here Tonali is supposedly a decent ball carrier...
Two CMs with such a limited passing range as Mainoo and MLS would seriously hinder your ability to generate chances.
For anyone interested, this is a compilation of him actually playing in midfield for Arsenal & England youths before he got switched to left back.
Again, fully aware that comps are just selective 'best bits', it's just to give an indication on what he can do in that position.
Again, fully aware that comps are just selective 'best bits', it's just to give an indication on what he can do in that position.
Reminds me a lot of Mainoo. Seems like a whole lot of nice footwork in small spaces and a 5 yard layoff.
Not sure he has the vision and passing range to be a deep midfielder, or the cutting edge to make a difference further forward.
Yeah, I'd say his skill set is defo more suited to being a box to box midfielder. You'd defo want more of a passer somewhere in any setup with him.
Yes but Mainoo can progressive pass, he's just more comfortable with short passing, so is incentivised to move up the pitch.
A Lewis-Skelly at leftback gives Mainoo a short passing outlet who can drive past a player and create space for Mainoo to move into, and receive the ball , or shield the back line when Mainoo progresses up the pitch making up for his lack of engine.
Obviously you need other players who complement them but no reason they cannot play together.
He has one skill and it’s pretty great at it but it can get predictable and old pretty quick.
People use Mousa Dembele as a comp and it’s a good one but what made Dembele valuable to spurs midfield was he was an absolute tank. His ability to be press resistant but also win the ball through dominating every physical duel is what made him quality.
MLS is great at keeping the ball but if he’s not offering much else besides that he will struggle. Especially at United because we want more from our midfielders.
People use Mousa Dembele as a comp and it’s a good one but what made Dembele valuable to spurs midfield was he was an absolute tank. His ability to be press resistant but also win the ball through dominating every physical duel is what made him quality.
MLS is great at keeping the ball but if he’s not offering much else besides that he will struggle. Especially at United because we want more from our midfielders.
Another player that won't raise the team's standard to the next level.
We need to be recruiting players that are clearly better than those we already have.
We need to be recruiting players that are clearly better than those we already have.
He's pretty complete, can do just about anything you want a midfielder to do. On the extreme end his ball retention and ball carrying are amazing. He's got great balance and wins the vast majority of his duels because of that.
I keep hearing it but beyond a YouTube comp I don't see it. Someone earlier posted his stats for ball retention this season and they looked pretty average. Every time I've seen him he just looks timid and unadventurous. I've not watched much of him TBF but I really struggle to believe he'll have a great career at a top tier team
BBC has an article about Arsenal at the moment and it includes this line -
which seems mental. Who is paying 50m+ for either of them?
which seems mental. Who is paying 50m+ for either of them?
I'd be happy enough with his signing but those numbers are crazy. I'd guess 30-40m after ambitious add one for MLS, similar to what Newcastle did for Hall.
No idea what they value nwaneri set, surprised they want to sell him at all.
Yeah, he’s got a few weaknesses but a lack of press resistance isn’t on of them. His games this season a tiny sample as he’s barely played. He’s unfortunate in that he has Califiori / Hincapie ahead of him at LB and an a (thankfully) ever present Rice ahead of him at CM.
His positioning, 1v1 defending and relatively poor crossing will hold him back from ever being a top-class LB. He might be a top class CM one day, but we’re not gonna drop Rice in the middle of a title race to find out.
I don’t think he’d suit United because, as other have pointed out, he has quite a similar profile to Mainoo. A midfield with those two in it would be seriously unbalanced.
Probably 30/40m tops, similar to what they got for Willock and Iwobi.
Such a big deal was made of Nwanweri a few years ago being the youngest PL player when he clearly wasn't ready for it, now he's off on loan somewhere and they're looking to offload him. Wouldn't surprise me to see Dowman go the same way.
Nwaneri only got given that appearance to ward us off trying to poach him, I'm sure of it. I don't think they rated him all that highly, just couldn't have us poach another talented youth player.
Dowman is clearly special, not a chance he doesn't break into their first team IMO.
I think some of the mid/lower PL clubs have got wise to these types of deals. They don’t work very well.
I don’t think they will get £20m for Nwanweri.
Be lucky to get £50m for both of them. Especially now they are putting it out there.
Given it's the last summer of academy sales for pure PSR profit, Arsenal would be absolutely delighted with a sizeable fee for MLS. United would be doing Arsenal a favour really.
Oh yeah he definitely would work best alongside someone more athletic like a Sangare/Baleba, otherwise like you say it's gonna be too lightweight in midfield
They might be looking for it but they sure as feck aren’t going to find it. That’s ambitious in the extreme
Mainoo and him maybe can work together as Xavi and Inesta.
Think you are a bit off here mate. Nwaneri made his debut aged 15 in September 2022. You didn't sign Chido until over 2 years later, think Heaven was later still.
Most of the talk was of the likes of Chelsea, City and Dortmund trying to sign him before he signed his new contract. I wouldn't be surprised if the latter 2 was still interested in him.
If Arsenal were to sell either, it wouldn't be popular with the support, but I'd say especially with Ethan. I agree I don't think we'd get £100M for the pair. If we had to sell them, again especially with Nwaneri, Id much rather do a buy back deal with someone like Dortmund similar to what Liverpool did with Quansah with Leverkusen.
If he’s pretty complete then why are Arsenal not playing him much?
Pair of Mainoo and Lewis-Skelly can work together like Xavi and Iniesta I mean how they they aren't remotely comparable without even factoring in gulf in class .
I remember when they were hyping Charlie Patino to be the next best thing too.
I’d be gutted if we sold him. Would love to see him take a good chunk of Zubimendi’s minutes in midfield next season.
But he’s always struggled defensively. I think the could become a great left back, but you would need a midfielder to then share the job of his defending, and a very athletic LCB to keep covering him. Far from impossible though - clearly he wasn’t a disaster in that position for us last year. And as seen with England, if you’re playing against deep lying defences that don’t offer much of a counter threat, he’s perfect.
But he’s always struggled defensively. I think the could become a great left back, but you would need a midfielder to then share the job of his defending, and a very athletic LCB to keep covering him. Far from impossible though - clearly he wasn’t a disaster in that position for us last year. And as seen with England, if you’re playing against deep lying defences that don’t offer much of a counter threat, he’s perfect.