As Arsenal fans we are accustomed to debates over player positions. In the late 2000s we suffered a collective obsession with repurposing all of our defenders that couldn’t really defend into defensive midfielders for some reason. Arsene Wenger once pranked us all by seriously playing Samir Nasri as a ‘deep lying playmaker’ in a league game against Chelsea.
The experiment was quickly shelved when Arsenal lost 4-1. Quite often this isn’t just about a player’s particular qualities, sometimes as fans we try to ‘fix’ problem positions through imaginative reassignment. Which is not to sound dismissive, of course. Players are repurposed all the time.
Take Myles Lewis-Skelly, who had never played at left-back before this season and is now Arsenal’s (and maybe even England’s) first choice left-back. Myles made his England U19 debut as a right winger, just to give you a picture of his journey. His outstanding performances from left-back, allied with the fact that Jorginho and Thomas Partey are in their 30s has led many to ask whether he ought to be redeployed back into central midfield.
As you probably gathered from my tone earlier in the article, usually I reject this type of discussion. Lewis-Skelly is excelling at left-back, so why the rush to move him away from a position where he is performing so well? A similar debate has framed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s career. He can’t defend but he is a world class passer, so why not play him in midfield?
But Trent’s physical profile doesn’t really suit midfield and, in any case, the quarter-back style spaces he is able to pick up from deep aid his passing game, as well as his crossing game. The fact is that teams do not really expend a lot of resource getting tight to full-backs in their own territory, which is a big part of the reason for the rise of the inverted full-back.
It’s one position on the field where you have a lot of space in possession. We often see fans suggest that good attacking full-backs ought to be played further forwards, which sometimes ignores the fact that running into space from deep is a different skill set to receiving the ball out wide when you have two players already standing on your toes that you have to beat from a standing start.
One of the reasons that putting Lewis-Skelly back into midfield is a more compelling debate is that he is not a player who especially needs space. If anything, he seems to thrive on close contact and tight spaces. As Bjork once sang, the less room you give me the more space I’ve got. And, of course, where Myles is concerned it wouldn’t be much of a refit, he has played in central midfield extensively at youth level.
I am sympathetic to the argument that his ability in tight spaces, which he currently uses Arsenal to get from the defensive third to the middle third, might be even more useful one line up. In isolation, I think he would just as effective in midfield as more of a bulwark in the Arsenal team, especially in a double pivot with Declan Rice who also possesses compelling ball carrying qualities.
We do sometimes see coaches mull over players who specialise in tight spaces and where those qualities best fit. Because they can be really useful high up the pitch but can be equally useful in build-up as you seek to negotiate the opponent’s press. Santi Cazorla was one such player who moved backwards and forwards a little during his time at Arsenal because his skills were useful in all areas of the pitch.
The issue, I think, with moving Myles is that it just wouldn’t sit within the overall setup of Arteta’s Arsenal. Because if MLS is in midfield, they wouldn’t be able to play with an inverting left-back. Lewis-Skelly in left central midfield would be an obstruction to Riccardo Calafiori. They would have to play with a more ‘orthodox’ left-back which is not an absurd reconfiguration but it would probably involve buying another left-back and selling Calafiori after one season.
Arsenal’s lone midfield pivot- one of Partey, Jorginho or Rice- bears right and shuffles over to make room for an inverting left-back. To take that away would essentially just add another body behind the ball and that is certainly not what this iteration of Arsenal needs given the fact that they are struggling to score at an elite level this season.
It also just so happens that left-back is a position where England are not totally replete with top class options, which is a big part of the reason he has already played and scored for his country. That said, in fairness, England probably aren’t replete with elite options next to Declan Rice in midfield either, though Adam Wharton might have something to say about that soon enough.
As an individual, Lewis-Skelly can absolutely play in midfield for Arsenal and the day might arrive where that is necessary. Doing it now creates too much redundancy and makes Arsenal more conservative when they need to shift gears in the other direction. MLS is very close to the perfect model for Arteta’s inverting left-back and while that is the case, he should continue to flourish where he is.
