Thomas Tuchel lavished praise on Myles Lewis-Skelly after the Arsenal youngster scored on his England debut.
The 18-year-old slotted the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs in the 19th minute of the Three Lions’ 2-0 win over Albania at Wembley Stadium on Friday night. Harry Kane sealed the first victory of the Tuchel era with a second-half finish.
The goal makes Lewis-Skelly the youngest debutant to score for England, continuing an extraordinary season for the Londoner. He’s made his senior Arsenal bow and become a regular in Mikel Arteta’s side, scored his first Premier League goal and made his Champions League debut.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Tuchel is particularly impressed by how naturally confident he has been since linking up with the national team for the first time in his fledgling career.
Tuchel hails ‘versatile’ Arsenal starlet Myles Lewis-Skelly
Speaking to the media after the final whistle, the England head coach said: “He is such an open character. He was amazing in camp. Full of confidence, full of humour. You see everything on the pitch, off the pitch.
“He does it with a natural confidence. That’s how he plays football. Full of courage and quality. He was decisive and opened this game for us.”
Tuchel was also bowled over by Lewis-Skelly’s versatility throughout the match, explaining how he deployed the teenager in different roles against Albania.
“The second half, he played as an eight, we wanted to take more risks,” Tuchel said.
Read – Every England players to score on their debut since 2000
“The first half we played in a 4-1 and 4-1 up front. He played more conventional and scored more up-front. He played as a No 8 or 10. I think his best position is where he plays for Arsenal in the left double six, inverted role.
“If you see him in possession games in training, the quality of first touch, body movement, how he plays the passes is a very high understanding of the game. He’s very versatile and can do a lot of things. We tried to play more conventional today because there are many players for different clubs.”
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