Micah Richards singled out ‘unbelievable’ Myles Lewis-Skelly for praise after England’s Nations League win over Czech Republic and said he is ‘too good’ to be on Arsenal’s bench.
England finished the elongated autumn international break with an impressive 3-0 victory over Czech Republic at Wembley.
West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal scored an own goal midway through the first half before Harry Kane doubled England’s lead before half-time.
Kane, who was celebrating a record-equalling 125th England cap, scored again early into the second half as England ran out easy winners.
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Ex-England defender Richards reserved special praise for Lewis-Skelly after the game and revealed the Arsenal star is now one of his ‘favourite players’.
Despite being one of the most highly-rated young players in Europe, Lewis-Skelly was linked with a move away from Arsenal over the summer given the extreme level of competition in Mikel Arteta’s squad.
Lewis-Skelly is behind Riccardo Calafiori in the left-back position and faces midfield competition from the likes of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Bruno Guimaraes and Mikel Merino.
But Richards insists the 20-year-old is ‘too good’ to only be a squad player for Arsenal and is one of the best players he has seen at his young age.
‘Myles Lewis-Skelly is one of my favourite players,’ Richards said on The Rest is Football podcast after England’s Nations League win.
‘Technically he’s very good, he’s strong and fast, he has football intelligence and he’s still so young as well.
‘I remember his performance against Real Madrid a couple of seasons ago [in the quarter-finals of the Champions League] and I hadn’t seen anything quite like it from someone that young.
‘Obviously Riccardo Calafiori has been playing left-back for Arsenal and they’ve brought in Bruno Guimaraes to the midfield on top of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
‘But Lewis-Skelly is too good to be on the bench. He’s one of the best young players I’ve seen at his age and that’s not an exaggeration. He’s unbelievable, such a delight.’
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England legend Gary Lineker also praised Lewis-Skelly, saying: ‘He was very, very good again. He can play, that kid.’
Meanwhile, Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel hailed Kane as a ‘legend of the English game’ after the Bayern Munich striker took his international tally to 91 goals.
‘He delivers all the time, it makes no difference,’ Tuchel said. ‘It’s of course special that he did it today when he equals the record with Peter Shilton.
‘If it needed any proof, it doesn’t of course, he shows it again and again. He has again a very good performance.
‘He played all four matches for us, he was eager to play and start all four matches. Top captain and hopefully next camp he gets the next two camps.’
Asked whether Kane is England’s greatest ever striker, Tuchel added ‘I don’t know about the best and stuff like that but he is a legend of the English game. Hopefully he stays fit and gets the record for himself.
‘He will inspire loads and loads of young people to play football and encourage people to have a career like him and try their luck. He’s a fantastic role model and he deserves the praise.’
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