Arteta on Lewis-Skelly: “I've been tough on him. He had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team. He had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused, aligned when we wanted to do and I knew he was ready.
“He's been showing in training every day the opportunities that he had to play, he's done it and today he really stepped up and I thought he had an incredible performance.
Reporter: What was the sort of thinking behind that and why do you think it's taken this long to play him there?
Arteta: “Because probably I don't have a clue. Maybe I should have done it earlier, I don't know. But I have to do things when I believe that the player is ready, the team is ready and the opponent is the right one to play with him in that position.
“We've done it today, it's the first time, it was a big risk because I knew what was going to happen. If it works, it's great. would have lost the game, what would have happened, how do you play a kid at this age in this scenario in a position he hasn't played all season. I knew that but I had the feeling it was the right game for him.”
@ninja_padrino Didn’t get that far, but they probably do! 😅 It was seriously one of those times you bite into something and go, “Holy shit!” Mamma Mia, it’s a good one!