Lennon Miller: Scotland’s Next Rising Star by Kai Watson

Jacek Kulig

Lennon Miller: Scotland’s Next Rising Star by Kai Watson

Image: motherwellfc.co.uk

On Sunday 03/11/2024, Lennon Miller walked out for the League Cup Semi-Final as captain of Motherwell at only eighteen-years-old. In fact, even though he only turned eighteen in August, he’s already made more than fifty first team appearances for the Steelmen.

Below you can see the split of his appearances for the North Lanarkshire based side. He did become their youngest ever player when he made his debut at just sixteen years and six days old. Since then, he’s kicked on and became an integral part of their midfield and is now, most likely, considered to be un-droppable.

The fact he was given the captaincy for such a big occasion speaks volumes of not only his ability but his temperament and maturity level.

He’s also impressed at national team level for Scotland U21 and there have been calls from fans for him to be called up to the senior side. In three appearances during the U21 Euro Qualifiers he’s scored two goals and gotten two assists. He got a goal and assist in the games against Kazakhstan and Malta but also impressed in the 2-0 defeat against Belgium.

Scottish Premiership Performance

In ten appearances in the Scottish Premiership this season, Miller has scored two goals and gotten three assists. He’s been a pivotal part of Motherwell’s good run of form to start the season which sees them sit in joint fourth place with a game in hand.

He’s been controlling games from the midfield, sometimes playing deeper or as an advanced ten. His ability to play multiple positions only adds to his value to the team.

Before discussing his strengths, let’s look at some of his percentiles for the season so far (via FotMob);

Recoveries – 6.32 Per90 – 95th percentile 

Accurate long balls – 2.85 Per90 – 93rd percentile

Interceptions – 1.22 Per90 93rd percentile

Dribble success – 58.8% Per90 – 86th percentile

Duels won % – 52.5% Per90 – 89th percentile

Chances created – 2.04 Per90 – 73rd percentile

The numbers on their own are highly impressive, as are the percentiles that he ranks in within those categories. Let’s also not forget that he’s an eighteen-year-old playing in a league known for its physicality, that’s what makes all of these numbers stand out even more.

He uses his frame incredibly well and doesn’t get bullied off of the ball, as can be seen by his percentage of duels won. Lennon Miller is not your ‘typical’ Scottish midfielders, in fact, I would argue he’s about as far away from your stereotypical Scottish midfielder as you can get.

Player Profile

What type of player actually is Lennon Miller? He’s not your standard number ten, although he can player there. He’s not a ball winning solo six, he’s not a box-crashing number eight but that doesn’t mean he can’t do all of those things.

He’s a hybrid midfielder for me, the type that gets on the ball in deep positions then looks to create and open up the pitch. That’s where, I feel, the lack of ‘Scottish-ness’ in his play style comes from, watching him you’d never immediately think he was a young Scottish midfielder.

Miller’s heatmap by Wyscout

His frame, the way he receives the ball and looks to be positive with it goes completely against the stereotypical picture of a ‘Scottish midfielder’.

Let’s look at his strengths:

  • Press Resistant

One of the most wanted abilities in midfielders in the modern game is the ability to beat the press, both with passes and personal touches. Miller can receive the ball with a defender at his back and comfortably use his body to turn into space.

He’s also intelligent and technical enough to play quick, first time passes to play it around or through onrushing opponents.

  • Driving Ability 

He really excels at getting the ball, turning and driving through the middle of the pitch. There was an example of this against Rangers in the League Cup Semi-Final. He received the ball, used his body to hold off the defender and drove forty-fifty yards with the ball which almost led to a goalscoring opportunity.

His confidence and control of his body with and without the ball really stand out for such a young player and it’s highlighted in moments such as the one mentioned previously.

  • Reading of the Game

As you can see by the numbers stated above, in terms of interceptions and recoveries, the eighteen-year-old has an excellent reading of the game. This ability is one of the biggest things that sets him apart from other young Scottish footballers.

There aren’t many out there that have the level of intelligence and footballing brain that he possesses. He just seems to be exactly where he needs to be, at all times, to either pick off passes or collect those loose, second balls.

This is one of my favourite aspects of his game as it highlights a maturity that is not only rare in a player so young but also something not every player can develop.

  • Passing Range

Another one of the standout aspects of Lennon Miller’s game is his passing range and vision. If you look purely at base numbers, his pass accuracy isn’t overly impressive. That, along with many other reasons, is why you can’t rely purely on the numbers at their base.

He creates chances, he opens up the pitch to make space for others and generally dictates the game with his passing ability. 

Again, this isn’t something you expect from an eighteen-year-old, some seasoned pros can barely control a game of football the way he does.

He’s such a unique talent, particularly in Scottish football, if you were to watch him play, I’m sure many fans would assume that he was a young Italian/Spanish prospect.

I really think that Lennon Miller can make it all the way to top, so, in my opinion, his next move needs to be outside of Scotland. I truly think his skill set could suit Italian football perfectly and that’s been a successful pathway for young Scottish players recently.

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