Lewis Miley – Ballin for the Magpies by Tomás Reis
As a lifelong supporter of Newcastle United, he had always dreamed of playing in the black and white under the lights at St. James’ in front of 52,000 passionate and highly emotionally invested Geordies. This season, he realized his dream with a breakout campaign that has left the football world buzzing with his name. The 17-year-old is beginning to take center stage in Newcastle’s team, which wants to repeat last season’s success.
Player profile:
Lewis Miley’s debut is a bright spark in the Premier League. As a box-to-box midfielder, Miley is well-known for his outstanding tactical sense, adaptable skill set, and unwavering defensive ability. The 17-year-old boy excels at intercepting passes from opponents and stopping attacking threats at the source because of his natural sense of the game’s flow. The midfielder’s exceptional sense of positioning enables them to close down gaps, block passing lanes, and support teammates effectively. Despite his elegant demeanor, Miley commands the skies, excelling in defensive and offensively aerial duels, providing an added advantage during set-pieces. He displays excellent technical skill in his last pass in the latter third of the pitch.
The Magpies’ homeboy has been grabbing headlines with Bruno Guimarães giving him the well-deserved praise: “Lewis is a star, he is massive. When I was 17, sorry to use the word but I was s***”. His technical skill, combined with a mature understanding of the game, suggests a high ceiling for his career.
Miley’s positioning during the build-up can be observed in Figure 1. In terms of the system when playing out from the back, the right attacking midfielder often drops deep next to the defensive midfielder Bruno Guimarães. This gives Bruno a license to move quite flexibly as his strength is to keep moving to offer an additional passing lane and carry the ball forward. Thanks to the presence of Miley, Bruno can leave his original position to play comfortably. The left-attacking midfielder, on the other hand, frequently positioned himself higher to receive the ball in between the lines.
Offensive game:
Lewis Miley is an extremely calm player when his team has the ball. He exhibits remarkable levels of composure even at such a young age, which is helpful for him in terms of decision-making. Another of his great qualities is his ability to escape opposition pressure. He’s a highly developed player when it comes to dribbling, ball control, and targeted receptions. With so many technical resources, it’s not surprising that he’s able to play under pressure and almost always makes good decisions.
What is astonishing for a 17-year-old boy is that his footballing IQ is spot on. In terms of positioning, he’s quite astute and always makes himself available for his teammates by identifying spots where he can receive the ball without being under any pressure. In addition, his off-ball movements are clever. He shows good perception and awareness of space, allowing his teammates to receive the ball without being pressured.
The figure above highlights Lewis Miley’s capability regarding off-ball movements. After receiving the ball, Trippier has two passing choices. Lewis Miley presents the right-back with a passing option, however, it might not be the best one given that the defensive midfielder of the opposition is man-marking the Geordie graduate. The former Atlético Madrid player has another option for a pass in Miggy Almirón, but Cucurella will apply immediate pressure on the Paraguayan if he receives the ball. Miley quickly acknowledges the situation and makes an extremely effective run between Chelsea’s left-back and center-back. Miley’s movement tricked Cucurella and Caicedo, who followed the Englishman, allowing Almirón to receive the ball without pressure.
Figures number 3 and 4 show a similar type of movement to the one we’ve seen above. His primary objective is to free up space for his teammates. Cucurella was drawn to his movement, giving Trippier additional time and space to make a good decision with the ball on his feet.
In the final third of the pitch, Lewis demonstrates his superior passing and decision-making abilities. His influence in the last third is demonstrated by the assists he made against AC Milan and Chelsea. Another situation in which he showcased his coolness and technique was his action against Nottingham, resulting in a penalty kick for the Magpies. Following a pass from Gordon, Miley recognized the opening between the opposition’s center-back and left-back, assisting Isak, who then was fouled inside the area.
In terms of progressive passes received and miscontrols of the ball (per 90 minutes in the Premier League), Newcastle’s academy product shows great numbers when compared to elite players such as Ødegaard, Paquetá, Gross, and Szoboszlai.
Defensive game:
Because they press the opposition so hard throughout their build-up phase, Newcastle typically can defend well. When they press high, their three attackers lead the pressing, but in the midfield, the attacking midfielders press the opposition player on the ball first. When pressing high, their three attackers work together to lock the opposition team in a small area. When the striker presses the opposition center-back, he tries to lock the opposition team in the ball side, and attacking midfielders mark the opposition defensive midfielders.
Lewis Miley is devoted to performing his defensive responsibilities as effectively as his offensive ones because of his strong work ethic. At six feet two, Lewis Miley has long legs that allow him to cover a lot of ground. He can recover a lot of balls because of his exceptional game reading. He only lost 0,38 of the challenges he has been involved in (Top 1% in the EPL). Miley averages 6,55 recoveries in the opposition half per 90 minutes. He forces hasty passes, errors, or turnovers when he aggressively shuts down opponents in their defensive third. Gaining possession of the ball in these advanced zones allows Newcastle to counterattack quickly and take advantage of the opponent’s defensive lapses.
Conclusion:
Throughout Newcastle’s injury crisis, Lewis Miley has stepped up and hasn’t looked out of place once. The 17-year-old plays with maturity and intelligence that deceives you into thinking he is much younger. Lewis Miley is already a very skilled player, but 2024 will surely be his breakthrough year. He will undoubtedly become an extremely valuable member of Newcastle United in the future with game time and Eddie Howe’s supervision.