Gary Lineker has now claimed that one Newcastle United player reminds him of the legendary Chris Waddle.
Lewis Miley has been playing incredibly well for his club and is now starting to get a lot of attention from those in the media.
On The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker made the comparison between the two players after Miley’s brilliant goalscoring performance against Fulham at the weekend.
Lineker says Miley runs like Waddle
It’s not very often you see a player of Miley’s age who is taller than the majority of your squad and its even rarer that this player is so technically gifted.
But Miley is exactly that and it’s so strange to see at times because he looks like he’s been playing at the top of his game in the Premier League for the last decade or so, just so confident on the ball.
Lineker has now suggested that the way he runs is very similar to Waddle, in a sort of stiff and wooden way, and in a way that doesn’t look like he’s putting much effort in until he’s beaten two or three players just like that.
It’s very high praise coming from someone of the stature of Lineker, but Miley is yet to seem phased by any of the pressure put on him and looks to be improving in every game he plays.
On the podcast, Lineker said: “Do you know who he reminds me of a little bit? Not always in the way he plays, but in the way he moves because he doesn’t automatically look like a footballer.
“He has a running style that is slightly stiff, and do you know who he reminds me of? Chris Waddle.
“You look at Chris and Chris never looked like a footballer, he had a wooden style in the way he ran but he could drop his shoulder, would beat players without looking like he was incredibly technically gifted, and Miley in a way – certainly with the grace he goes past and the way he beats players – he is not a wide man like Chris was, but in terms of his gait and the way he wanders around the pitch.”
Newcastle may have to rely on Miley again tonight
Though it’s not been exactly how Eddie Howe has wanted to introduce the teenager into the team, Miley has actually been one of Newcastle’s better players, especially in their three recent defeats.
The young man was thrown into the deep end because of the number of injuries the squad were carrying and has dealt with the pressure of being in the first team so well.
With a trip to Chelsea coming up tonight Howe may again need to rely on the Stanley-born midfielder as Joelinton is a big doubt after coming off with an injury against Fulham.
Having started in a Champions League match in Paris against some of the world’s best footballers, Miley will no doubt find this Carabao Cup quarter final a walk in the park.
If Miley turns out to be even a fraction as good as Waddle, as Lineker suggests he may, then Newcastle will have a serious talent on there hands if they weren’t already aware.
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