Rico Lewis says “we’ve got so much talent” ahead of qualifier against Andorra | OneFootball

England U21s will come up against Andorra U21s on Monday evening, with the back-to-back European Championship winners hosting the EURO 2027 qualifier at Pride Park Stadium. Ahead of the game, Rico Lewis praised England’s wealth of talent going into the game.

Despite being only 20-years-old, Lewis is one of the more experienced members of the squad. The Manchester City fullback was asked about how he has to adapt when being one of the younger members at his club side in comparison to having to have the leadership skills when playing with the England U21s.

“It’s nice. Like you say, with City I’m probably one of the younger ones. I listen to the older players and use them as a guide. When you come here, I kind of have to put myself in a different pair of shoes and see that there is players here that will look up to me as-well. I’m more experienced like you say in games and bigger games, so it is nice and it’s something that will help me in the future to be flip into that role as I get a bit older,” he said.

Lewis has shown in the past few seasons his versatility for both club and country. Despite being a right back by trade, he has exemplified his capabilities of playing in the inverted role and finding himself in more attacking positions. He spoke about the freedom he enjoys playing with and how it can depend based upon the opposition.

“There’s a freedom in the sense of as a person and a player I have the freedom to do what I feels right in the moment. Of course there is still a structure to how we play and the formation we play, but in terms of the game tomorrow, similar to the game the other day I feel like we have a structure but depending on how they play, if they play as a five, a four, a six, if they play deeper, they play higher, it all depends then on how I take my position up on the pitch,” Lewis said.

Lewis was full of praise for manager Lee Carsley, having worked with the 51-year-old for a number of years. Lewis praised the confidence his manager has in the squad, and said he is glad of the appreciation that Carsley receives from the outside for his progressive style of football.

“He’s a great person, he’s a great manager. It’s amazing to play in that kind of system where you’ve got the freedom, and like you say everyone else notices how free-flowing it is. I think that’s the rare thing you could say is that everyone outside also notices how free we feel which translates on the pitch,” he said.

For England, it’s been one of the most exciting periods in the nation’s history, both for the senior and development squads. The future looks bright for the youth of England, and Lewis spoke about the togetherness of the team and gifted nature of the squad.

“We all just feel like we’ve got so much talent, we’re all young and we all want to go and score goals and impress people, so I think that’s the reason why the whole package comes together and we feel good,” he said.

England face Andorra on October 13th at 7:45pm BST.