Man City ace Rico Lewis reveals workouts with Muay Thai champion dad as he’s set to star for Lee Carsley’s England
RICO LEWIS reckons England can turn into Manchester City.
New interim manager Lee Carsley told the squad at his first team meeting that he wants the Three Lions to play attacking, expansive football.
City teenager Lewis believes England – criticised for their style of play under previous boss Gareth Southgate – have the individuals to deliver fantasy football like Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions.
Lewis, 19, who faces the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, said: “I am obviously biased because I play for City.
“But the way we play is the best way to play – I think it’s definitely possible to do that with England because of the quality of players we have.
“Even though we are only here for a week, we are with some of the best teams in the world for the rest of the season.
“I don’t think that the stuff that we are trying to do here is completely opposite to what we do at our club.
“We want to dominate pretty much every game we play. That is the intention.”
Referring to Carsley’s first team meeting, Lewis said: “He spoke to everyone and just introduced himself to people.
“Most of the younger players know him from the under-21s.
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“He said ‘we are here to get the best out of every player’. He was emphasising that there is a lot of pressure on us but we also need to put that pressure on ourselves.
“Even when I was with Carsley in the under-21s, he wanted to control the games and he wanted to win and be exciting.
“I don’t think it will take long for the rest of the team to get used to him. Obviously Gareth was there for such a long time so naturally, it will feel like a new beginning.”
England then host Finland at Wembley next Tuesday, before the Premier League resumes on September 14.
Lewis also revealed that he was delighted England reached the Euro 2024 final because it boosted his chances of starting the season for City.
He has played all three of City’s Premier League games at right-back with Kyle Walker having yet to feature – while John Stones only came on as a substitute against Ipswich.
Lewis also kept fit in the summer sparring with his dad, Rick, a two-time Muay Thai boxing champion.
The youngster said: “I knew that England were doing really well in the Euros and that meant that the lads like John and Kyle would be coming late and that would give me opportunities on the tour and then the first few games.”
As for the kickboxing, he said: “I think there’s stuff that I have done with my dad which I can implement into football.
“So this pre-season, before we came back, I was doing stuff with my dad, just to get my fitness back.”
Meanwhile, Lewis revealed his grandfather Dave toured with rock legend Eric Clapton as a bass player – having previously said it was with Oasis.
He said: “Yes, my granddad was with Eric Clapton. I got it wrong when I said Oasis. He didn’t like that!”