Scotland may have a generational talent in their ranks.
Lennon Miller, 18, has caught the eye of the footballing world for his mature performances.
These have made him one of Scotland’s most exciting young players and one of Europe’s most promising talents.
Scottish football has received bad publicity recently, with its top clubs failing to give talented youngsters the minutes they require in their first team to establish themselves as top-level professionals.
Much of this criticism is harsh as the competitive nature of the Scottish top flight means that it’s difficult to give young players the time to develop when every game matters.
Yet Motherwell knew they had a talent ready to make the leap that very few have or are making in Scottish football.
Six days after turning 16, Lennon Miller became Motherwell’s youngest player in 2022.
Having attended Well’s academy since the age of eight, this was a special moment for the North Lanarkshire club.
The midfielder has established himself as a key component of The Steelemen and is now being watched by some of the biggest clubs in Britain.
So what makes him special?
Lennon Miller Player Profile
Lennon Miller stands around 5’10”.
He is not the tallest player, but the young Scot’s size rarely hinders him.
Miller has a decent aerial duels win percentage of 40.3%.
In this situation, a long ball is played towards Miller.
He’s able to outjump his opponent and make clean contact with the ball, heading it away from danger.
Miller’s physical strength also matches the required standards.
Scotland has long been known for its rough nature, which means that players must be adequately physically developed before they can be trusted.
Miller shows no signs of weakness and is more than willing to compete for the ball against experienced pros.
Here, we see Miller going into a 50/50 challenge that many young players would be afraid to face.
Miller goes full throttle into the challenge and cleanly wins the ball from his opponent.
Another physical quality that Miller possesses is incredible stamina.
Miller has started every league game for Motherwell this season and has played 99% of his side’s league minutes, showing his ability to be relied upon even in the dying moments of a match.
Lennon Miller Position
Miller is a manager’s dream.
Despite his age, Miller has shown incredible versatility.
Miller can be used as a number 6, number 8 and a number 10 and has qualities that suit each position.
One of the major reasons for Miller’s capabilities to play anywhere in the midfield is his elite awareness.
Miller is constantly scanning.
He will always look to assess what areas he can take up.
Then, once he’s picked up a pocket of space he’ll scan to decide what options are available to him or what defenders will press him if he receives the ball.
We see a perfect example of Miller’s awareness in this situation.
He has dropped into a gap that allows him to receive the ball.
Before doing so, he scans and is aware that he has an opponent who could press him.
As the ball travels towards him, he knows his next move.
Despite being pressed, he quickly flicks the ball neatly around the corner first-time.
Even in his short career, Miller’s positioning has evolved.
He has been tasked with contributing more to his side in the attacking third.
When comparing his heatmaps over the past two seasons, you can see a slight increase in the number of actions he’s completing in higher positions.
In his nine appearances, starting as an attacking midfielder, he has made five goal contributions to his name.
Lennon Miller Attacking Abilities
As highlighted, Miller has become far more of a threat over the past season, playing in more advanced positions.
This has led to his grabbing his first Scottish Premiership.
Here, Miller makes his way into the crowded box, and as the ball ricochets to the Scotland under 21 international, he fires the ball into the bottom corner.
However, most of Miller’s shots come from outside the area.
When you look at Miller’s shot map this season, you see that he’s taken a large number of shots from positions where he’s unlikely to score, leading to a remarkably low xG per shot figure of 0.07.
In this situation, Miller has a shot from distance.
The shot tested the goalkeeper and forced him to make a save.
However, Miller will need to get into the penalty area more often if he wants to score more goals.
Although he does not regularly appear on the scoresheet, he still contributes through his ability to create.
So far this season, Miller has five assists to his name.
These assists have come from free kicks, demonstrating his quality from set-pieces.
Here, Miller delivers a dangerous cross from a deep free-kick into the penalty area.
He puts an enormous amount of whip on the ball, aiming it towards the back post, where an unmarked teammate heads it home.
Yet Miller’s ability to create can’t be purely limited to his set-pieces.
Miller wants to create and looks to play forward whenever possible.
Over a third of all his passes are forward, demonstrating his willingness to progress play.
In this example, Miller has just intercepted a pass and raises his head to see his options.
When one of his forwards becomes available, he plays an excellent line-breaking pass that finds his teammate’s feet.
Miller can play progressive passes from deep and find teammates through intricate passes higher up the pitch.
In this situation, Miller receives the ball at the edge of the box.
He then returns it to the player he received it from with perfect weight and timing, executing a perfect 1-2 that gets Motherwell into the opponent’s area.
Miller’s passing quality can be seen statistically.
He averages a remarkable 2 key passes per 90.
He also has impressive rates of 7.08 and 2.93 for passes into the final third and penalty area per 90, respectively.
Lennon Miller Defending Abilities
Miller’s ability to create and play forward is utilised across the three roles he fulfils in Motherwell’s midfield.
However, his ability to defend has also been a real asset to the Well, who have emerged victorious in midfield battles this season.
Like all great defensive-minded midfielders, Miller has a fantastic ability to make interceptions.
He averages 4.5 interceptions per 90.
Here, we see Miller stepping in to make an excellent interception that prevents the opposition from progressing play.
This highlights Miller’s ability to read the game.
Although his intelligence is a significant factor in his defensive duties, his athleticism and competitiveness also contribute to his success in intercepting.
In this situation, an opposition player fails to play a pass at the appropriate pace.
While his opponent is caught flat-footed, Miller steps quickly before his direct opponent to win the ball.
Miller possesses the ability to win his defensive duels, which is an unbelievable asset.
He has won an outstanding 69.5% of his defensive duels.
Here, Miller sticks tightly to the opposition’s number 10.
As the ball is played into the feet of the attacking midfielder, Miller remains close and prevents his opponent from turning before eventually winning the ball.
Miller isn’t responsible for sitting deep and waiting for the opposition to attack before he engages defensively; he can press intensely when required.
The number of high regains Miller has made this season proves his worth to teams that may want to press more aggressively than Motherwell has this season.
He’s made an incredible 43 counter-pressing recoveries.
This number of counter-pressing recoveries shows Lennon’s excellent reaction during the defensive transition.
In this situation, Miller sees his teammate lose out in a duel.
He quickly reacts and presses his opponent to win the ball back.
Part of Miller’s success when winning the ball high up the pitch defensive is his ability to win second balls.
This is another feature of his play that shows his excellent reaction skills.
This example demonstrates Miller’s capacity to win second balls perfectly.
Here, after the opposition have made first contact with a long ball, Miller pounces on the opponent who the ball is heading towards.
He quickly muscles him off the ball, allowing him to secure possession.
Lennon Miller Composure
Many factors suggest Miller is far more mature than his fellow professionals, who are similarly aged to the Wishaw-born player.
He shows an immense level of composure on the ball and never seems to panic when being pressed.
Stuart Kettlewell, his manager, has also shown tremendous faith in the number of responsibilities he has assigned to his young starlet.
He’s been given important tasks such as taking many of his side’s free-kicks and corners.
The duties of penalties have also been passed over Miller in recent times.
The most remarkable is that Miller has captained the side on multiple occasions.
The absence of captain Paul McGinn and vice-captain Stephen O’Donnell has provided Miller with an opportunity he probably wouldn’t have expected so early on in his career.
Amazingly, Miller’s first appearance as Captain came last season as a 17-year-old.
Only a player with immense maturity could lead a side of senior professionals at such a young age.
Miller keeps taking responsibility after responsibility and shows no sign of a decrease in performance.
He thrives under the added pressure, proving he truly is the real deal.
Conclusion
Through this scout report, we have identified many characteristics that have earned Lennon Miller the much-deserved attention he has received.
He’s developed athletically, allowing him to compete in the physical Scottish game.
He can play and thrive in a variety of positions.
In possession, he has room to grow in the number of goals he contributes to but has, without question, proven his worth in terms of creating.
Miller also proves his defensive qualities through his ability to win his duels and make critical interceptions.
It’s also clear that he has immense maturity, most notably in captaining his club side.
I predict Miller will make his next move to either a mid-table Premier League club, a top-half Serie A club or one of the Old Firm.
Miller already looks like one of the best players in the Scottish Premiership, so I believe he will be keen to test himself in another league.
He will want to continue having consistent playing time, which has been so vital to his development.
In the long term, I believe Miller could play for one of Europe’s top clubs, competing at the top of Elite football.
