Mikel Arteta says Arsenal have a ‘great player’ in Emile Smith Rowe but stressed the club need to be patient with him.
Coming off the bench in the 75th minute of the Gunners 3-0 win over Molde, the midfielder needed only seven minutes to make an impact, laying on an assist for Folarin Balogun to complete the scoring.
Amazingly, Smith Rowe’s cameo was his first senior appearance since he started Freddie Ljungberg’s final game in charge at Everton last December.
Following a loan spell in the Championship with Huddersfield he was tipped to challenge for a regular place this season but injuries, not for the first time, have hampered his momentum.
Facing the press after last night’s win, Arteta said: “Emile is a player with an incredible talent. He’s the got ability and the quality.
“Mentally, it is always a challenge because the demands are so high, the pressure is high to play here and you need to hit those levels to become an Arsenal player. It’s down to him as well.
“I really like him and he’s a player that if we are a little bit patient [with], we have a great player there.”
The Gunners included a total of eight Hale End graduates in their matchday squad last night; a real testament to the hard work put in by everyone who works tirelessly at the facility.
Arteta went on to talk about giving them more game time in the coming weeks. You can read those quotes here.
Then start him in the no. 10 role flanked by saka and pepe, auba up top and partey/elneny combo in CM.
Mark my words: Arsenal will waste millions in january for a CAM… no matter if Özil is at home and ESR labelled as incredible…and the fans will be in heaven. lol
If we do, it will be £millions we haven’t got of course. I dread to think what the next financial results will show when they’re released shortly – and they’ll only cover the year to 31 May 2020 when Covid began to bite.
I’m not sure they will but if we get a world class player who performs well, why would it be a waste of millions?
Because it is more likely to be another washed up contact from Edu’s address book?
It is good to tread with caution or better still, with the proverbial handbrake on, with ESR, Saka and other emerging youngsters.
We don’t a repeat of the latter Wenger years when young players were overburdened with demands of the first team.
We lost Wilshere, and Diaby – to some extent – to this fact
Neither one’s injuries were from being overplayed. Both sustained significant injuries from (often) minimal impact plays – obvious exceptions aside – indicating a sadly natural predilection for injury (brittle bones). Sad for both players, as the obvious natural talent was also there. But you’re way off.
Diaby obviously a different problem. Jack’s style of play, close control, and overall hatred by the pricks in the English media made him the recipient of a lot of “attention” and off the pitch. Wilshere regularly got hammered when he had the ball. Ramsey’s injury rap sheet also comes to mind. Walcott, lots of early promise but some significant injuries as well. There are surely others that I cannot be arsed to think hard about. Though, I do think you are right that its unfair to lay all this at AW’s feet. Jack was a phenom when he was young.… Read more »
seems a bit of deja vu. I remember last season under Unai, Freddie and then again under Arteta there was a lot of talk about why not give more chances to these younger guys as the likes of Mustafi, Xhaka, Luiz (although he has been MUCH better this season), Papa, Ozil are simply not getting the job done. Now we can add in Willian and Laca (maybe even Eddie – who has been pretty poor, but keeps getting chances over Balogun even in Europe) to that mix, and it is the same story on repeat. Experience is one thing, and… Read more »
you really think Eddie has been poor? He was unlucky last night – one poor miss, a couple of close chances, one only just offside goal and lots of runs that didnt get found. He’s still a v young guy but he has proven himself to be strong. Don’t add him to the same list as Willian and Laca, who are both massively underperforming at the moment!
He needs a loan. And yes, he has been poor. If he wants the starting gig he absolutely needs to be better. So does Laca; hence, why it doesn’t even seem a choice to start Auba right now. I like Eddie, but his chances are passing before him. You can see why he couldn’t get a run at Leeds. He is a great poachers, but doesn’t offer much else and his link up play is a zero. Even his body language is disappointing when he doesn’t get the ball when he wants it. He needs a loan, where he is… Read more »
Yeah, I agree. I want to be able to back the lad, but he just doesn’t seem to have a rounded game…
eddie looks low on confidence and seems to be getting more frustrated every time it goes badly for him. lot of pressure on a young lad, but he keeps getting into good positions. i hope we move laca on and give eddie and balogun a chance to shine.
Seems to be a myth around nketia, franny Jeffers got in good positions. Just never scored enough goals and as that seemed all he could actually do, it didn’t work out. Nketia seems very similar
– At all youth-levels for England, including Under-20 and Under-19s, he’s scored 23 goals from 23 appearances, averaging a goal every 77 minutes.
– Nketiah is similarly prolific at youth level for Arsenal. Between 52 appearances for their Under-23s and Under-18s at Premier League 2 and Academy League level, he scored 42 goals.
I think he’s earnt some patience and support from fans. Especially since he’s making a step up to the first team which is lacking form.
i think AMN in particular deserves more game time. he has been great every time he has played over past year. i would like to see him get a run out in midfield. he could be a better option than willock. he is big, a powerful runner, can break the lines, passes well and is good in tight spaces. strange how he is only ever used as a full-back/wing-back now.
He’s been forgotten as an alternative to Willian that’s for sure. After the effort to keep him he’s been somewhat forgotten
I absoutely agree. I mean he could even be a solid midfield option. But as many people said before: his versatility might be his downfall. He might be able to play most positions, but does not start anywhere. But I think in the next month we will really see his value IF Arteta wants to use him properly. What Nelson and AMN did on that left flank against Molde (yes I know, it was Molde), mostly the movement and the give and goes is what we need. Dynamisn!!!
I hope we will see more of him!
Up The Arsenal!
That touch in the box to control the ball then lay it off was silky as hell
Let’s give the youngsters (more of) a go. Despite the recent draw at Leeds, things are still looking pretty dire in the PL. Perhaps their enthusiasm can “prod” the older players to up their game.
There’ve been what, 10 games played, and things are suddenly dire.
WTF ….
You won’t win nothing with kids , ask Alan Hansen