Emile Smith Rowe has been included in England’s squad for the upcoming Under-21 European Championships in Georgia and Romania.
The tournament runs from 21 June to 8 July so if Lee Carsley’s Young Lions progress to the knockout stages, there’s a high chance the midfielder will miss a chunk of Arsenal’s pre-season preparations, assuming he’s given time to recover.
Your #YoungLions squad for the #U21EURO finals has been confirmed! 🦁
— England (@England) June 14, 2023
England lost a behind-closed-doors friendly with Japan on Saturday; their final warm-up game. They face the Czech Republic on Thursday 22 June in their Group C opener, then take on Israel three days later before a clash with Germany on 28 June.
Smith Rowe endured a difficult 22/23 season with Arsenal playing just 241 minutes across 15 appearances in all competitions. A groin injury wrecked his pre-season and a setback in September forced him to seek surgery.
While he returned to full fitness in January, Mikel Arteta didn’t seem convinced his number 10 was up to speed and rarely turned to him in the Premier League.
All the same, the Gunners have leaked they have no intention to sell Smith Rowe this summer.
All the best the Smith.
If he stays injury free im certain he will shine.
Im sure he could use a break from Arsenal
Only meant he will get game time
Could be just what he needs
Yep. Game time.
He cannot afford to miss a single minute of preseason.
I don’t see how your statement should be controversial. It’s spot on.
This is arguably his most important season in an Arsenal shirt. Regardless of Mikels plans for him (winger or midfielder), the competition only gets stronger from now on. I love ESR and I love even more what he brings to the team, but he needs to cement his place sooner rather than later.
Long story short: A full preseason is very important!
Completely agree. If he’s serious about his career at Arsenal and at the top level he comes back early, or at the very least brings a personal trainer with him to Dubai and has his holiday but comes back in the shape of his life. He’s not played enough need to recover, to be frank, and while he’s “entitled” to time off, nobody is entitled to the Arsenal 10 shirt so if he wants it he needs to show he deserves it.
With him having not played for most of the year, surely hw won’t need a break after the tournament and can come back ready for action?
Curious what are the eligibility rules for that U21 tournament – ESR is 22 (until he turns 23 at the end of July, but until then he’s 22, because that’s how it works)
Seriously, and I mean it’s called “under” 21s…
Maybe they should rename it to “21s and under plus anyone older”
Isn’t one of those rules that allow two or four or whatever number of older players?
That’s it I think, they’re allowed one or a few over age players. Three if I remember
So really, it’s like those choose your own adventure books, and if you don’t like the outcome you just go back and read on through the alternate path anyway?
He’s like Peter Pan, he never gets old
I thought you had to be under 21 at the commencement of the qualification process for each tournament. But maybe you have to be 21 or under.
Not helped by the fact that some U21 competions seem to allow a handful of over 21’s and others it depends on the birth dates for the calender years and others depend on registration dates, and then there’s the best before dates and probably also dried dates.
The Smith is eligible due to his baby-face cheeks and charming puppy-fat frame.
This is why I love this community
You must be under 21 at the start of each cycle (the first qualification), which Smith Rowe was.
If players were u-21 in qualification they can play in the u-21 tournament.
A massive season for ESR.
I’m tipping him here and now to grab the Premier League by the nuts, the same as Martinelli and Odegaard did last season.
He has clearly matured physically and if he can reproduce that in his game, the sky’s the limit.
I am so pleased the club have applied common sense and decided to keep him – a no-brainer truth be told.
Let’s hope that old Status Quo hit will soon be ringing again around the stadiums of England – and Europe…..
COYG
This team needs to gratify us with a semifinal of CL eliminating Man City in the quaterfinals. Nothing less than that to convince the “winning mentalitists” like myself.
A total of 16 teams will play in the final tournament, and only players born on or after 1 January 2000 are eligible to participate.
Only one? How do they decide which of the 16 teams gets him?!?!
Totally misread post. Ignore my now irrelevant gag above, which makes no sense.
So poor ESR didn’t know about the Y2K computer bug that made people fear multiple disasters at midnight on January 1, 2000?
Some people made a lot of money out of that scam.
Off topic, but I’m sure all Arsenal fans of a certain vintage, like myself, will remember John Hollins, who sadly passed away today. John always gave nothing less than 100% in every game during his time at Arsenal between the 1980/81 and 1982/83 seasons. He was, truth be told, already in the twilight of his career, but he offered plenty of support and encouragement – in what was a very testing post-Brady and Stapleton period in the club’s history – to the (then) youngsters in the Arsenal squad such as Paul Davis, Stewart Robson, Chris Whyte, Vladimir Petrovic, Colin Hill,… Read more »
* 79/80 – 82/83 seasons. (My bad)
John Hollins played for Arsenal in the European Cup Winners Cup Final of 1979/80 in Brussels.
Apparently Jorge Mendes super agent offered us Ruben Neves. Who know if it’s true but it’s an interesting one. We might be able to get him on the cheap. I just don’t know if he’s too static of player for MA. A bit like Tielemans it seems to me, technically brilliant but maybe lacking the engine/dynamism of Rice or Caicedo.
He is happy here. With the homegrown quota, we won’t find a replacement on the cheap, unless we replaced Holding with another English player or bring in Tammy Abraham or Toney as striker
… then we could find a cheaper European or South American replacement
U-21s?? Really? He should be with the team at pre-season to show Mikel (that never gave him enough respect) that he belongs. Earn his spot and show that he has the #10 jersey for a reason. There was a time that there was a question if ESR or Odegaard should be the starter in the middle. U21s is waste of time .. Patino should be in that team not ESR. When is he supposed to join the rest of the team? The 1st week of EPL??