When someone is as talented as Emile Smith Rowe, they must be playing regular football.
“Sometimes, players just pop up and you can’t help but like them — and I absolutely love that lad,” Jamie Carragher said of the midfielder in October 2021. “I don’t know if it’s because his shin pads and his socks are down; I look at him and think: ‘I always want him to do well’.
“Sometimes you say things in commentary and think: ‘Did I really say that?’. I said: ‘He’s the best player I see in the Premier League running with the ball’. You think: ‘Have I forgotten someone?’ but when I see him move, it just excites me. Running with both feet, the pace he goes at — it is a joy to watch.”
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The feeling of joy Carragher described was one Smith Rowe imbued Arsenal fans with during lockdown.
The Arsenal academy graduate was a breath of fresh air when he stepped into midfield halfway through the 2020-21 season. Until that point, Arsenal’s play had been predictable and stale. He arrived with a natural elegance and rhythm which brought flow to Mikel Arteta’s side and saw him gifted with a new contract (until 2026) and the No 10 shirt in the summer.
That momentum continued into a 10-goal campaign and three senior England caps in the 2021-22 season. Smith Rowe was Arteta’s most-used player a third of the way into that season but, unfortunately, joy has been a more fleeting emotion when it comes to the midfielder in the two years since.
A mixture of fitness issues and Arsenal competing for titles in successive seasons have limited him to just three Premier League starts since August 2022. All three starts came with glimpses of the player who excited so many when first establishing himself in Arteta’s team but were spread across seven months.
New York Times
