Arsenal have made huge progress under Mikel Arteta and fans can now see the light after so many years of darkness.
It wasn’t so long ago that the Gunners were dropping out of the Champions League and then Europe altogether.
But Arteta took Arsenal backwards to move them forward again and now they are playing some of the best football in the country.
Yes, Arsenal missed out on the Premier League title again last season, but this is the closest they have been since the invincible era of Arsene Wenger and it’s only a matter of time before they are champions again.
The likes of Bukayo Saka have played a huge role, especially given that he was there under Unai Emery and he has also come through the club’s academy.
But whilst Saka thrives, including for England on the international stage, it’s a different story altogether for another Hale-End star.
Emile Smith Rowe was regarded in the same bracket as Saka, but they are now a world apart, in terms of their performances and importance to the team.
One of the big reasons behind that is the injuries Smith Rowe has suffered in recent years because that time on the sidelines has cost him, as his boyhood club continue to rise.
As a result, Phil Thompson thinks it’s time for the 23-year-old to ‘move on’ and leave Arsenal this summer, as he told talkSPORT (16/07/24 at 7:20 am).
The Liverpool legend stated that Smith Rowe has ‘so much potential’, but it’s now time for him to part ways with Arteta, even though it’s ‘hard to say’.
Emile Smith Rowe told to leave Arsenal
“No, it hasn’t (helped Smith Rowe, the progression of Arsenal),” agreed Thompson. “I looked at him and he always reminded me of Merse (Paul Merson). The way he glided through games and the way he moved.
“What Merse did on a football field, but this is what Emile Smith Rowe could do. Was he actually a striker or a number ten? Could play right and left. I was looking at him and thinking ‘my goodness, you have so much potential’.
“His injury was a long time out of football. You come back and you are trying to make it work. Arsenal had moved on with Mikel Arteta and the players, then Declan Rice coming in, who I think is a fantastic footballer and has a great attitude. It just looked as though Arsenal were going in another direction. He needs to move on. That’s hard to say because he is Arsenal through and through. If he wants to play more football, he just has to move on.”
Emile Smith Rowe can get back to his best
One of the big issues for Smith Rowe last season was game time and not being able to prove himself again, even though he was fit.
The ball-carrying midfielder played only 346 minutes of Premier League football and spent quite a lot of time on the bench.
Arteta just wouldn’t change his starting XI that much and you can’t blame him given the performances they were putting in.
That’s why Smith Rowe is better off at another Premier League club, earning those starts and then it will only be a matter of time before he is being lauded and applauded again.
