Skip to main content

Willian And Pepe Could Make Smith Rowe Another Gnabry’ – Wright Fears Arsenal Exit For Talented Youngster


 The Gunners great wants the management at Emirates Stadium to ensure that they do not allow another promising playmaker to slip their net

Arsenal need to ensure that Emile Smith Rowe does not become another Serge Gnabry says Ian Wright, with the Gunners great concerned that regular game time for underperforming Willian and Nicolas Pepe could force another academy graduate to look elsewhere.

Mikel Arteta has been putting his faith in youth lately, with a different approach favoured on the back of a poor start to the 2020-21 campaign at Emirates Stadium.

With seasoned performers such as Willian and Pepe struggling for form and Mesut Ozil frozen out of the picture, Arsenal have had to look elsewhere for creative inspiration.

Smith Rowe has provided that during a run of three successive Premier League wins, with the 20-year-old playmaker impressing after being given an opportunity.

Wright wants Arteta to resist the urge to return so-called stars to his starting XI, saying that overlooking potential at this stage could leave Arsenal with another Gnabry on their hands, after the current Bayern Munich winger left north London in order to fulfil his potential.

“It must be brilliant going into training at the moment for someone like Emile Smith Rowe,” the Gunners great told Wrighty’s House Podcast. “He’s somebody who has had his injuries, he’s gone on loan, he’s done his stuff. For me, Smith Rowe has paid his dues out there, waiting for his chance.

“I think that what Mikel has done now, the timing with which he’s done it, is absolutely perfect because I think if Smith Rowe doesn’t get into this team, at this stage, and they carry on doing what they’re doing and persisting with people who are not performing at the levels they should – whether it’s Willian or [Nicolas] Pepe – I think you lose him.

“Especially with January being here, and then we’ve got a Serge Gnabry on our hands.”

Smith Rowe is not the only player to have impressed for Arsenal of late, with Wright saluting Arteta’s squad for raising collective standards when serious questions were being of those on and off the field.

He added: “Gabriel Martinelli and Smith Rowe have energised [Alexandre] Lacazette, we’ve seen what [Bukayo] Saka is doing. [Kieran] Tierney is amazing, future captain, you can see. [Rob] Holding, [Pablo] Mari looks okay, he’s going to be tested at some stage and we’ll see that.

“[Granit] Xhaka and [Mohamed] Elneny in the middle there, just the energy. It’s seems like everybody has risen up a little bit.

“We beat a Chelsea side where people were thinking we were going to get hammered and we beat West Brom. West Brom drew with Manchester City!


READ ALSO: A Boost For Arsenal As Key Midfielder Partey Returns

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 7, 2021 at 5:39 AM

    I think he's right cz smith Rowe can be a promising play maker cz he only makes touches on ball while passing it his teammates. Arteta need to get rid of willian if he doesn't improve at the end of the season.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'I Tried My Best' - Arsenal Boss Arteta Believes He Did All He Could To Include Axed Ozil

The 32-year-old did not feature for the Gunners after lockdown and was subsequently omitted from the club's 25-man Premier League squad. Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta believes he did all he could to give Mesut Ozil a fair shot before he axed the German from his squad.  Ozil's name was not among Arsenal's 25-man Premier League squad that was released earlier this month, which followed the playmaker's exclusion from Arsenal's Europa League squad. As the 32-year-old enters the final months of his contract with the Gunners, it now appears likely that he has played his final game for the team. Ozil did play a part for Arsenal last season, at one point starting 10 consecutive Premier League games for the Gunners before the coronavirus lockdown in March. The playmaker did not make a single appearance for Arsenal after lockdown, however, but Arteta has still insisted he gave Ozil every chance to impress before he was omitted from his team. "What I can tell you that I...
1 comment
Read more

Arteta Must Be Strong To Survive Allegri Rumours’ – Arsenal Boss Can’t Show Weakness, Says Smith

The former Gunners striker has urged an under-fire Spaniard to prove that he is the right man for the job and end links to an ex-Juventus coach Alan Smith claims it is “an open secret” that former Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri is being recommended to Arsenal amid their ongoing struggles, with Mikel Arteta told he is going to have to show no weakness in order to “survive” the rumours. The Gunners have continued to stumble out of the blocks in 2020-21, with their worst start made to a Premier League campaign. Inability to establish any kind of momentum has the north London outfit languishing in the bottom-half of the table and glancing anxiously over their shoulder at the drop zone below them. Unsurprisingly, questions are being asked of Arteta’s ongoing presence, with a rookie coach finding out the hard way just how tough life at the top can be. Arsenal have offered no indication that they are contemplating another managerial change, but Smith says potential successors – including ...
2 comments
Read more

Arsenal's £72m Enigma: Arteta Right To Demand More From Mercurial Pepe

The Gunners' record signing may have scored his third goal of the season on Thursday night but his manager wants consistency across 90 minutes. Mikel Arteta’s answer was clear when asked what Nicolas Pepe needed to show in order to earn himself a regular starting spot in Arsenal's Premier League team. “Consistency,” said the Arsenal boss, when quizzed on the Gunners’ record signing, following Thursday’s night’s 4-1 Europa League win against Molde at the Emirates Stadium. It was a game that perfectly encapsulated the enigma that is Pepe. The £72 million ($95m) man was infuriating at times - especially in the first half - but just as he had done against Dundalk a week earlier, he popped up with an excellent goal. He also went on to add an assist for Joe Willock, a late strike which sealed a comfortable victory for Arteta’s side and all but booked Arsenal’s passage into the knockout stages. It was a classic Pepe performance and more evidence of why he remains such a puzzle in nort...
Post a Comment
Read more