Emile Smith Rowe was told to improve in one key area at Arsenal before he was sold by Mikel Arteta

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Arsenal’s young squad under Mikel Arteta began to come of age in the 2021-22 season.

During that campaign there was a notable win in the North London Derby where Bukayo Saka scored his first goal against Spurs and also a battling performance in defeat to Pep Guardiola’s Man City.

Ultimately, Arteta’s young side came up short of their goal of qualifying for the Champions League and finished in fifth place, just two points behind Tottenham Hotspur.

During that campaign, Hale End product Emile Smith-Rowe also took the league by storm scoring ten league goals in his 33 appearances but the coaching staff highlighted a big area for his improvement.

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Arsenal coaches highlighted need for improvement from Emile Smith-Rowe

As seen in Amazon Prime Video’s ‘All or Nothing: Arsenal’ documentary series, Arsenal assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg highlighted Smith-Rowe’s need to improve his duels in episode two.

Arteta’s coach was seen showing the young star some clips of his performance and asking Smith-Rowe to share where he thought he could improve in his game.

Smith-Rowe stated: “I tried to get the ball and he just pushed me out the way.”

Stuivenberg then replied by explaining: “Those are the duels though, this is for me you need to be able to win these. This is part of our practice when you are defending.”

Injuries ultimately hampered Smith-Rowe’s career at the Emirates Stadium but the Arsenal boss is known for his love of duel-winning midfielders and it may have played a part in his decision to let the academy graduate depart for Fulham.

Mikel Merino is a midfield version that Mikel Arteta prefers

Paul Merson has backed Smith-Rowe to reclaim an England place following his move to Fulham this season but a man brought in to fill his void is more of the type of midfielder that Arteta prefers.

Mikel Merino was signed from Real Sociedad with the reputation of being able to win duels in midfield both on the ground and in the air, Premier League statistics this season prove that to be the case.

Merino has transformed his Arsenal career recently with a move to centre forward amid the injury to Kai Havertz but has outperformed Smith-Rowe in tackles and headers won this campaign.

However, Arsenal have been accused of lacking creativity at times and Smith-Rowe gets the better of the Spaniard in terms of pass completion and goal creating actions.

Ultimately both players bring difference facets of their game to the table but Arteta opted for the strength and solidity of Merino over the flamboyance of the young Hale End star.