How Emile Smith Rowe reacted to one Mikel Arteta decision during Arsenal win v Forest

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Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith Rowe made only his second Premier League start of the season so far against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday evening.

Emile Smith Rowe will have been desperate to impress when given a rare opportunity to start for Arsenal at the City Ground. 

Smith Rowe was afforded this opportunity by Mikel Arteta, having impressed the Spanish coach in training in recent weeks. After injuries and the form of others have kept the Hale End academy graduate on the fringes of the Arsenal squad for so long, it is good to see him forcing his way back into contention.

Smith Rowe has not been a regular for Arsenal for the best part of two seasons now. Due to that, you could be forgiven for forgetting just how good he can be. Back in the 2021/22 campaign, the last time he was a key player for the Gunners, the £40,000-a-week ace netted 10 times in the Premier League and was a standout performer. 

Having lost so much time to recurrent fitness issues since then, he will now be desperate to get back to that level. As a fan-favourite at the Emirates Stadium, the Arsenal supporters will all be backing Smith Rowe to succeed in this mission.

How Emile Smith Rowe felt as he left the pitch against Nottingham Forest

Overall, the 23-year-old produced a perfectly acceptable performance against the Midlands-based outfit. He started particularly brightly and made a number of dangerous forward runs from deep.

However, much of the Gunners’ build-up play seemed to bypass the 3-cap England international. This is perhaps unsurprising, as having been on the outskirts for so long, the player has not had much time to develop on-field chemistry with many of his teammates. Arteta will need to give Smith Rowe a run in the team to afford him the time he needs to find his place in the on-pitch dynamic.

Smith Rowe got 71 minutes against Nottingham Forest, before he was replaced by summer signing Kai Havertz.

Monitoring the player’s body language as he walked off the pitch, talkSPORT (31/01/2024, 06:43) pundit Alan Brazil had this to say, “I thought Smith Rowe was good, he was disappointed with coming off but he should be but I thought he did well.”

He will certainly be hoping that he did enough to earn some more regular starts in the coming weeks. Smith Rowe is determined to fight for his future at Arsenal, and he now looks to be making real progress in that regard. Hopefully, there is plenty more to come.