Emile Smith Rowe (10)

I don’t know how it happens in the future but a fit ESR is in my best 11.

Hard journey back though with Mar9, Saka and Odegaard being magic for most of the season.

If everyone is for and in form, ESR still won’t be the starting 11

He’s got no chance this season. Too talented to just be a squad player in the future.

Glad to see him back playing, staying fir and scoring.

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ESR just isn’t going to be starting over Odegaard or Martinelli now or in the future I wouldn’t have thought.

I like him as a player but it’s hard to see that happening.

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Happy to see him scoring, looking fit, and raring to go.

He recently said he’s ready to make an impact for the team and with 10 games to go, I hope/feel he will come off the bench and make a huge contribution at some point, like an equaliser or a winner.

This is a season where multiple players have made themselves a hero at one stage or another. I can see that for ESR

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Yeah, all the remaining games are going to be hard and we’ll need “unlikely” heroes to pop up with key contributions.

Whether that’s Holding with a scrappy, bundled in goal from a corner, Xhaka with a deflected long range strike, or ESR with an unmarked run into the box for a tap in.

Nelson had his big moment this season and I think all the fringe players will want to make an impact like that where they can.

Smith Rowe scored 10 league goals last season so he can do it at this level. He should be fresh and energised to contribute to this final push.

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That is a wild shout having seen the levels Odegaard and Saka have risen to this season. Though still a quality player regardless.

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I was joking. This was a reaction to ESR scoring for the U21s.

Well it was 95% in jest. ESR is my favourite Arsenal player.

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This guy has become a ghost.

He’s been in the match day squad for our last 10 games. 10 fucking games! Hadn’t even realised he’d been available for that long.

There is zero chance he’s getting a start in the run-in. The main four attackers are locked, and Odegaard is currently lightyears ahead.

He will need to have a magical moment coming off the bench, if he even gets that opportunity, to have any chance of featuring more in these last 8 games.

Pre-season for him will be massive. Needs to prove his body is durable and he can be an effective cog in the press.

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ESR is well down the pecking order now. He was a trusted started last season. Realistically, he’s a bench option for the rest of the season but Trossard and Eddie would get minutes before ESR. You’d have to think Vieira is ahead of him for a midfield berth as well.

Honestly I’m pretty biased when it comes to ESR but him fit and firing suits our style more than either Eddie or Vieira imo. Trossard really is his killer though because it’s hard to argue that Trossard shouldn’t even start as things are.

I’d simply keep ESR on the back burner, if we’re going to persevere with Elneny through his injuries then we absolutely should with ESR. He just shouldn’t affect any business we do in the mean time

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The same could be said for Nketiah and even Trossard now, with Jesus back.

I’m in pieces over it all. He’s my favourite player at the club but no way is there justification for him starting over the top scorer and my second fave in Mar9; our captain in Odegaard or our player of the season in Saka. He is nowhere near as creative as Saka or Odegaard and Martinelli is more of a danger.

I would trust ESR as a number 8 either. He’s stunk when he’s played as cm for us. That’s probably his most realistic route to the first team but I’d much rather buy a top class cm.

Undeniable talent though. Should have came on at Anfield with Martinelli and Saka being out on their feet.

Trossard must be in contention but agree on Nketiah.

ESR just dosnt look like a player who can come back and hit the ground running, he looked absolutely miles off it in his cameos.

Jesus came back after 3.5months and immediately look quality. There is no time to slowly feel your way to sharpness and form when the team needs perfection in every game.

He needs a big preseason.

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It’s the business we might potentially do that concerns me for ESR.

I’m not sure what Edteta think about the forward positions and whether we need to still pad them out with another acquisition however it’s yet more competition for ESR.

West Ham sunday is a game that could be good for him.
We will need some minutes in games from now on in because we can’t go back to Viera.
There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be seeing some action from the bench next two games.

I don’t think he makes it here unfortunately at least not the degree that some may have envisioned, perhaps he’ll be a squad player but he won’t be a perennial fixture of the starting XI that’s done and dusted.

Team is evolving without him and will continue to do so, you simply cannot build around him or with him in mind.

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I get the point you make but has anyone really replaced his out put in that midfield yet.
Lokonga has been loaned out and Viera is no improvement as of now.

Tbh one of his biggest obstacles is probably the manager. Making subs is arguably Arteta’s worst skill by far. Against Liverpool he had ample opportunity to impact the game with changes and couldn’t come close. He does not trust his bench it’s that simple and to be fair, when their time came in the Europa League and FA Cup they fell short which probably reinforces that. ESR getting minutes in the league is looking real unlikely. In fact our bench options feel rather pointless at the minute given how they’re being utilised.

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