Arteta sends clear message to Smith Rowe after sharing dressing room "doubts"
Mikel Arteta has urged Emile Smith Rowe to make the most of a rare opportunity to impress ahead of Arsenal's meeting with Brentford in the Carabao Cup.
Smith Rowe, 23, quickly established himself as one of the Gunners' most promising players during the early stages of Arteta's tenure. However, the Hale End graduate's 2022-23 campaign was heavily disrupted by injuries, and the versatile midfielder has struggled to break back into the starting line-up since returning to fitness.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday night's match, Arteta has hinted that Smith Rowe is set to get his chance to impress from the start against the Bees. If that does prove to be the case, it would mark the first occasion since May 2022 that Smith Rowe has started a game for the Gunners.
Smith Rowe's lack of appearances has been questioned in some quarters. Arteta, though, stressed he has his reasons for being cautious with a player he still holds in high esteem.
Arteta said of Smith Rowe in his pre-match press conference: "There’s been many reasons why he hasn’t started a match. He was out for a long, long time. In the last two matches he’s played more minutes and today [Wednesday] he will have a big chance to show that he can play at this level and be a really important player for us.
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"He needs time on the pitch and he needs opportunities and we want to provide that to him. Then he needs to prove it like anybody else on the field that he deserves to play."
Arteta has endorsed Smith Rowe's abilities on numerous occasions during his Emirates tenure. He did, however, previously imply that he had doubts over the youngster's ability to handle being in the dressing room of a top Premier League club.
Join the debate! Do you think Smith Rowe should be starting more games for Arsenal? Let us know here.
Mikel Arteta is set to hand Emile Smith Rowe a chance to impress against Brentford in the Carabao Cup (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Speaking during the Amazon 'All or Nothing' series based on Arsenal last year, Arteta said Smith Rowe came across as "shy" and "insecure" when he first met the midfielder. Driving home that point, the Spaniard made it clear that he wasn't interested in hearing how Smith Rowe performed on the pitch during his numerous loan spells away from the club.
Arteta said: "When we sent him on loan, I said I'm only going to ask you… I'm not going to watch your games. I only want to hear what people say, about you when you are there, and how they are going to describe you, not as a player, as a person.
"Because as a player I don't have any doubts that you can play for us. But can you cope with being in that dressing room? Can you cope with the pressure outside? I don’t know, so you better go there and impose yourself, and he really did."
Smith Rowe clearly did enough to quell those fears, because he returned to the Emirates and ended up playing a major role under Arteta during the 2021/22 campaign, where he plundered 10 goals in 33 games.
The midfield maestro was reportedly the subject of transfer interest from rival Premier League clubs in the summer, including Chelsea. However, the club made it clear to Smith Rowe's suitors that they had no intention of selling him.
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