Emile Smith Rowe describes Arsenal breakthrough and names toughest opponent

Smith Rowe has grown into the first-team squad at Arsenal and looks set for a bright future with The Gunners as their No 10 and opened up about life at London Colney under Arteta.

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At the age of just 22, Smith Rowe is one of the longest-serving players at the club having first signed for Arsenal aged 10, and has grown to the point where he now holds more experienced players to high standards when they arrive at the club.

He said: "All the players that come to Arsenal should already know what it means to play for Arsenal, the history of the club, the players who have been here before.

"I try to be as welcoming as possible and we're just a family at the end of the day. We want to enjoy our time with each other, we're all friends off the pitch and stuff, but at the end of the day, we've got a job to do."

He continued: "I think growing up, I was always quite a shy person, but I feel like I've come a long way since then.

"When [Arteta] first came to the club, I went on loan to Huddersfield. He brought me into the office and said, 'I want you to go and learn and get some experience with the first team at Huddersfield.' He basically said to me, 'I want you to come back as a man' because he could see that I was really shy at the time. I wasn't confident in myself.

"After that loan I felt so much more confident in myself. He pulled me in again said I'd come a long way, so he's really happy with me. In terms of qualities, he's really good with the young players. He speaks to us a lot, guides us and he's always speaking to us individually, helping us on the training pitch individually, as well. For young players, that's what you want.

"I try not to think about the pressure," Smith Rowe added. "We've got a young team, a young manager. Last season was a good season despite the bad ending, but we're always looking forward. And he gave us so much confidence. It's good for us to keep working hard and keep pushing each other. I've got all these other players around me, helping me all the time, so it's just good to have my teammates around me."

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Smith Rowe has enjoyed regular action in the Arsenal first team since making his debut in 2019/20, the season curtailed by the COVID pandemic. Since then he has gone on to make three appearances for England, and even scored for the national team.

The attacking midfielder has been struck by one particular aspect of life at the top in the Premier League, and had no hesitation in picking out his toughest opponent to date.

He said: "The intensity of the games is very different to the Championship. The Championship is still very physical, everyone's still very tough and strong, you can see how much it means to everyone, but I think the intensity that everyone plays at, every game in the Premier League is just really difficult.

"Man City and Liverpool are the hardest games I've ever played. Kyle Walker, you just can't get past him. And Trent [Alexander-Arnold] as well, you've got him defending well then he's running down the other end and crossing it in. It's tough. And the atmosphere at both stadiums is just crazy. Anfield, I couldn't even believe it to be honest, I couldn't even hear myself speak. Mad."

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