Emile Smith-Rowe is an offensive midfielder, born in 2000, whoestablished himself this season in Arsenal’s first team, despite the difficult season experienced by Arteta's team.
The young Englishman, born in Croydon, in the south of London, was one of the rare rays of light during the Gunners' troubled season - which ended without even the consolation of a Conference League qualification.
Given the ups and downs of many of his more experienced teammates, Smith-Rowe, together with the other young star Bukayo Saka (already worth around 60 million euros), has often led the Gunners in recent months, and his style of play certainly deserves a more in-depth analysis.
Let's start from his position on the pitch: Arteta has in fact changed the formation from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 to accommodate his young talent in the position of offensive midfielder. It is precisely from there that Smith-Rowe loves to drift away often towards the left touchline to give more range to his movement. The Englishman is in fact a very mobile and intelligent player who modifies his position according to the movements of his teammates and identifying the free spaces to receive the ball free from tight markings. As can be seen from the heatmap of his season, Smith-Rowe gets wider mainly on the left favoring the conditions for quick interchanges with the full-back, in most cases Kieran Tierney who likes to advance in the opposing half of the pitch with the ball. Smith-Rowe rarely drops too deep but he prefers to receive the ball between the lines taking advantage of the half-spaces from which he often makes himself dangerous.
Once the ball is received between the lines, Smith-Rowe shows remarkable ability and confidence in conducting the ball with quick bursts in the spaces from where he then tries to play for a teammate or, more rarely, to finish on his own. He doesn't venture into tight dribbles but uses the strength in his legs and his excellent acceleration to beat opponents and create momentum in his actions. His solid decision-making has greatly helped Arsenal recover that ability to create chances from the last third of the pitch that has been lacking for too long.
This season, which has seen him start 18 times in the Premier League and 8 in the Europa League for a total of over 2000 minutes played, his percentage of passes has maintained significant levels completing an average of 39.7 passes for 90 minutes with 87.7% completion. Many might argue that many of these passes are purely back passes or to help the team to maintain the shape but it is equally true that the final product offered by this player is already valid as can be seen from his pass map. He makes a contribution of 0.31 non penalty xG and/or assist every 90 minutes. Put simply, Smith-Rowe delivers an assist or scores a non-penalty goal about every 3 games.
Stats that, combined with his inclination for pinpoint through passes, make him more effective at assisting teammates than at finishing the action individually. The two goals scored in May against WBA and Chelsea were in fact the only ones of his season together with 4 total assists. Having been this his only first full season in the Gunners first team after loan spells at Leipzig and Huddersfield, it is still to be expected that these numbers will grow over the next few years as well as his importance in the next revamped Arsenal. In many ways, such as runs in the box supporting offensive plays, Smith-Rowe has already shown significant improvements, creating the conditions for a shot or supporting the teammates.
Arsenal worrying trend has made Smith-Rowe perhaps the only player capable of supporting the strikers and the presence of the last signing Ødegaard in January has not brought the desired breakthrough.
The Gunners' growing interest in Emi Buendia – just promoted with Norwich and named English second-division player of the year - could only benefit Smith-Rowe, as long as it does not influence his playing time, therefore releasing some responsibility from the young Englishman's shoulders in creating goal scoring opportunities for his side.
Smith-Rowe's level of performance should not only be measured for what he does with the ball: his contribution in terms of km ran is almost always among the highest of his team and his willingness to drop back have often been praised by Arteta. It is therefore a plausible scenario for Smith-Rowe to establish himself among the Gunners next season that will have to rely on fresh young talents.
Because of his physical and technical characteristics, many journalists have gone so far as to consider him a potential new Kevin De Bruyne. Given Smith-Rowe's ability to make his way into a difficult and competitive league like the Premier League, the Belgian's technical skills and vision remain superior, at the moment, for anyone aspiring to his level.
For too long, however, Arsenal have not focused strongly on their promising players, seeing them often flourish in other places. If with Saka the way seems to have been traced, now it can only be the turn of this London-made young man.