Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Brentford: 5 things we learned – Pass, pass and pass

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 26: Danny Welbeck of Arsenal scores his sides first goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Brentford at Emirates Stadium on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 26: Danny Welbeck of Arsenal scores his sides first goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Brentford at Emirates Stadium on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 26: Danny Welbeck of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Brentford at Emirates Stadium on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 26: Danny Welbeck of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Brentford at Emirates Stadium on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

Arsenal hosted Brentford FC on Wednesday night in the third round of the EFL Cup. Here are five things we learned from the 3-1 win.

Arsenal, in the end, were good enough to ease past Brentford in the third round of the EFL Cup. Danny Welbeck had given the Gunners a two-goal lead. But after an Aaron Judge freekick, the second-half was a tighter affair. Alexandre Lacazette would wrap up the victory and ensure that the home side would be in the draw for the next round, and there were certainly plenty of positives to draw from the performance, even with the second-half hesitancies.

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Here are five things we learned from the 5-1 win.

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 26: Emile Smith-Rowe of Arsenal in action during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Brentford at Emirates Stadium on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 26: Emile Smith-Rowe of Arsenal in action during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Brentford at Emirates Stadium on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

5. Unai Emery likes Emile Smith Rowe. A lot.

Emile Smith Rowe was expected to start. It had been widely reported throughout the day that Unai Emery would hand the 18-year-old his full debut. But when the team was announced and Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were also included, few would have anticipated him playing in the position that he did.

Smith Rowe was entrusted with arguably the most important position in Emery’s 4-2-3-1 formation, the central attacking midfield position. Both Iwobi and Mkhitaryan are both best suited to that position and, if they could choose, would likely want to play in that position. But it was Smith Rowe that Emery entrusted it to.

The young prospect didn’t play brilliantly. He didn’t do much wrong either. He was fine. But despite how he might have played, the very fact that he played in the most prized position was extremely revealing. Emery likes Smith Rowe a lot. And so do I.