Arsenal: One big reason why Emile Smith Rowe should play more

Arsenal have a surplus of a lot of attacking talents, but Emile Smith Rowe brings something very few others have, and that is why he absolutely should play more.

Arsenal‘s attack went flat for the first time this season against Wolverhampton at the Emirates, where the match was very fortunate to end 1-1. The Gunners simply looked helpless all day as they passed the ball around the box, unsure of how to pierce that sturdy orange defense.

There was one guy that was trying to make things happen, and that one man was Alex Iwobi, who was utilizing his abilities on the ball to penetrate the defense. His ability to dribble was one of the few things giving any hope for a result from this match.

And then he was taken off at half, and that threat was gone. Once that dribbling threat was removed from the spectrum, so too was the little bit of penetration the club had found in the first place.

Enter Emile Smith Rowe. Compared in some ways to Jack Wilshere, he has one big thing that the Gunners seem to be lacking more than they should – that same dribbling ability.

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When a defense holds tight, like Wolves did, it is hard to initiate a passing move when that is all you have going for you. Defenders know they can stick to the passing lanes and not worry about having to scramble after a dribbler, because we didn’t have any.

As it stands, the Gunners have two players averaging two dribbles or more per appearance, and neither of those two are regular starters. Those two are (spoiler alert) Iwobi and Smith Rowe. Not Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is a renowned dribbler, not Mesut Ozil, who has a decent history of dribbling. None of them. Just Iwobi and Smith Rowe.

In an interview with the Daily Star, Ray Parlour made the point that Emile Smith Rowe should be playing more, and I agree wholeheartedly for this one big reason – he brings us something very few others on the club seem capable of bringing.

That comes with a downside, obviously, as perhaps he loses possession or gets a bit over-ambitious, but you need guys like Smith Rowe who are able to shake things up and, at the very least, give defenders something else to think about.

Play him more. No one will argue with getting an 18-year-old starlet more playing time.