Arsenal: Emile Smith Rowe isn’t a solution… yet

Arsenal have a blossom of brilliance in Emile Smith Rowe, but while his talent looks like something special, he can’t be counted on as a solution… yet.

Arsenal‘s attacking midfield is slowly becoming something of an issue. It’s nothing to panic about. Nothing to dread. But if you look at the situation at hand, you can start to see a ripple developing. Because, while it used to be jam-packed with talent, we are losing a lot of it in Ramsey, and Mkhitaryan is struggling, and Ozil doesn’t always fit the schematics that Emery puts forth.

Not to mention both Mkhitaryan and Ozil are getting to that point in their career when they start that inevitable decline. It’s just part of life. Ramsey was the clear beneficiary to that, but he’s gone at the end of the year.

There is undoubtedly going to be some shopping in the coming windows, but that will primarily involve shopping for wingers, which we currently have zero of.

Like I said. It’s not a big problem. But it’s a developing one. And, that being the case, a solution is going to have to be identified.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Right now, Emile Smith Rowe can’t be that solution. At least at this point in his career. He’s only made a handful of appearances with the club, none in the Premier League, and while the promise is literally extraordinary, we’ve had promise like that before that turned out to be nothing (or less than nothing).

To count on Smith Rowe to be the solution when this problem comes to head (and notice, I said ‘when,’ and not ‘if’), is bold and unnecessary… barring some more opportunity to prove himself as exactly that – a solution.

Smith Rowe has all the makings of a potentially prolific No. 10, someone who can take the helm for years to come. But I’d hate to see him counted on as the Ramsey replacement, only for him not to be ready yet. I mean, he’s going to be gone in a few short months. Will Smith Rowe be ready then?

One potential solution is to count on Ainsley Maitland-Niles to be the other half of the solution, as he is a bit more proven, and I don’t think you’d find many people opposed to that idea, as the excitement around Maitland-Niles is just an evolved form of the excitement around Smith Rowe.

Hype can be a dangerous thing too. Smith Rowe has all this hype, I just don’t want to see him fall short, or get thrown into the fire too early.