Emile Smith Rowe is the unfortunate Arsenal victim

Arsenal are flying at the minute. Goals are raining in, clean sheets are recorded and they’re keeping hold of their place in the top four for as long as they feasibly can.

Fans adore this team. Putting talent to one side, the large majority of this group are exceedingly likeable. We’re beginning to fall in love with Arsenal again.

It’s the young players who are flying that flag, a relatively general expression considering nearly all of them classify as ‘young’: Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have contributed to 27 of Arsenal’s 32 league goals this season. Only one of those is over 21 years old.

But not all four of those are playing regularly.

Emile Smith Rowe becomes unfortunate Arsenal victim as Mikel Arteta faces weekly selection dilemma with Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard

The collective is more important than the individual, but Smith Rowe will be feeling hard done by that his name isn’t on the team sheet each week. That’s now four consecutive Premier League matches where he’s started on the bench, playing 44 minutes in total.

Yet he’s scored three goals in his last three.

Left out of the squad that lost 2-1 to Everton on matchweek 15 due to injury, he was back on the bench in the following win over Southampton, one where his teammate filling in, Martinelli, showed encouraging improvements that he’s carried on with since.

There are three positions to fill and four players to fill them. Smith Rowe finds himself being a victim of circumstance among it all. He quite literally can’t be doing any more to justify a spot in the team either; three substitute appearances, and three goals. This is everything you want from a forward coming off the bench, and it doesn’t touch on the other aspects of his game.

But you can’t take any of the other three out. Martinelli showed disrespectful Boxing Day energy, Odegaard is in the form of his life, and Saka is adding goal contributions on a side of the pitch only he can master as tactically well.

Smith Rowe does not deserve to be out of the team, yet nor do any of the other three. And in such situations, the manager can’t lose. With the quartet being relatively interchangeable positionally it just adds to the options at Arteta’s disposal.

The classic ‘headache with multiple pain killers’ analogy keeps being referenced because it keeps being relevant. Smith Rowe flourished during the period Odegaard initially joined on loan and with Martinelli back in the fold he still isn’t slowing down.

With no European football but Arsenal still competing on three fronts in January, there is every chance one or even two may become unavailable for whatever reason in which case the solution on who comes in is a simple. Right now Smith Rowe is the ultimate super sub.

This is something to savour, not to fret over. These youngsters will share the load, push each other, and support each other. All with a healthy dose of competition.