Speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast, Ian Wright has said that Mikel Arteta needs to sit Emile Smith-Rowe and Joe Willock down and explain to them that this is their best chance to break into the Arsenal first-team.
Smith-Rowe and Willock have been on the fringes at Arsenal for years at this point, and Wright believes that Arsenal’s current poor run of form may see a door open up for them.
However, he says that the manager should sit them both down and explain that they have the chance to prove themselves in the coming weeks.
“I’m starting to feel like, you know something, I’m looking at Mikel and I’m thinking, Emile Smith-Rowe if these guys and Joe Willock, have you had the talk with them and said ‘look at this team, look at where we are at the moment as a football club as Arsenal’.“
“If you can’t recognise that this is your moment to come, then it’s not going to happen.”
Wright is clearly a big fan of the young players, especially Willock, who he said should start more often, earlier this week.
Mikel Arteta needs to change something if he is to turn Arsenal’s fortunes around, and perhaps looking towards the youth is the way to go.
The youngsters need the motivation though, and sitting them down and telling them that there may be a space in the team could raise their game to the next level.
Of course, Arteta may have already done this, but if he hasn’t then he needs to make sure to listen to Wright’s advice.
It will certainly be interesting to see whether or not Smith-Rowe or Willock get a run in the team in the coming weeks.
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