Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta has been speaking about Emile Smith Rowe and the fact he hasn’t been called up to the England squad.
England named their latest squad on Thursday, and to the surprise of some, Smith Rowe didn’t make the grade this time around.
Indeed, despite the fact that Gareth Southgate has continuously told us that he’ll only pick players based on form, he’s ignoring a player who has two goals and an assist in his last two matches.
As you can imagine, some are down about the fact Smith Rowe wasn’t picked, but Arteta reckons that the midfielder should be happy to even be in the conversation.
What’s been said?
Arteta gave his view on the matter.
“I think he should be happy if people are gutted [about him not being selected] or people are questioning any decision, because that tells you the level that he’s playing at. Like anything that has happened in Emile’s career, it will come when it’s the right moment, because we don’t know if now is the right moment. Gareth knows much better than us to judge what he thinks about the role that he could have in that team, and if he’s decided that it’s not the right moment, I’m sure it was a very thoughtful process and the right decision,” Arteta said.
Be patient
We’re not quite sure that Arteta is right about Smith Rowe being happy about his current situation, but we can see where the manager is coming from.
The fact that he’s in the conversation and fans are campaigning for him to get a chance shows that he’s doing something right.
Fans will only campaign for you to get a shot for England if you deserve it and there is certainly a strong argument to make that Smith Rowe should get a shot.
Maybe the midfielder will get a chance next time around.
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