Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand has been discussing Arsenal and the recent emergence of Emile Smith Rowe.
Smith Rowe burst onto the scene for Arsenal last winter and almost a year on, he’s proving himself to be one of the best young players in the Premier League.
Smith Rowe has been ridiculous this season. He has four league goals to his name already while he’s also provided two assists.
As you can imagine, this has caught the eye of many pundits, and Ferdinand has also been blown away by the 21-year-old, even going as far as to compare him to Robert Pires.
What’s been said?
Ferdinand was full of praise for the midfielder.
“There’s nobody doing more right now than Emile Smith Rowe. He’s from the area as well, you know who he reminds me of, the way he plays, but with more end product right now. He reminds me, but with more end product right now. His style right now is a little bit like Hleb. The way he’s low and he moves and manipulates the ball. He runs a bit and keeps players off-balance all game. He’s got a bit of Hleb about him, a Robert Pires vibe a little bit,” Ferdinand said.
The next Pires
Fans of a younger ilk may not realise just how high a piece of praise this is.
To say that Smith Rowe is similar to Pires is one of the biggest compliments Ferdinand could have given the attacking midfielder. After all, Pires is one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time.
It has to be said that Smith Rowe does have some similar qualities, his dribbling ability is very similar to Pires, and while he doesn’t quite have that footballing IQ the Frenchman had, that could come in time.
If Smith Rowe goes on to become half as good as Pires was then Arsenal will have a very special player on their hands.
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