Tim Sherwood was full of praise for Arsenal youngster Emile Smith-Rowe on Amazon Prime as he labelled him a ‘top draw player’.
The outspoken pundit shared that there was talk that Smith-Rowe wasn’t good enough for Championship side Huddersfield after his loan spell last season, but the Arsenal academy product is now proving people wrong.
The 20-year-old started Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Brighton on Tuesday and he was perhaps the best player on the pitch for his side.
Sherwood was full of praise for the technically-gifted player and how putting better players around him is taking his game to the next level.
“He has had to wait for his chance, Smith-Rowe,” said Sherwood. “Loan spells in Germany and Huddersfield. He didn’t really do it there.
“People putting the question ‘well, he cannot play well for Huddersfield then how is he going to play for a top team like Arsenal?’
“Well, put him around some decent players and let’s see how well he does. He is proving that he is a top draw player.”
In the time of need, it’s not the senior players at Arsenal that are stepping up but those youngsters from the academy or those who have been purchased.
Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are the three names on Arsenal fans’ lips and it could be argued that they have well and truly pushed ahead of the likes of Willian and Nicolas Pepe in the pecking order.
Arsenal fans will now be hoping that Mikel Arteta sticks with his fearless and forward-thinking young guns because they are the ones getting him out of his current mess.
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