Emile Smith Rowe has claimed that Arsenal’s defenders – Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel and Nuno Tavares – ‘work their socks off in training’, as he told Sky Sports.
The in-form Arsenal midfielder, who has just earned a call to England’s senior side, was praising them for helping the club keep a clean sheet on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side recorded a 1-0 win over Watford, with Smith Rowe getting the only goal of the game and Arsenal’s backline showcasing their hard-hitting abilities once again.
It’s perhaps something that the Gunners haven’t shown in the past, but something is seemingly starting to change in North London.
Whilst a lot still needs to be done for the club to turn that corner, for once under Arteta, that ‘trust the process’ might now be coming to the fore.
Nonetheless, this is what Smith Rowe had to say about Arsenal’s defenders when asked about their work.
“So much credit goes to them,” said Smith Rowe. “They work their socks off in training and they are showing in games as well. And really happy that we got that clean sheet.”
It’s going to be interesting to see if Tavares remains at left-back after the international break because he has been outstanding during Kieran Tierney’s absence.
In truth, Arteta should put Tierney on the bench, as ridiculous as that may sound because no one would have thought about that a few weeks ago.
But that’s how you build depth of quality in your squad and now Tavares is asking some serious questions about keeping that starting spot.
Even if the summer signing has to return back to the bench, at least Arteta knows that he has a top-quality player to pick from if he has to rotate.
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