London is red

Emile Smith Rowe – we will miss you!

Emile Smith Rowe completed his transfer to Fulham and boy he looked sad in one of those Fulham’s announcement photos.

A brilliant 2021-22 season where he played more than 30 games and scored 6 times got him the no. #10 jersey. He was part of the club since he joined in 2010, barely 10 years old. He was the first player to make a professional debut for the club being born in 2000s and the first one to score as well on the same parameters.

A highly regarded Hale End product, Emile shined first in the FIFA U17 world cup campaign for England. Emery gave him a professional contract and he started some games in Europa League and EFL Cup before being sent on loans to RB Leipzig and Huddersfield Town. He returned back for the 2020-21 season, signed a renewed contract of 5 years at the end of the season and had a brilliant 2021-22 season with us.

However, the groin injury bothered him throughout his time at Arsenal. He could have gone on to become one of the starters and that no. 10 position looked his by every criteria, but then he had to go for a surgery and rehab. By the time he returned fit, the club had moved on under the leadership of Odegaard and it was a lot difficult for him to get back into the playing XI.

I always wanted him to get back into the team, wanted him to compete with Odegaard but it didn’t happen. So, the club sat with the player, kept theirs and ours emotions aside and decided that it was in the best of interest for both party to sell him. Fulham came with the bag full of money and we are going to miss him.

He penned down a very emotional message on Instagram. Here’s what he said

“To the Arsenal family, I wasn’t sure where to start with this as it is the hardest message to write to you all.

I was ten years old when I first signed for this club, just a kid with no idea that I would go on to make over 100 appearances and wear the iconic no.10 for Arsenal.

I’ve experienced so much here, met and played with the best and made so many memories that it’s hard to pick out the best moments.

There’s too many people to thank but I want to say thank you to all my teammates over the years, every staff member that’s helped me along the way and especially to you fans for making Arsenal *Home* to me for so long ❤️

I’m ready to take on a new challenge now, I feel hungrier than ever and I have to give myself the opportunity to take the next step.

So thank you again to the Arsenal family, I’ll always appreciate you all.

ESR”

And if that wasn’t emotional enough, Bukayo – his old mate bid farewell to him.

Bukayo Saka wrote on Instagram – “From Hale End to the Emirates and all the memories on our journey. It’s been an absolute pleasure. Go and shine bro!”

Have I forgotten your goal and assist for the first two goals against Tottenham in that home derby? Or that tiki-taka football with Saka and Lacazette against Bournemouth when we were on our lowest under Mikel and which changed the course of years to come? Or, your Wenger’s famous post along side Saka?

Hell NO.

We, the london is red team, wishes you a very successful future and we hope you get to become what your dreamt of at Arsenal. Sometimes, there’s no happy endings.

30 Comments

  1. Nice post Ambarish, ESR was one I wanted to succeed with Saka. I wish him success at Fulham.

  2. Marc

    Best of luck ESR – my guess is Fulham’s going to be tough this season with a player out to show what a dickhead Arteta is.

  3. The Real Vieira Lynn

    Nice work Ambarish…I would suspect that Arteta is elated that ESR has gone to the Cottagers, as he will be in tough to get the kind of stats that will raise eyebrows around here…if he had instead landed in CP and they were able to pick up where they had left off, he might have been quite a talking point…I just hope he can settle in quickly, perform at a high level, then make his way to a club of much greater consequence

    Cheers Tony for the kind words on the last thread

  4. The Real Vieira Lynn

    looks like our ridiculous Eddie demands have scuppered any move to Marseille, which could mean that no moves up top will be forthcoming…we suck when it comes to conducting business, whether it be incoming or outgoing…as to the former, if we were always going bargain hunting this summer why couldn’t we get our shit done in a much more timely manner…we certainly aren’t acting like a team desperate to win titles…I hope this underwhelming window doesn’t lead to any knee-jerk late window moves, like paying a King’s ransom for the overrated, overpriced and undersized Alvarez

  5. Ambarish K

    TRVL

    I think Edu has manned up for the second time, first with ESR sell and now with Nketiah. Eddie has 116 appearances for Arsenal, and although he is not the next Ibra aur Aguero, he is a very decent striker who would improve any of the bottom half teams in Premier League. 30 million + sell on clause is not a big ask, OM thinks this is just another case of Guendouzi and Auba, but it’s not.

    We are the ones making decisions for Eddie.

    Now, not getting a CF is a different talk, for which I am with you. We need one badly.

  6. Ambarish K

    Ibra *or.. Aguero.
    aur is and in hindi lol.. sometimes the mind fails.

  7. The Real Vieira Lynn

    Ambarish—the fact that he fell so low on our depth chart, when we didn’t have a single player up top with goals in their boots, will definitely have an impact on others potential buyer’s evaluation process, especially when there are similar, if not better, options available for considerably less, thus the Marseille 17+M second bid…as for your manning up statement, I disagree wholeheartedly…now if he had gotten rid of Havertz, Jesus and Eddie, then reinvented our Striker position, that would have justified any such “man up” sentiments

  8. The Real Vieira Lynn

    on other potential

  9. Eddie’s stats read like this:

    15 goals from 2018 to date
    126 games played in that time
    5 assists

    Eddie is a striker on 100K a week on those figures

    He’s not even an Ivan Toney level wise. He has an arrogant attitude on the pitch and can be really nasty leaving his foot in.

    Those are the facts.

  10. Jesus PL stats from the last 2 seasons:

    53 Games
    15 Goals
    13 Assists

    7.5 goals a season as our striker and 6.6 assists is not going to win us the PL.

    Havertz PL stats:
    37 PL games for last season
    13 Goals
    7 Assists

    Can he improve this season? If he’s our 9, then we need 20+ PL goals and 10 assists.

  11. You look at those numbers and wonder what actually goes on in El B’s mind. I think he makes it up as he goes along completely reactive in all he does.

    VO and Eze and we will be pushing what looks like a very good Liverpool under Slott. He can do no wrong and will ,be up there at the end of the season.

    Question is will we?

  12. NORG

    Saka is the man – he is that good he says what he likes and El B has to bite his tongue. Saka and ESR are best mates and will continue to be so.
    ESR struck up a good relationship with Ozil in his prime. Ozil gave him extra training and passed on some of his skill set. El B hated Ozil.
    Hopefully ESR will be injury free at Fulham and show El B he has made a huge mistake.
    As for Eddie – he is on a mega contract at AFC and can if he wishes just sit there and watch his bank account get healthier. He had agreed personal terms with OM but AFC are after 45M GBP. Big Frank will not splash the cash on something that is over priced.

  13. Kroenkephobe

    Ambarish
    Your piece on ESR is a wonderful example of what I meant in your last post about the quality and emotion in your writing. Pedro, for example, or numerous other sports journos could never have written anything as moving. I even learnt a bit of hindi as well. 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

    It’s a sad occasion, but this is one of the rarer phenomena at modern Arsenal which has every Gooner in lock step. Surely no one disagrees the Emile is a terrific player. We will all miss his magic. It’s a little akin to when Rocky was transferred to Leeds or when Anders Limpar went to Everton.

    Fulham? I think his agent cdve done much better. They’re not a threat but they will be strengthened by having ESR in their line-up. I don’t give a f-f-flying f-f-fuck about F-f-f-Fulham but I want the very best for this kid and hope that in a few year’s time, he secures a mega move and will feature in the international arena alongside Bukayo.

    On the other hand, he’s arguably responsible for Arteta keeping his job that season where he shone! Swings and roundabouts.

    I’ll write more later but I had a really uplifting day watching County win 5-nil. Optimism restored albeit only in late pre-season.

  14. Marc

    “You look at those numbers and wonder what actually goes on in El B’s mind. I think he makes it up as he goes along completely reactive in all he does.”

    He does make it up as he goes along and worst of all believes his own bullshit – I’m convinced he’d tell you copying Pep’s inverted full back tactic was his own idea.

    He’s been really lucky the past couple of seasons with the other “contenders” not being at the races – I fully expect at least a couple of them to improve and Liverpool could well challenge City for the title.

    Unless we see something unexpected and top notch in the transfer window quickly I can see us in a scrap for 4th.

  15. Marc

    Tony

    Take a look at who / where Havertz got his goals – over half of them (7 goals) came in easy wins (us scoring 3 or more goals) then take a look at the teams: Bournemouth, Brentford (H & A), Luton, Brighton (H & A), Burnley, Newcastle, Sheff Utd, Chelsea x 2 (in a 5 nil win), Spud’s and Everton.

    Looking at the above if we proceed with him as our main CF this coming season I’ve changed my mind on scrapping for 4th – we’ll be lucky to get sixth.

  16. Marc
    Completely right of course. I’m looking forward to our predictions pre Wolves.

  17. I thought I’d try and start with a balanced view on Havertz.

  18. It would appear we maybe dodging a Merino bullet. Some private concerns are putting the move in jeopardy. No way a 28 year old in his prime 3 years is worth Euro30m if he’s the level we need.

    Good to see Pool Slotted 3 past Manure pun intended. I would say poor Ten Hag’s Manure tempestuous love affair is about to burn out after a terrible pre season.

    I thought it and Marc called it and long after TRVL gave his Slott reviews, Arne is tearing up trees already with a mix of youth and old heads all old redness style but being more empathetic to the needs of his squad which seem to love him.

    The PL fight already looks to be Pool v City as Marc said. Manure will go big for a manager and the new bounce will get them firing. Ratcliffe will see to that. If he wants a £2B to £3B stadium an elite manager acquisition is peanuts for the club. Some poor Glazier siblings might have to forgo their Manure treats bless them!

    Alverez is the latest reintroduced click bait, as a new signing. I’m not going to say more as there is still 25 TW days to go. Time for at least another 6 to 8 names to be added to the hat.

    Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

  19. From the Mirror who think maybe a wide forward now.

    “Another day and still no progress in Arsenal’s hunt for a new centre forward as Mikel Arteta continues his search for the missing piece in his title challenging puzzle.

    While talk of an approach for Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez remains, Newcastle’s reluctance to do business over Alexander Isak may force a rethink that could see the Spaniard target a wide forward instead.”

    It does, however, beg the question of just how much faith does El B have in Havertz?

    About as much as us me thinks.

  20. NORG

    Is Stan putting his foot down? Gyokeres is now too expensive for AFC yet AFC cannot sell Eddie because he is ? too expensive. With less than two weeks to go before the start of the season perhaps El B’s intention all along is Havertz at No.9 and Jesus his back up. He will pinch a sentence from Wenger – we could not find a striker better than what we already have.

  21. The Real Vieira Lynn

    my beloved pooch passed in my arms late last evening…needless to say I’m absolutely fucking gutted

  22. Hoopah

    RVL
    Yes, that is sad. I can understand from a man with passion.

  23. TRVL
    Sorry to hear about your dog. They are not called man’s best friend for nothing. Since my daughter got a flat nose Persian I’ve started to take an interest in cats. So photogenic with their expressions. Far more intelligent that I gave them credit for.

    The movie ‘Old Yellow’ had me howling in the cinema at about 8 I think. Then Lassie immortalized the Collie and I had great affection for our canine species.

    Give your good old friend a good send off, as I guess the dog was a part of the furniture with your family.

    Then bake away and remember the good times………

  24. Kroenkephobe

    Hi Vieira
    Very sorry to hear that. I absolutely love dogs and their company. They are a massive part of our lives when we let them in and they give us so much joy and laughs. Let yourself grieve along with your family.

    Our 16 year old labrador died earlier this year. I still feel pain but it does ease day-by-day.

    Look after yourself mate.

  25. Tony,

    “was dark mode not liked?” – this feature is permanent, there is a toggle button at the top if you are using phone and at the top right corner on desktops.

  26. The Real Vieira Lynn

    All of your kind words are genuinely appreciated…I’ve had my fairshare of glorious pets throughout my life, both cats and dogs, this one hurts just a little bit more as she was the “family” pet, who I gifted to my son and daughter at Xmas when they were 11 and 7 respectively…never have I seen two more happy children in the entirety of my life, so it’s terribly crushing to see this chapter come to an end

  27. NORG

    Dogs and cats both have personalities that brings them closer to us. My daughter is petrified of dogs having come face to face with an off lead alsatian when she was two. Now in her early forties she is still very wary.

    My son has two spaniels that are bonkers. The eldest is a bitch and a real princess the other is a male rescue and was also runt of the litter. Now 9 months away from his previous owners he is now a new dog.

    We are fortunate to have a large garden and about half an acre is walled. The dogs love it. Sadly dogs lives are not too lengthy.

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