Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Emile Smith Rowe to remain at RB Leipzig next season

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At the end of the January transfer window, Arsenal youngster Emile Smith Rowe joined German Bundesliga outfit RP Leipzig on loan for the rest of the season.

It was reported after the loan deal went through that Smith Rowe was suffering from a groin injury and it was unlikely that he would restart full training until March.

At the time I found it odd that Arsenal had sent an injured player out on loan to gain first team experience. He picked up the groin strain whilst training with Arsenal in December.

Smith Rowe’s recovery has been slower than expected and it was only this week that he finally returned to full team training.

With just 7 Bundesliga game left to play, it would be surprising if 18-year-old Smith Rowe sees much game time with Champions League chasing RP Leipzig, who currently sit 3rd.

Recently Smith Rowe sat down with Arsenal’s official YouTube channel to discuss his experience so far in Germany.

“The Bundesliga is a really good league,” Smith Rowe told Arsenal’s official YouTube channel. “There are a lot of good players here and big teams as well. It’s like the Premier League really. Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Schalke – all big teams, all Champions League teams really. I think it’s a great opportunity.”

“I can’t wait to play in front of the fans,” he admitted. “I think it will be really good. Obviously the stadium is really big and it’s a great atmosphere. When I first went to one of the games, the fans were just always singing. Obviously that happens at Arsenal as well, but over here it’s just crazy.”

“I think it’s definitely a big step at such a young age, but I think that’s a great experience,” he explained. “Seeing Reiss and other young players take the step, obviously doing well and enjoying themselves, that has really boosted my confidence.

“It really gave me the impression that this was something I wanted to do and I obviously took the risk. I just can’t wait to get fit and play.”

As it stands, it feels like sending Smith Rowe abroad has been a big waste of time. That the only thing he would have gained is an experience of living abroad for 4 months, and that he will return with less than 100 Bundesliga minutes under his belt.

Whilst at Arsenal, he had played 6 games this season across the Europa League and League Cup; scoring 3 goals. He had also been on the bench for a handful of Premier League games. He was progressing well.

It is then very odd that Arsenal would agree sending him out on loan, knowing that he was injured and unlikely to play.

The logical conclusion is that Arsenal plan to leave Smite Rowe at RB Leipzig next season as well.

The club knew he was out injured, and would unlikely feature for Arsenal in the run in – especially following the signing of Denis Suarez. So  a decision was made to send him to Germany early to allow him to acclimatise.

Whilst he has not played for RB Leipzig as of yet, he has spent every day at their training facility, under the eyes of their coaches, living in Germany.

It would mean that were he to go on loan next season to Leipzig, he would not need a couple of months acclimatising. He could do a full pre-season for them, and be ready to joining their 1st team squad for the first game of the season.

A full year playing week in week out in a top league will do wonders for the playmaker, and it makes sense for him to spend next season in Germany.

If he is going to be at Leipzig next season, it then makes sense that he joined in January despite it being unlikely that he will play.

Many at Arsenal see him as a long term replacement for Aaron Ramsey in the squad. Next season will be a year too early for him. But in 2020 he would return to the club with a full Bundesliga season under his belt and having only just turned 20.

 

Keenos

Arsenal Amputees “become invincible”

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Arsenal Amputees recently competed in the annual EAFA (English Amputee Football Association) League Cup Finals, which was held in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.

Unbeaten in all eight of their fixtures, they finished top of the table on 20 points to be crowned champions.

Amongst the other teams were two of the favourites in Man City & Everton, who both bought strong teams to take the trophy.

Arsenal Amps started off slowly with draws against Newcastle then Manchester City. The 3rd game was against a very dangerous Everton side.

The match started very fast but teams were at deadlock until the dying minutes when Arsenal scored to win the game 1-0..

With their confidence high, the Arsenal really started to shine and won their next 5 games against Partick Thistle, Portsmouth, Peterborough United, WBA & Brighton.

Arsenal sealed the trophy with a game to spare to claim their first ever EAFA trophy.

6 wins from 8, 0 defeats and not a single goal conceded. They were followed closely by Manchester City FC Amputees and Everton FC Amputees.

Regular She Wore a Yellow Ribbon contributor Peter Monk was part of the successful trophy winning side.

At 54-years-old, Monk was the oldest player in the competition and scored in the 2-0 victory over Partick Thistle.

“It was great” Monk said after the game “I felt proud to be part of this Arsenal Amputee football team, the boys played fantastic, and to win is unbelievable against strong opposition, here’s to the future of Arsenal Amputee”.

On the day there were over 90 amputee footballers who represented their respective clubs, with an age-range of 30-years from the youngest to the oldest players.

“It was a great day to be involved in – the England Amputee FA did a great job of bringing it all together,” commented Arsenal in the Community coach Dan Openshaw.

“To be a part of it was great and, of course, to win and be unbeaten throughout all eight games really topped it off for us.

“The guys have shown great commitment to our sessions and to developing the team that we have here, so they deserve nothing less. Hopefully there will be plenty more days like this in the future.”

Arsenal’s side also included Tony Mills and Helder Silva, who represented England at the recent amputee World Cup. Their places in the squad were supported by The Arsenal Foundation.

Arsenal Amputees train at The Arsenal Community Hub. For more information on the Arsenal Amputee Football programme, contact Luke Howard, Arsenal in the Communities Disability Officer: lhoward@arsenal.co.uk

SheWore

Would Bergkamp or Henry have survived the “Twitter era”

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Yesterday I wrote about “The mystifying criticism of Matteo Guendouzi”.

The jist of the article was simple.

19-year-old Matteo Guendouzi ran the game against Newcastle. No play had more touches, no player played more passes, and only Aaron Ramsey had a great pass accuracy. Despite this, and Arsenal winning 2-0, some fans went on Twitter to criticise him immediately after the final whistle.

https://twitter.com/OscarLindblad/status/1112807063787397121

https://twitter.com/GrimandiTweets_/status/1112821791133786125

Two responses to the Guendouzi blog got me thinking.

It is frustrating about how kick we get on the back of youngsters who are still making their way in the world. They are given no time to develop, to establish themselves in the first team. People, and mainly Arsenal fans, expect every teenager to already be as good as Cesc Fabregas. It is a high bar.

I can not think of any teenage midfielder to have been good as Cesc Fabregas when he first came through. And there will probably never be one. If we are using his ability as the bar to what is good enough, we are setting unrealistic expectations of these young lads coming through.

One of the reasons why fans get on these young lads backs quickly is Twitter.

https://twitter.com/gunnerrich/status/1113347102808125440

Again, absolutely spot on.

Twitter has changed the way fans view game. It has provided a platform of instant response, which in turn leads to an increase in expectation.

Every poor performance is Tweeted about thousands of times. Fans on the players backs the second the final whistle has blown.

Twitter, social media and 24 rolling news has put us in a “fast food era”. Everything has to be immediate, now, perfect. There is no room to develop, no room to progress, no time for someone to have a poor game.

It makes me wonder whether Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry would have survived the Twitter era.

Bergkamp joined Arsenal in 1995 on the back of a poor campaign with Inter Milan for a club record £7.5million. Inter Milan shipped him out, happy to get rid. Nearly 25-years-later, people would be moaning on Twitter that we had spent a club record on another sides reject. A flop.

The media were on Bergkamp’s back from the day he signed, with Alan Sugar quoted as saying “If Bergkamp thinks he’s gonna set the world alight he can forget it.”

The start of his Arsenal career would have gotten even more people on his back in the current era, as he failed to score in his 1st 6 games of the club.

At this point fans would have been all over social media calling him an expensive flop. Media outlets would be running stories of “the worst signing in the history of the game” and Sky would have spent an hour discussing his poor acquisition on the Sunday Supplement,

Bergkamp went on to become an Arsenal legend and is one of the greatest players to grace the English game.

Then we have Thierry Henry.

Like Bergkamp, Henry arrived from Italy after a poor season. This time for Juventus.

He only spent a year at Juventus, who dumped him after just 3 goals in his 19 appearances. Pace to burn, he struggled to defensively disciplined teams in Serie A.

He joined Arsenal for a club record fee (like Bergkamp).

If we bring his transfer into the modern era, fans would have been on Twitter moaning that we had spent a club record fee on an ineffectual winger. At 22-years-old, he certainly was not a youngster. What a waste of money, fans would have said.

And imagine the outrage when it transpired that Arsene Wenger was planning to use this average winger as a striker, as a replacement for Nicolas Anelka – the most exciting teenage striker on the planet.

And mirroring Bergkamp, he struggled in his opening games.

In 1999 blogging was a new thing. The internet was a new concept. But even back then there were Arsenal blogs. And I recall one slating Henry and Wenger. Bemoaning the fact that Arsenal had gone big on a failed winger and were not playing him upfront.

Had this happened in 2019 rather than 1999, this complaining would have been many times louder, many times more viscous. You would have had people offering to drive him back to France.

Henry’s first 8 games went by with 2 yellow cards and no goals. He finally broke his drought against Southampton – also the side that Bergkamp scored his first goal against.

Imagine in the current era, Arsenal spending a club record fee on a winger who had flopped in Italy, converting him to a striker and then watching him struggle to score in his first 8 games. There would be uproar.

Henry went on to become Arsenal’s record goal scorer and one of the greatest players the world has seen.

Both Bergkamp and Henry arrived at Arsenal having flopped in Italy. Both for club record fees. Both endured tough starts to their Arsenal career. I doubt either of them would have been given the chance to shine, to become the legends they are, if they were signed now.

Fans would have been on their back before they had even kicked a ball.

Keenos