Emile Smith Rowe: a talent in hiding
Written by Dan Cooke on 10th March 2025
Emile Smith Rowe made a cameo out wide at Old Trafford last weekend and was handed the opportunity by Marco Silva to play there from the start on the south coast. This time it was part of a different system; five defenders behind him, with one fewer attacker up with him. It was a big responsibility for our record signing, trusted to be our main creative outlet, but also required to contribute defensively as Fulham strived for rigidity against a potent Brighton side.
ESR was the only starting player, on either team yesterday, to complete 100% of their passes; 29 flawless passes from our chief creator. Sounds great right? Wrong.
I don’t want that from Emile. My instant takeaway from that stat is that if Emile isn’t misplacing any of his passes then he’s not taking enough risks.
This season he ranks in the top 1% of attacking midfielders in Europe for pass completion. It sounds crazy, but I think that’s a bad thing. The graph below shows how he compares to some contemporaries that I’ve handpicked from across the Premier League. They are all players that I would describe as their side’s primary creative force.
As you can see, Emile sits well clear of all of these players, streets ahead of elite midfielders like Ødegaard, De Bruyne, and Palmer. However, compared to the same players, he is bottom of the pile when it comes to: expected assists, key passes, passes into the penalty area, and almost every other metric that denotes creativity.
Anyone who watched our game against the Seagulls will have seen the same thing; Emile looks scared to take risks, and as a result, he creates nothing. I’m certain it’s a confidence issue because he is evidently very good at football, however he’s currently playing as an attacking midfielder with the mentality of a holding midfielder. He opts to recycle possession over line-breaking passes, preferring short five-yard lay-offs over aggressive driving runs – and it’s hurting us.
When you break your transfer record on a player you expect a return on that investment and based on performances so far this season, I’m starting to worry. However, I also think we have one of the best managers in the world when it comes to developing players.
Marco has turned Sasa Lukic from an attacking midfielder into a magnificent holding midfielder. He’s transformed Antonee Robinson into the best left-back in the Premier League. Raul Jimenez has gone from zero goals in 33 games to double figures this season under Marco’s stewardship.
This is what helps abate my concerns. There is no better mentor than Marco Silva for ESR. If anyone is able to unshackle the beast within the former England international, it’s our gaffer. However, until then, he needs to figure out if this team is better with him or without him, because at the moment, I think it might be the latter.
