Does anyone know if he has ever played 90mins for us? The same might apply to his time at Arsenal?
I was quite surprised he was taken off yesterday as though not spectacular he was a vital cog in that midfield wheel and having a decent game. King might be one for the future and seems to come on when the game is getting stretched more but we tend to lose more creativity and composure when ESR goes off.
I thought Emile had a good game yesterday. He did a lot of work off the ball, pressing Villa. He's becoming a mainstay I think. Definitely starting to pay back those £millions 👍
Apart from Sess he was my MOTM yesterday
Also thought he looked really good yesterday. Composed on the ball, progressive passes, pressed well. Was surprised to see him come off to be honest
Quote from: southwest6 on April 26, 2026, 07:53:48 AMAlso thought he looked really good yesterday. Composed on the ball, progressive passes, pressed well. Was surprised to see him come off to be honest
Agree.
I don't disagree with any of the comments above about his performance yesterday and in general regarding his work rate but where are the goals and assists. He's been with us two years now and for the money paid we should be getting more out of him.
Yes after last season when he got a few goals and assists I expected him to kick on in his second year but as we know from reports he had a few problems in his private life and he gives the impression that he is quite a shy person he doesn't express himself hopefully if we can draw him out of his shell for us to be successful we need his 6 goals plus a season infact from most midfielders we need more goals to be successful that's the worry with king if they don't score he is a luxury if he turns into a non scoring midfield,it does annoy me not having forwards who are scoring with a plan be could have 2 upfront to change tactics and no forwards of note coming from our youth to step up you only got to look at our boys on loan.
Him like Bobb are confidence players....I think he's getting better & better
I've said elsewhere he's almost my first name on the team sheet.
The only slight concern I would have though is that his fitness isn't good enough to last 90 minutes in a league season with next to no domestic Cup exposure,
How would he get on with the addition of European football if it ever came along ?
Think it's more a matter of he was pressing more than any player on the pitch and naturally that is tough to sustain for 90mins.
Add that to managing his fitness with his history and wanting to continue kings development, and I guess it made sense. agree he was good yesterday and whilst his goals and assists aren't quite where we want this season yet he's quietly improving and contributing as a team player to a squad that sits 1 point off Europe at this late stage.
Hoping he can maintain this momentum going into the last 4 games.
I thought ESR had a good game as well. Made some very nice defensive stops/tackles/intercepts. Not too explosive offensively, but then again, who was? Had nice game....
Quote from: Whitestone on April 26, 2026, 08:40:09 AMI don't disagree with any of the comments above about his performance yesterday and in general regarding his work rate but where are the goals and assists. He's been with us two years now and for the money paid we should be getting more out of him.
If I'm being honest, last season he scored a few decent goals and got a couple of good assists. What he lacked is all round consistency in terms of effort in all aspects of his game, he always had talent, but the thing he needed to improve is showing up and being competitive consistently..which he's shown improvement in doing so. This is the foundational work in my view, and arguably I'd say comes first..
He's been demonstrating an uptick and consistently so with this form and once he hacks that mentality and does it consistently as a natural playing style, then the next bit will be to have a clearer mind which will come with the fitness, and a presence to make key decisions more readily, like scoring and assisting, which in fairness he's not been that bad with to date.
He's been, you could say, a bit unlucky with recent games, think one game recently he hit the woodwork a couple of times, others he's got into good positions but the shot wasn't as hard to save or pass didn't quite make it to its target, but was in the right area.
I think he has a natural creativity and unpredictability we've lacked with King in the role and a maturity too that we've needed.
I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves, long may it continue and hopefully next season he'll really push on!
I'm frustrated by ESR and don't think he was worth the money. He can't set the price people pay for him.. but I'm sure he's taking home some mightily impressive wages.
I would sell him personally if anyone was interested (which I doubt) and cut our losses.
I know he's like Marmite on the board and some people feel quite strongly the opposite (triggering aggressive replies etc) but I just can't get my head around their defence of him.
He gives it a go to be fair but sadly it's a results business. There's something to be said about giving it another season to see if it all clicks but I won't hold my breath (sorry!).
I thought he was excellent yesterday, lead the press really well , especially first half . The only criticism and I think it can be levelled at both wide players as well . I think we need to expect more of them on the ball . They are in there to take the man on when 1v1 but too often the ball gets passed back .
I was very impressed with his work rate yesterday but he should have had an anssist early on if he'd played a better ball across the 6 yard box that would have given Raul a tap in.
It wasn't that hard of a pass to get right.
He's seems like a really nice guy with some serious quality about him at times.
I hope he can kick on next season but this time last year I was saying the exact same about Muniz of whom I'm a huge admirer but even I can defend Muniz's woeful form since returning from injury
Thought ESR had a good game yesterday and as others have said, is good at pressing and keeping things moving. I prefer him in that position to King.
Yes, he could do more running at defenders but there's no reason he can't scoring more like he was last season. Starting next week at Arsenal! (cue: He's one of our own, he's one of our own, Emile Smith Rowe, he's one of our own)
Quote from: JimmyConway on April 26, 2026, 07:19:43 AMDoes anyone know if he has ever played 90mins for us? The same might apply to his time at Arsenal?
I was quite surprised he was taken off yesterday as though not spectacular he was a vital cog in that midfield wheel and having a decent game. King might be one for the future and seems to come on when the game is getting stretched more but we tend to lose more creativity and composure when ESR goes off.
How many games did Pereira play where he stayed on for the full 90 minutes?
ESR has been dreadful in my opinion having a good work rate as a professional footballer should be a given. I was excited when we signed him but from what I have seen as a 10 he doesn't get on the half turn and drive at defences he pops the ball off backwards or sideways and he is never in the pocket of space. This summer is massive for him get a whole preseason in get his fitness levels up and hopefully he will have a renaissance like Wilson did this season 🤞.
Quote from: RAY Rock on April 29, 2026, 01:31:22 PMESR has been dreadful in my opinion having a good work rate as a professional footballer should be a given. I was excited when we signed him but from what I have seen as a 10 he doesn't get on the half turn and drive at defences he pops the ball off backwards or sideways and he is never in the pocket of space. This summer is massive for him get a whole preseason in get his fitness levels up and hopefully he will have a renaissance like Wilson did this season 🤞.
As someone who pointed out there unfortunately is no "unlike" button, you can quite see that he is doing what Silva wants him to do, and that is consistent pressing, that is why he was playing so high up the pitch, he worked his socks off for the team.
Hopefully he'll come back to haunt Arsenal on Saturday. ::scarf::
Quote from: alfie on April 29, 2026, 03:21:17 PMQuote from: RAY Rock on April 29, 2026, 01:31:22 PMESR has been dreadful in my opinion having a good work rate as a professional footballer should be a given. I was excited when we signed him but from what I have seen as a 10 he doesn't get on the half turn and drive at defences he pops the ball off backwards or sideways and he is never in the pocket of space. This summer is massive for him get a whole preseason in get his fitness levels up and hopefully he will have a renaissance like Wilson did this season 🤞.
As someone who pointed out there unfortunately is no "unlike" button, you can quite see that he is doing what Silva wants him to do, and that is consistent pressing, that is why he was playing so high up the pitch, he worked his socks off for the team.
So we paid 32 million for a player that can press high up and can't complete a 90 minutes 😂😂😂 and your telling me that is why Silva signed him
Quote from: RAY Rock on April 29, 2026, 05:41:21 PMQuote from: alfie on April 29, 2026, 03:21:17 PMQuote from: RAY Rock on April 29, 2026, 01:31:22 PMESR has been dreadful in my opinion having a good work rate as a professional footballer should be a given. I was excited when we signed him but from what I have seen as a 10 he doesn't get on the half turn and drive at defences he pops the ball off backwards or sideways and he is never in the pocket of space. This summer is massive for him get a whole preseason in get his fitness levels up and hopefully he will have a renaissance like Wilson did this season 🤞.
As someone who pointed out there unfortunately is no "unlike" button, you can quite see that he is doing what Silva wants him to do, and that is consistent pressing, that is why he was playing so high up the pitch, he worked his socks off for the team.
So we paid 32 million for a player that can press high up and can't complete a 90 minutes 😂😂😂 and your telling me that is why Silva signed him
Who said he can't complete 90 minutes ?
Quote from: RAY Rock on April 29, 2026, 05:41:21 PMQuote from: alfie on April 29, 2026, 03:21:17 PMQuote from: RAY Rock on April 29, 2026, 01:31:22 PMESR has been dreadful in my opinion having a good work rate as a professional footballer should be a given. I was excited when we signed him but from what I have seen as a 10 he doesn't get on the half turn and drive at defences he pops the ball off backwards or sideways and he is never in the pocket of space. This summer is massive for him get a whole preseason in get his fitness levels up and hopefully he will have a renaissance like Wilson did this season 🤞.
As someone who pointed out there unfortunately is no "unlike" button, you can quite see that he is doing what Silva wants him to do, and that is consistent pressing, that is why he was playing so high up the pitch, he worked his socks off for the team.
So we paid 32 million for a player that can press high up and can't complete a 90 minutes 😂😂😂 and your telling me that is why Silva signed him
You'd love him down at the Bus Stop.
In answer to the original question, AI says that ESR hasn't yet played a full 90 mins (I'm not criticising him for that and agree that he was very good against Villa) Also, Pereira played many full 90s for us.
It's a good question cos he was out on his feet at 70 minutes Saturday which surprised me. Yes, he'd been closing down and carrying out the high press v the Villa defenders especially in the first half, but... come on, the boy's 23 years old, he should be full of energy and chomping at the bit 🐴
Begs the question: is Emile still having fitness issues?
Having said all that, thought he was great on the day.