Smith Rowe: Ditching takeaways and chocolate led to England call

hmidfielder says Arteta’s diet demands have reaped rewards arsenal youngster helped console Saka after penalty miss

The biggest change for Emile Smith Rowe this season has been off the pitch, where he has swapped takeaways and chocolate for the nutritional meals of a private chef. His whirlwind rise to the England squad has been fuelled by his new diet.

It will come as no surprise to Mikel Arteta that his recent burst of goals featured two coming near to the hour mark, when the 21-year-old would often suffer from cramp during matches, which was put down to “lifestyle”, as the Arsenal manager described it.

The solution came with the club sending a chef, Chris, around to Smith Rowe’s house every evening to cook for the player and his mother, Fiona. Out went fast food and in came freshly cooked pasta and fish. “What the manager was talking about was my diet,” said Smith Rowe. “I didn’t used to eat that well, to be honest. I wasn’t drinking that well, before games I wasn’t really that hydrated, but since then I’ve tried to focus so much on it. There’s loads of stuff we should be taking before a game, but, yeah, before I was a bit too lazy.

“They are strict but I didn’t really listen, to be honest, I think that’s where I went wrong. But now I’m listening, all the time. I like Nando’s a lot. Maybe that’s killing me a little bit. And chocolate.”

While last season he made his breakthrough into the first team when a surprise selection for the Boxing Day win over Chelsea, this campaign he has put goals on the menu to put himself on Gareth Southgate’s radar.

Southgate mentioned him last month during the international break, then promoted him to the seniors this week following injuries, rewarding him for his run of five goals in his past eight appearances.

While he has now started to make an impact in the Premier League, it has not been a straightforward journey for the Croydon-born midfielder. He was rejected at Chelsea for being too small, just before joining Arsenal.

“I was really skinny and just kept getting pushed off the ball. I wasn’t getting involved and touching the ball enough, that’s what it felt like at the time, why I didn’t get in,” he said. “When I did go to Arsenal, they didn’t seem to bother about my physicality, but as I’ve grown up I’ve got stronger and tried to focus on pushing people around as well.”

As an Arsenal fan, thanks to his older brother growing up watching Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, he was determined to make a success of himself at the Emirates Stadium, despite his team-mates for the World Cup-winning Under-17 teams progressing more quickly.

Tottenham, who are his father’s team, showed interest in him at 16 but he remained at Arsenal.

“I wasn’t that interested, being an Arsenal fan, although it’s good to have all these teams interested,” he said.

Then, when he secured a loan to RB Leipzig – following in the footsteps of England team-mate Jadon Sancho – he was limited to substitute appearances and his career stalled again.

“It wasn’t actually an injury where I knew what it was, it was like a growing pain that I had in my groin,” he said.

“I didn’t have a timescale, no one told me how long it would take. I was just working each day, not knowing what to do.”

When his breakthrough chance came at Arsenal, it was during the pandemic when fans were locked out of football, which actually helped him as he still suffers from pre-match nerves in the dressing room.

“No fans being there definitely helped me,” he said. “I’m always really nervous before the game and not having that pressure of everyone shouting, that helped me a lot. I’m happy with the way things are going.

“I’m quite surprised, to be honest, that it’s worked out this way. I thought I wouldn’t be as confident as I am at the moment. Two seasons ago, just before I went to Leipzig, it was affecting me. I think now I’m OK.

“It’s mainly in the changing room before the game. That’s when I’m most nervous. I have spoken to some players and they say the same as well.”

His promotion to the senior squad puts him on a level with Manchester City’s Phil Foden from his under-17 days. When the pair met again they looked at photos from their youth days and laughed at their haircuts.

He has been helped to settle by his best friend from Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, who he consoled after his penalty miss in the European Championship final in the summer.

“I tried to give him some space at first. He obviously had his holidays and stuff,” Smith Rowe said. “After a couple of weeks, I sent him a message. It was obviously hard to see one of my closest friends at Arsenal [suffering]. It was tough to watch definitely. But when he came back, everyone got around him.”