Emile Smith Rowe: ‘Before, I was a bit too lazy. I didn’t really listen’

09-Nov-2021 22:30:20 | The Guardian

The Arsenal midfielder exploded into the team late last year and says he has abandoned bad habits to kick on to an England call-up

It was not that Arsenal did not tell Emile Smith Rowe to eat properly, to hydrate correctly, to be professional at all times. It was just that, in his words, he “didn’t really listen … I was a bit too lazy”.

To chart Smith Rowe’s rise to the point where he has received his first England call-up for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania on Friday and San Marino next Monday, it is easy to zero in on the electric progress he has made since Boxing Day.