Emile Smith Rowe's Arsenal career came to an end in the summer of 2024 when he decided to try his luck elsewhere and moved to Fulham. Having shown plenty of promise throughout his time at the Emirates Stadium, he never quite managed to break through the proverbial glass ceiling and become a star for Mikel Arteta. As such, his decision to leave the club and join the Cottagers was expected to be the start of his rise to the top of English football.
The general expectation was that he'd prove Arteta was wrong for not giving him as many opportunities in the Arsenal first-team as some of his former teammates and he'd shine at Craven Cottage. Now, it's been eight months since Smith Rowe made the switch across London and both the media and Fulham fans alike have all come to their conclusions about the star and none of them are pretty.
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Fulham Fans on Smith Rowe
They aren't impressed
Emile Smith Rowe
Initially, after signing Smith Rowe from Arsenal, Fulham fans were excited and intrigued by the idea of a promising young English talent coming to Craven Cottage. The club have been impressing over the last two years and he was expected to take them to another level. Things got off to a solid start too and he was named one of the best players outside of the big six earlier this season. Eight months into his spell, though, the club's supporters have been disappointed by his performances and they appear to be losing patience.
After a poor showing against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, in which Fulham were eliminated from the cup via a 3-0 loss, fans took to social media and weren't afraid to air their grievances about the forward. One supporter jumped on X (Twitter) and claimed the side were worse with Smith Rowe in it, saying: "People won't want to talk about it, but as soon as Smith Rowe came on, we couldn't create a single thing, it was like going down to 10 men."
A second fan expressed confusion about what the star even brings to the table and posted: "Genuinely, what does Smith Rowe offer?" while another accused his poor performances of falling under the radar, stating: "Andreas Pereira had a poor game but pressed well and worked hard. All our fans call him s***. Emile Smith Rowe was just as bad but didn't press or work hard. All our fans say he needs our support."
A fourth supporter didn't hold back in his judgement and claimed the Smith Rowe signing was a failure, posting: "Smith Rowe is a generational bust lmao," and finally, a fifth football fan commented on his physique and thinks he's looking out of shape. They said: "Smith Rowe looks like he’s putting weight on again."
They've also been less than impressed
Emile Smith Rowe-1
It's not just the fans who are disappointed with Smith Rowe, though. The Fulham media haven't been impressed with him either. After the game against Palace, one publication posted their player ratings for the match and didn't hold back when discussing the former Gunner. In an article posted on Fulhamish, they rated Smith Rowe 4/10 and said:
"Genuinely, if Smith Rowe had more than three touches in his half-hour cameo, I didn’t see them. The boy just does not offer anything nine times out of ten. I want to keep faith in him, especially with the reputation he has in the game, but he’s giving me no reason to. Potentially the least inspiring substitute cameo I’ve seen, from a player who, more than most in our squad, is used to a big occasion. 4/10."
The match wasn't the only time that Smith Rowe has disappointed this season, though. He's had a number of poor performances throughout and while he hasn't been completely terrible by any stretch of the imagination, he's not been the player they thought they were getting.
Emile Smith Rowe
All statistics courtesy of SofaScore and accurate as of 30/03/2025