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Benny Blanco: Arsenal’s (and England’s?) most versatile defender hiding in plain sight

 It felt oddly refreshing following our victory in the NLD to see Ian Wright heap praise on Ben White on MOTD. Having signed for a much maligned £50m in the summer of 21/22, White has been arguably one of Arteta’s most reliable, consistent and trusted performers. The Englishman has barely missed a game since he signed, has been pivotal in our shift to a back four, provided the foundation for our move towards the JDP style of play we are seeing today and has seamlessly moved into a new position this season. Yet despite this, he has been consistently omitted from the England setup and rarely gets praised in the media or by Arsenal fans.

Through no fault of his own, White signed for a club that had just finished 8th and was struggling in front of goal. Despite Pep doing the same when he first started moulding the City team in his image, many were angry at the decision to spend so much on White on the back of one of our worst attacking seasons in recent memory. To make matters worse, his signing came at a time when many Arsenal fans had convinced themselves that Saliba was being shipped off to play for Marseille for £3m and that Arteta had personally posted excrement through his letterbox. This was always held against Ben White and arguably played into the mixed reaction towards the signing.

I think potentially (and I am guilty of this) he was wrongly profiled when he came into the club. White had previously played in a back three for Brighton which allowed for more progressive play and he came into the club to replace David Luiz who, despite his flaws, had some of the best passing range in the league. Many fans, therefore, focused on his progressive ball-playing attributes as opposed to his defensive skills when he signed. It was unthinkable to many that we would spend so much money on a player that would barely leave the halfway line. Ben White remains one of the most technically proficient defenders in the league, but that wasn’t the sole reason he has been such a success for us.

I think back to Neville and Carragher’s characterisation of him following that Brentford game last year. They brutally dragged him and his £50m price tag following his debut for Arsenal despite him playing in a makeshift team hamstrung by injuries and COVID protocols that only applied to us. They claimed he would get bullied in the league, that he couldn’t head a ball and that he would get exposed playing in a back four. Combined with his Love Island vibes and his admission that he didn’t watch football, I feel that this perception has spread. However, in his short career for Arsenal, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Ben White is a calm yet pacy, aggressive, front-footed and intelligent defender, with an unbelievable reading of the game, who fails to get bullied on or off the ball. Even though he has lifted the technical level of the team and the backline, and his ball-playing skills are integral to our ability to sustain the ball higher up the pitch, it is first and foremost his defensive skills that Arteta trusts. Since that first game versus Brentford, he has arguably struggled in about 2/3 games, which is impressive considering how much Arteta relied on him. White played the full 90 minutes in all 32 PL games he played last season and he is yet to miss a game this season.

Another part of White’s game that many don’t expect is his shithousery. Due to his calm and maybe introverted demeanour, he manages to play like this and avoid card-happy refs more than, say, Gabriel (also most likely the English effect). He rarely dives out of a tackle and is more than willing to get stuck in or wipe someone out if needed. We’re not talking snide Harry Kane falling into players mid-air or Vardy purposely falling on players with his studs down. We’re talking smart, aggressive play, and like Xhaka he rarely hides from protecting the young lads who have been routinely targeted.

Ben White’s performances have continued into the 21/22 season and he has been one of, if not our most reliable player. He is adding more variation to his game as a result of Tomiyasu’s injury at RB and the emergence of Saliba. He has adapted so well that the Japanese international’s only start was at LB against Liverpool (talk about versatility). Despite his new role, he has not flapped or struggled once this season, even against wide-men like Zaha, Jota or Son (Okay last one I’m scraping). He has had two monstrous back-to-back performances in the NLD and against Liverpool, all whilst slowly improving his final ball and overlapping and underlapping runs past Saka as he develops the angles and understanding needed to play in our front six. He is very helpful in containing the ball further up the pitch and being able to kill teams with “100,000 passes” which Arteta demands.

Despite his performances in the last two seasons, nothing speaks more clearly about his perception by those outside the Arsenal bubble than his omission from the England setup. It should be regarded as a national disgrace that Ben White was omitted from Southgate’s last squad before the least anticipated World Cup of all time kicks off in November. Many have pointed to him not playing at CB being a reason, however, if anything this (in my completely biased opinion) makes him a more valuable option to Southgate. He can comfortably play in a back 4 and 5 as a RCB, LCB and a RB and the he fact that he looks so unfazed and comfortable doing so is a testament to the player, more so than a stick to beat him with.

James, Trippier, TAA and Walker aren’t getting dropped for Ben White – whether they are playing well or not – and I would say that is fair. But they are all RBs and two are (despite form) some of the best in the world. However, it is his omission in favour of other centre-backs that has pissed me off. Maguire isn’t playing for his club and has been nothing short of disgraceful for a year, but he has historically played well for England, so we are simply going to wait for it to blow up in our faces rather than being proactive and move towards something more sustainable for the next iteration of this England team. Coady and Guehi are both good defenders but none should be ahead of Ben White who is currently performing at an incredibly high level for one of the most in-form teams in the country and Europe – out of his natural position.

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Ben White has been a staple of this refreshing Arsenal team and shows absolutely no intention of slowing down. He is a reflection of a team that is highly technical and multi-faceted but also aggressive and strong-willed. His influence on the Arsenal team last season was rarely noticed because it was rarely not there – so there was never a point when we could see the demonstrable fall off like with Partey, Tierney or Tomiyasu’s injuries last season. It is no coincidence that the steep improvement that Arsenal have had in the last 2 seasons has coincided with the signing of Ben White. Hopefully, people are now waking up to his abilities, but trust me, it has been there the whole time.

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One Response to Benny Blanco: Arsenal’s (and England’s?) most versatile defender hiding in plain sight

  1. Cape Town gooner October 12, 2022 at 12:31 pm #

    Great article, and one that Ben White deserves. Hopefully it’s not too late for the World Cup as TAA looks like a non runner, as does HM.
    Ben White has settled down to become Mr Reliable and this season seems to be eradicating the one fault that I saw in him……slowing down our attack by waiting too long to decide where to pass the ball….and then just doing so sideways. Against Liverpool his tasing was often decisive, as was his support for Saka.
    A quiet gem of a player…..thanks for your article.

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