Benjamin White, is he Arsenal’s unsung hero this season and should he get more praise?
After 23 Premier League games as a Gooner, Ben White has solidified his place in our backline and is one of the first names on the team sheet, alongside centre back partner Gabriel.
Of those 23 games, our £50 million English International has racked up 11 clean sheets which has resulted in 15 wins and only five losses for Arsenal. A record that makes a pleasant change for fans of our club over recent years.
He has now played the most Arsenal minutes in the squad with a total of 2,378 minutes, which is a whole 184 more minutes that second placed Bukayo Saka.
In fact, he has not missed a single football match in his professional career due to injury, that is a player with 190 senior matches but no mark on his record apart from two games when he was unwell with COVID.
An incredible statistic.
The defensive stability of this team is one of the biggest improvements we have seen in the post-Wenger era and marks some of the best recruitment by Arteta and Edu, especially because of the massive doubts about our defence after losing our first three games of the season.
He has not made a single error leading to a goal this campaign, so long gone are the days of Mustafi in our starting 11, with a constant dread of a leaky defence.
I know that it is an ironic time to say it, having conceded two goals against Watford but I would say that conceding against the lower teams in the league is quite an anomaly this year for Arsenal.
Paired with Gabriel, the two seem to ‘click’ at the back despite the language difference between the two, this might be because Gabriel is naturally left-sided while White is right-sided, so they seem to complement each other very well.
I think that he is integral in the heart of our defence and at 24 years old, he will only keep on improving, I don’t think he has nearly got enough praise for his performances this season.
However, it is not only White’s defensive abilities that impressed me so much.
White is superior with ball control and pass ability across the back line, he averages 52.9 passes per match and is very comfortable with playing out from the back under pressure, fitting perfectly in Arteta’s ‘pass out the back’ philosophy.
I also think that now Saliba is confirmed to be an Arsenal player next season, we will have some competition with both Gabriel and White finally, something that White never really had at previous clubs (Brighton and Leeds) and can only elevate his game.
Adding to this, White has a fantastic disciplinary record across his whole career, with only one red card (double booking against Chelsea when at Brighton) and only receiving one yellow card in Arsenal colours.
His disciplined attitude has transferred to the rest of the back line which racks up very few cards, Tierny has none, Tomiyasu has two yellows and Gabriel has four yellows which includes a red against Manchester City.
He seems calm and leads by example in the team, a player that I can see becoming an Arsenal team captain one day, however I think both Kieran Tierny and Martin Odegaard will probably be ahead in the pecking order.
Some may say that we overpaid for White because of the ‘English tax’ that comes with English premier league players, but I believe he is starting to really look like a £50 million centre back.
Notable performances would be bodying West Ham’s Antonio in our win at the Emirates and laughing in Minamino’s face as we held out a 0-0 draw while a man down against Liverpool.
He is 100% committed to the team and will be vital in upkeeping his fine form if we want to get top four.
What do you think of White’s performances this season?
Until next time Gooners.
Benedict