Ben White admits he had a tough start to his life at Arsenal

Ben White was one six arrivals at Arsenal in the summer but took up a massive 50m of our budget, and many pundits and even Arsenal fans were calling the former Brighton man an expensive flop before he even kicked a ball for the Gunners.

It didn’t help that his debut came in the opening day defeat at Brentford with a team depleted by Covid, with roundly critized by fans and pundits alike. White himself then got the virus and missed our next two defeats, that left us rock bottom of the Premier League

“The start of the season was tough,” he says. “We had the first game and it wasn’t ideal for me, I didn’t play very well and then I got Covid so I was out for another two games. It was hard to get started.”

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher were particularly scathing on Sky Sports, and hinting that White was the weak link in the Arsenal defence. “I saw it,” White told the Independent. “I think it was the first time I’ve actually been singled out [for criticism]. It’s never a nice feeling, it is not very good, but it just gives me more incentive to go out there and do well.

“Obviously you have to look at it and see what they’ve said and some of the stuff they said was true that game. It wasn’t my best,”

“I think if I thought about it too much or kept listening to it back all the time it would only affect me, so I think I’d rather just leave it and move on and try to do better.”

Well, he has certainly improved drastically since then, earning more and more plaudits along the way, and was this week rewarded with an England call-up.

White provides clear evidence that Arteta and Edu have been very astute in the transfer market since the Boss arrived, and he has certainly proved his worth….

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20 Comments

  1. A lot of doubters proven wrong this season. Even Ozil’s suspension prove “The Boss” was right. A Leopard never changes its spots. Big up to Ben White he has come on in leaps and bounds since that first game.

    1. Fenerbahce stated that Ozil is currently unfit, but a Turkish journalist said Ozil is on strike after not receiving his full salary

      Don’t know which one is correct, but I could see his character a series of incidents at Arsenal

    1. @Dboy
      He’s “the boss” when and if he brings silverware to the club. Till then, he’s just another”coach”…

      1. Think we won the FA Cup under MA
        But i know what you mean
        Seems to be a good coach and has made lot managerial decisions which is turning out pretty sound for now
        Will you be calling him boss now 😃
        Onwards and upwards

        1. @Alanball08
          Get back with me when or if he wins the League, the CL, EL or turns out another “Invincible” side.
          Otherwise, he’s still just a coach…

  2. Glad to see White and Soares thriving this year, but it’s only a matter of time till an opposition targets their aerial weaknesses. This is why we need Tomiyasu to be fit as soon as possible

    Crystal Palace would probably use that target man tactic. Because they have towering monsters in their front line, such as Benteke and Mateta

    1. @GAI – I know you wish well for Arsenal but sometimes I feel you just want to prove your point. The best place is 6 for Arsenal, if players will get injured… Opposition will target their aerial weakness… It’s all IF…. What if they have improved their game and they are proving the same thing in every game… They won’t be able to change everything in a day… The way season started everyone was hoping that we might not finish in the first half of the table but right now we are sitting fourth…
      Let the manager and players, play their game and let them decide their destiny…. Criticise or applaud them based on their play on that particular day… Let’s support the team till the 38th Game before putting our agendas on top….

      COYG….

      1. I just wanted to give Arsenal a heads-up about what would likely happen, because the oppositions had successfully exploited Bellerin’s, White’s and Soares’ aerial weaknesses

        But Arteta and the coaches have surely known about that

  3. An giving the gaffer a rating of 8 thus far.
    He has been right about most things since taking over.

    He has been right about
    Ben White
    Ramsdale
    Tomi
    Odegaard
    Ozil
    Auba
    Joe Wilock
    Should have sold Naithan Miles
    Wrong about Saliba

    He could run very close for manager of the season

    1. He’s been wrong about:
      Wilian
      Pablo Mari
      N’ketiah
      Aubameyang
      Saliba
      Lokonga
      Tavares

      1. It’s very premature to call Lokonga and tavares failures. Tavares honestly looked great until the Liverpool game, and we haven’t seen much of him since, whereas I think lokonga has done well for a young player in his first season, but clearly isn’t quite there. Might just need a bit more time to adapt. Both have contributed something positive this season

    2. Was not wrong about Saliba, he has gained much more experience playing top flight football. Do you think he would have been right to kee him at the club and play as many or less games than holding and Mari?

    1. My Word, just seing this

      You are right Mambo, about William and Auba contract , though Auba case was a little trickier.
      The gaffer did redeem his self in Auba case

      As it relates to Lokonga and Tavares, the jury is still out but I think he should loan Lokonga out for a season.

      Notice he got a slightly passing grade, though we are not through the season yet but a think its relevant for us to carry out an assessment of the gaffer.

      We must take into account he’s responsible for ridding the toxic atmosphere at the Emirates this is paramount, some of us may take this for granted, a recent article make mention of the serious repercussions of we not scoring by half time at the Emirates, Pool match showed us how far we have come in that regard.

      The compadre and togetherness in the team is another matter,

      Just pointing out a crucial ingredient we may have over look, on current trajectory could take him close

  4. I hope we don’t lose Saliba. I’d like to see him patnering Gabby though Ben White is decent as well.

  5. I am starting to think that it might be worth Saliba staying on loan for another season or 6 months at least. Hear me out here. He is obviously not going to benefit from sitting on the bench, playing cover for white and Gabriel. Let’s not forget the club has Japan’s best centre back in the back 4 already and probably Scotland’s too. We also have out on loan Ballard and Mari as well as Holding as our current back up. Surely 2 of those 3 would be enough as cover, assuming we are in Europe? If we are not then we probaby only need 1 of those 3 as we do now.

    Personally I would keep Holding and Mari as back up, let Ballard and Saliba go on loan, with a recall option like we have on Harry Clarke. Then in January hopefully we will still be in 4 competitions, if we are we could then recall Saliba or Ballard if required.

    Obviously Mavropanos is on his way.

    At full back I don’t really see a need now to buy a right back, Cedric has shown he can be good cover. We could cash in on him as well as Bellerin and AMN. My opinion is Cedric will not make us much money and we also have Clarke, Swanson and Norton-Cuffy one of whom can replace Cedric eventually, if not now. Why waste money in that position? Similarly left back is well covered, with Tavares whilst Ogungbo, Lopez and Souza represent good cover.

    This leads me to think that really all that this team needs is the best centre forward we can afford to replace laca and the best centre midfielder to replace xhaka.

    Haaland and Bellingham for me 🙏🙏🙏 perfect age and would jump at the chance to join the process if we are in Europe.

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