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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