Former Arsenal man, Kevin Campbell, has urged Ben White to add aggression to his game so he can become a better defender.
The Englishman is Arsenal’s most expensive centre-back after they splashed the cash on him last summer.
He formed a brilliant defensive partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes at the heart of the defence in the last campaign.
They nearly won us a spot inside the Premier League’s top four at the end of the term.
Gabby Agbonlahor had told Football Insider last month that White is overrated, and he lacks aggression.
Campbell agrees with the former Aston Villa man and says the ex-Brighton centre-back must add that little aggression to his game.
He tells Football Insider:
“Ben White does not fill you with trepidation if you are playing against him. I think Gabriel has that though. He is a lot more physical. That is what Agbonlahor is saying.
“I don’t think he’s saying he’s a bad player. He’s just saying he lacks that aggression.
“Ben White has made the England squad with the attributes he has got. That is the key.
“Can he get more aggressive? I think he can. Over time he will, I’m sure.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
White is a very fine ball-playing defender, and he does his job very well for us at the back.
However, Gabriel is truly more aggressive and will make opponents consider not getting close to him.
If White adds that to his game, we would have two centre-backs that are top class, and it will make our defence very difficult to breach.
Or Saliba replaces White and we sell Rolls Royce. Anyway that brilliant partnership conceded 48 or 49 goals in the Pl so definitely improvements needed.
right then it happened that Gabriel partnership with Luiz conceded less the previous season. True White needs to be aggressive to scare attacker from bullying him
Holding started more games than either of them that season
Only when he’s not playing you realize how effective he is.
Do agree he’s less aggressive than Gabriel who seems to have an intimidating and imposing style to his game.
Ben White will look better the minute we have a mobile and commanding defensive midfielder in front of him.
I don’t count the total goals conceded being against White Gabriel and the other first-team defenders. If I was to go checking I would only count the goals conceded while the first-team defense and Partey are on the field together. Soon as two or three players go missing our defensive resolute will naturally take a dive. You’ve got to take into account the quality of the cover on display
And I also think it is worth noting that our backline was only just put together last season, most of them brand-new to one another
What you will find is that many of the fans who comment here are simply looking for a way to discredit BW because they believe that he is overpriced. Some also have an obsession with Saliba.
As for Gabby, I find it really odd that his views are given such prominence. It appears that the mere fact of being outspoken and controversial means that his views are aired and then repeated on sites such as these. He is a poor pundit in my view.
a combination of Saliba and Gabriel in defence and Ben White as DM would look interesting, wonder whether Arteta will try it out.
Look interesting and it actually working are not same thing…we need what will be efficient and not what will look interesting