Pundit Jermaine Jenas has defended Ben White over his decision to not play for the England national team, for now.
White left the team’s camp early during the World Cup and has since not been involved in the England squad.
However, he is one of the most in-form England defenders, shining for Arsenal.
The Three Lions would love him to be a part of their squad for Euro 2024 and could have named him in their latest squad.
But White reached out and said he was not available to play for his national team, which caused an uproar.
The defender is not interested in international football for now, and it is a strange decision, considering the number of players keen to get a chance to represent their country.
Jenas has defended him, saying, as quoted by the Daily Mail:
‘It is strange, I think not everybody’s patriotic, and I think we have to accept that.
‘I think Ben has his own reasons why he feels it’s best for him to not be selected for England. For all we know, him not being selected with England has such a positive impact on his club career, and he wants to focus on that.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
White has been in fantastic form for us, and we can understand the frustration in the national team, but his resting during the break is a good thing for us.
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I’m not sure lack of patriotism comes into it. He agreed to go to the World Cup!
Something happened that we are not privy to
The pundit line is misleading
It’s obvious that there is a good reason why White doesn’t want to be considered for England. All evidence points towards the management/coaching team. Those condemning White as unpatriotic or lacking the desire/ambition to play for England, haven’t been paying attention. His excitement following his initial call up is well-documented.
It’s incredibly disingenuous for Southgate to claim he doesn’t know why he doesn’t want to be considered, and is his attempt to shift attention from his poor management skills, leaving White open to criticism from the media, and chest-thumping dinosaurs like Harry Redknapp.
Absolutely spot on Chris, especially your last paragraph.
He (Southgate) should’ve handled it better. And I hate the fact that he made this announcement right on the day when White is penning his new long term contract with us. Kinda made me wonder if he has any hidden agenda behind or just to outright shift the blame to White.
👍couldn’t agree more
There’s obviously something about the coaching staff and the environment that BW seriously dislikes. No one questions why Southgate has left it to this point to consider him. He knew there was a problem surely amd as a ‘good’ manager he ought to go and speak to him before all this blew up.
‘It is strange, I think every body is not patriotic, and I think we have to accept that’
This is a cruel line to take defending someone, am not known for my best practices in English, but this is more like throwing the Englishman under the bus.
That’s what I thought straightaway too. That’s not defending BW, that’s coating him in honey and lighting him up!
There’s something more to it