Ben White | Arsenal

spiriticon

Full Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Messages
7,384
He's fitter than Varane at least. Helps when you can play a few games in a row and get some form going.
 

GoonerBear

Full Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2020
Messages
3,002
Supports
Arsenal
Forget Ben White, Gabriel is the main man just now, & he's just been called up to the Brazilian National team.
 

ThatsGreat

Full Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2016
Messages
1,649
Supports
Arsenal
Forget Ben White, Gabriel is the main man just now, & he's just been called up to the Brazilian National team.
Gabriel has been unreal this season. Both in attack and defence. They form a good partnership.
 

432JuanMata

Full Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Messages
3,094
Location
Dublin
Gabriel has been unreal this season. Both in attack and defence. They form a good partnership.
When he got turned inside out at the start of the season he got a lot of stick. From watching him at Leeds in the Championship you could tell he was levels above. He stood out alot due to his ability on the ball and I always said he just needed to improve his actual defending. Brighton for the season was perfect as they played football but he was always under pressure due to there open style and being a mid table side.
Ben certainly looks good so far but I want to see him against Liverpool when yous are actually on the back foot.
 

WeePat

Full Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Messages
17,187
Supports
Chelsea
Forget Ben White, Gabriel is the main man just now, & he's just been called up to the Brazilian National team.
I remember Chelsea being linked with him a couple of windows ago, I think we opted for Thiago Silva on a free instead, but yeah, I was excited by the idea of Gabriel at Chelsea back then, and I'm not surprised in the slightest that he's been one of Arsenal's best signings in recent years.
 

amolbhatia50k

Sneaky bum time - Vaccination status: dozed off
Joined
Nov 8, 2002
Messages
95,336
Location
india
Not really, although there has not been much in it this season, and White is quite a bit younger so you have to factor that into value as well
Varane has been really good for us though. He will walk back into a shit show of a team of course unless something changes soon
 

Powderfinger

Full Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
2,196
Supports
Arsenal
Not going to get into any Varane comparisons, but White has been excellent this season and a big part of our improved play. I think his defending is actually quite good - a little light in the box but he is excellent in space.

His ball skills are just next level though. People always talk about ball playing defenders but he is really both a ball playing and ball carrying defender in a pretty unusual way. He has the ability to break lines by carrying the ball up the pitch at speed, ghosting past the first and sometimes second line of defense and then fairly reliably making the right decision on when and where to release the ball. This really causes problems for midblock pressing schemes, which are often set up to block passing lanes not dribbling lanes. He can take a situation in which the ball is on our side of the halfway line and the other team is very comfortably settled in their defensive shape and quickly transform it into a situation in which the ball is coming into the final third at pace in a way that has the opponent scrambling to adjust. I think its a pretty valuable skill, arguably more important than the ability to ping a long diagonal (which he can also do).

He has to show this level consistently over the course of the season but if he does then he really should enter the conversation for a starting place with England.
 

Red the Bear

Something less generic
Joined
Aug 26, 2021
Messages
9,127
Still pretty shaky , and I still don't think he has the physicality to be a top defensive center back but he has been great for them and still has potential to be even better something which i didn't see myself saying several months ago.
 

Nish115

Full Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2018
Messages
631
Supports
Arsenal
Still pretty shaky , and I still don't think he has the physicality to be a top defensive center back but he has been great for them and still has potential to be even better something which i didn't see myself saying several months ago.
Don't think he's shaky at all tbh. He's had a couple bad games but been good in every other one.

Surprisingly I think he actually is fine physically. His heading is fine tbh although I was worried after the first game, and he holds his own against 95% of attackers.
 

Red the Bear

Something less generic
Joined
Aug 26, 2021
Messages
9,127
Don't think he's shaky at all tbh. He's had a couple bad games but been good in every other one.

Surprisingly I think he actually is fine physically. His heading is fine tbh although I was worried after the first game, and he holds his own against 95% of attackers.
I still feel he can be bullied a perception which isn't helped by his scrawny physique. But agreed his heading has been surprisingly good.
 

PoTMS

Full Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2016
Messages
16,215
Don't trust a footballer that doesn't like nor watch any football. I'm out.
 

Walters_19_MuFc

Full Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2013
Messages
29,261
Location
Birmingham
I think he's been good and should be looking to stake a claim for starting for England. Probably been England's most consistent centre back.
 

MayosNoun

Full Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2020
Messages
3,464
Supports
Chelsea
He has been really good. He’s absolutely miles ahead of Maguire and Mings.
 

Iker Quesadillas

Full Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
3,896
Supports
Real Madrid
Yes. I personally think he's been pretty good all season. Think people have to also bare in mind that it's his first season, too.
Regardless of the individual players' performance, it's very funny that Arsenal spent like 100m on defensive players and have conceded more goals than last season.
 

Charles Miller

Full Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Messages
3,046
Regardless of the individual players' performance, it's very funny that Arsenal spent like 100m on defensive players and have conceded more goals than last season.
To replicate with success that playing style in the Premier League you have two options: fast, physical/asthmatic players like Liverpool or infinite funds to bring top players like Man City. The catalan game with normal players could end in a disaster similar to Leeds.