How Ben White shapes the new Arsenal FC

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Ben White’s dark side: “A damn joke!”

White will only pursue this attitude when things don’t go well. And in the newspaper columns the question is asked whether it might not be because “he never loved football.”

What is already bothering him, however, are the characteristics of his game that do not fit Arsenal’s image as a pretty-player club. White is not only responsible for clean combination play, but also for cynical fouls or obstructing the opposing goalkeeper in the five-man position, where he “just stands in the way” and “sees what happens”. Elbow insert included.

“It’s about doing everything you can to win,” is how he describes his mentality. One that Arteta wants to instill in his often too well-behaved team. White, at 26 years old and on the way to becoming a leading player, is “leading by example”. This was rarely seen as clearly as against Brighton: When the score was 1-0, White first elbowed his opponent Pervis Estupiñán off the ball and then dramatically fell to the ground with his hands on his neck as he wiped himself away retaliated.

White’s dying swan was not well received on the island. “A damn joke,” complained top scorer legend Alan Shearer, the action was “embarrassing.” But the fans will forgive him for that too if the “dark arts” bring the longed-for success in the end. “I just want to win everything,” says White about himself. “Even as a child, I played aggressively and did everything I could to win.”

2024-04-09 11:36:33
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