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Benjamin The White šŸ“

Mrs Bergkamp

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Dusted šŸ”»
Think he was ok in the match. Actually did the defensive basics pretty well apart from the back pass which was good to see. Don't think he is this Jedi knight on the ball though, but I'm sure he'll get better.

Everyone jumping on that back pass has conveniently forgotten Gabriel passing it straight to Maxwell Cornet in the box (and Ramsdale's save) - as if one incident happened but the other never did.
Fair point. I will rewatch that Gabriel incident. I confess to forgetting that but I think a lot of White's wobbles initially started with little pressure, so consequently look worse.
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
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Who would you say in the last decade is the best ball-playing CB and do you honestly believe White can reach that level? David Luiz, Hummels, Pique, Boateng???
Luiz for me. Itā€™s not that rare for a CB to have great passing range these days but the variety of pass that Luiz had is something else.

So far White appears to have the standard ball playing CB starter pack but something he has which seems kind of unique is a bit of dribbling ability combined with pace. Iā€™m not sure how we could use that because you never want your CB dribbling near the goal but I saw him beat the press with a drag back and dribble the other day. That level of press resistance in a CB could be special.
 

razƶrist

Soft With The Ladies, Hard With The Mes

Country: Morocco
Luiz for me. Itā€™s not that rare for a CB to have great passing range these days but the variety of pass that Luiz had is something else.

So far White appears to have the standard ball playing CB starter pack but something he has which seems kind of unique is a bit of dribbling ability combined with pace. Iā€™m not sure how we could use that because you never want your CB dribbling near the goal but I saw him beat the press with a drag back and dribble the other day. That level of press resistance in a CB could be special.

Right centreback for Ajax, Timber. Obv mickey mouse league but he is holding his own in the CL too. Thats the stuff I would like to see from Ben White.
 

dka1

100% Dark Chocolate
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Country: England
Think he was ok in the match. Actually did the defensive basics pretty well apart from the back pass which was good to see. Don't think he is this Jedi knight on the ball though, but I'm sure he'll get better.

Yeah this is where I'm at, he did good error aside, I'm not blown away and I'm definitely not gonna suck him off like some....but he needs time.

Definitely doesn't deserve some of the abuse he's getting...jesus...it's his third game, he needs more time, if he's unconvincing and it's the end of the season then maybe we can have that discussion.
 

MikelHadADream

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I donā€™t even think White was our first choice. I remember we were being linked with Tapsoba for Ā£60 million. At least heā€™s big and has a good size to him. *pause*. Then we got linked to Kounde. Then the links to White came and here he is. If you wanna go back further then we could look at Upamaecano. This transfer has been something Arsenal have wanted to do for years, but what is it about White that made the club jump for him? I see no exceptional qualities to his game as a defender and I think his ball-playing is overrated. He hits a nice diagonal and can run with the ball but itā€™s not like he regularly breaks lines with his passes. Does he even play nice disguise passes like Partey? I havenā€™t seen it yet.

I just want some peopleā€™s view on something. Who would you say in the last decade is the best ball-playing CB and do you honestly believe White can reach that level? David Luiz, Hummels, Pique, Boateng???

Sergio Ramos for me, had/has every pass in his locker, guy switches the play at will.

Honestly thing White is amazing on the ball and time will show that. It's the other areas of his game that are a worry.
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
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Right centreback for Ajax, Timber. Obv mickey mouse league but he is holding his own in the CL too. Thats the stuff I would like to see from Ben White.
Would Mikel ever allow this? :lol:

Iā€™ve seen clips of White going on runs like this in the championship for Leeds. Is that similar to the Dutch league? A bit worse Iā€™m guessing.
 

razƶrist

Soft With The Ladies, Hard With The Mes

Country: Morocco
Would Mikel ever allow this? :lol:

Iā€™ve seen clips of White going on runs like this in the championship for Leeds. Is that similar to the Dutch league? A bit worse Iā€™m guessing.
Way different styles of football, I would rate Ben White doing that in the championship more than Timber doing it in the Eredivisie.
 

MikelHadADream

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Found a compilation.

0:19, 1:03, 1:06, 1:15, 1:40, 1:47 are the moments I'm talking about that I love (they've missed at least one pass in between the lines to Lokonga that I liked), that just have nothing to do with what we're used to with the passing ability and composure on the ball we've seen with our CBs under Arteta.

Hard to understand how this performance is getting so much criticism when you see the defensive actions too (where the statistics are all telling us he had a very good game-- he and Gabriel got 7.57 and 7.58 ratings on whoscored, second after Ƙdegaard), which is what most of you who are criticising him are putting most emphasis on. Hard to not think there are agendas at work here...

Hes outstanding on the ball, no doubt. Burnley pressed well, and I think with Ƙdegaard and ESR still novices to the number 8 positions, we lacked options from midfield, so it was tough for him to really show his passing range. I think his trademark is that ball over the top down the right channel, I think we'll see that quite a lot.

Even if he turns out to be an average defender, his distribution from the back is a big plus for the team, especially if we ever move to a back 3.
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
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Way different styles of football, I would rate Ben White doing that in the championship more than Timber doing it in the Eredivisie.

Loads of PL/Championship dribbling there, in the PL itā€™s a back three so less risky but he did it for Leeds too in a back two. The guy is a unique weapon at CB.

Iā€™m giving him a season to show heā€™s not Mustafi defensively, after that youā€™d expect him to get better and better defensively as he gains experience. Even just being a slightly above average defender but with his skill set would make him good enough for a ball dominant CL team a la Jon Stones.
 

razƶrist

Soft With The Ladies, Hard With The Mes

Country: Morocco

Loads of PL/Championship dribbling there, in the PL itā€™s a back three so less risky but he did it for Leeds too in a back two. The guy is a unique weapon at CB.

Iā€™m giving him a season to show heā€™s not Mustafi defensively, after that youā€™d expect him to get better and better defensively as he gains experience. Even just being a slightly above average defender but with his skill set would make him good enough for a ball dominant CL team a la Jon Stones.
I like Ben White. Im happy we have him. I just dont understand we spent 50M on him when we have Saliba that could do a good job as well. It pisses me off because that money could have been used to replace Xhaka. Now that idiot will still play 40 games for us this season. But nothing against Ben White.

Btw Werner is such a homeless person
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
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I like Ben White. Im happy we have him. I just dont understand we spent 50M on him when we have Saliba that could do a good job as well. It pisses me off because that money could have been used to replace Xhaka. Now that idiot will still play 40 games for us this season. But nothing against Ben White.

Btw Werner is such a homeless person
The more I think about it, the more I think we would have went for White anyway. Maybe the long term plan is a back three or survival of the fittest type situation between Saliba, White and Gabriel.

Saliba is good on the ball but it seems Arteta wants someone at David Luiz level on the ball a playmaker from CB. Is Saliba that guy?
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
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Want to see White-Gabriel-Saliba in a back 3 under Conte/Potter.
I think the back three dreams died when we signed a defensive RB, there isnā€™t a RWB in the squad now and I donā€™t think weā€™ll be signing one.

Best we can hope for is a Leipzig situation where we have three very good CBs and can sell one for big money.
 

MikelHadADream

Established Member
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I think the back three dreams died when we signed a defensive RB, there isnā€™t a RWB in the squad now and I donā€™t think weā€™ll be signing one.

Best we can hope for is a Leipzig situation where we have three very good CBs and can sell one for big money.

Possibly, but think Tomiyasu would be a good option at RCB as well.

Yeah, rwb would be the issue, maybe Saka could play there for the short term?
 
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