Benjamin The White 📝

[Blankety Blank]

Chelsea sold Zouma to West Ham and he’s a better defender than White

tbf Zouma is also a better defender than Holding, Mari & Chambers.
He is also very likely a better defender than wonderchild Saliba as he keeps him out of the French squad.

White is though a far better footballer.

The million dollar question is will White/Gabriel form a partnership good enough to move us forward?

 

[tcahill]

You see the vision. He’s the Seaside Rice. I know football fans have this weird obsession of converting a CB into a DM, but it actually makes sense with White. There’s no way he’s a top 4 CB. Chelsea sold Zouma to West Ham and he’s a better defender than White. Honestly speaking where does White fall into when it comes to top CBs?

Varane
Dias
Van Dijk
Konate
Silva
Rudiger
Christensten (?)
Matip
Gomez
Stones
Laporte
Lindelof(?)

Zouma is one of the best CBs in the league at defending. He just can't pass a football. Chelsea got rid of him same reason why we got rid of Sokratis.

White is also better than most of those CBs were at his age.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Zouma is one of the best CBs in the league at defending. He just can't pass a football. Chelsea got rid of him same reason why we got rid of Sokratis.

White is also better than most of those CBs were at his age.

White at 23 is playing for Arsenal, Van Dijk at 23 was playing for Celtic. The age thing is irrelevant, development isn't always linear.

 

[tcahill]

White at 23 is playing for Arsenal, Van Dijk at 23 was playing for Celtic. The age thing is irrelevant, development isn't always linear.

Exactly, Van Dijk at 23 was playing in Scotland while at 21 White won best young player in the Championship.

Not sure why you're so determined to swing at White, we clearly bought him for his potential.

 

[Rasmi]

Exactly, Van Dijk at 23 was playing in Scotland while at 21 White won best young player in the Championship.

Not sure why you're so determined to swing at White, we clearly bought him for his potential.

50 million defender shouldnt be bought for potential. southampton bought Van Dijk for 12 million which is what potential should cost. 50 million should be top class defender. Many of us dont even think he is our best CB

 

[tcahill]

50 million defender shouldnt be bought for potential. southampton bought Van Dijk for 12 million which is what potential should cost. 50 million should be top class defender. Many of us dont even think he is our best CB

You're shifting the goalposts. The question isn't about whether or not we should have bought him. I personally would have preferred to stick with Saliba and put the money towards a CM.

As for his cost, 30 million for a talented young CB, throw in 15 mill for English tax and there's your price. There's always an element of risk when buying from overseas leagues, we decided to buy proven English talent at a higher price but with less risk. Make of that what you will.

 

[Mitch]

Had a good peformance Saturday, hopefully more the same going forward.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

He was good aerially after his debut horror. My only criticism was when he failed to react and clear a ball in our box in the last two minutes. Fortunately, Gabriel tracked Pukki and it didn't cost us. Looks like with time, he and Gabriel may form a very decent partnership whether in a two or a three.

 

[Blankety Blank]

50 million defender shouldnt be bought for potential. southampton bought Van Dijk for 12 million which is what potential should cost. 50 million should be top class defender. Many of us dont even think he is our best CB

Well the world has moved on.
Bielsa bid circa £30m for white after impressing at leeds in the Championship. He had a decent season in the Prem after that so his value certainly wasnt dropping.
Stones also cost nearly £50m years ago for potential tbf.




To a certain extent i agree its a lot of money but Just coz southampton got a great deal for Van Dijk doesnt mean its the norm.

We could have spent good money on a more experienced CB from abroad say a £35m Mustafi. As far as fees go we spent £70m on pepe & while talented he is inconsistent & frustrating. We probably expected more for the money.

You dont know in football who is going to work out for sure.

Man City have spent loads of money on CBs.

 

[Red London]

Weird agenda you've got for a player who's played twice for us.

Not sure where you got you information that White is 182 cm. He looks bigger than that.

He has an agenda against everything and anything possible mate

 

[gunner4lyfe]

White at 23 is playing for Arsenal, Van Dijk at 23 was playing for Celtic. The age thing is irrelevant, development isn't always linear.

Yet some people are adamant that he will not get any better than he is now.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Yet some people are adamant that he will not get any better than he is now.

He will get better but he can also get worse. Nothing is guaranteed. When I look at White I see no exceptional qualities to put him in the World Class bracket. Everything about him seems to be good but nothing that makes you think he’s elite.

 

[Rasmi]

Well the world has moved on.
Bielsa bid circa £30m for white after impressing at leeds in the Championship. He had a decent season in the Prem after that so his value certainly wasnt dropping.
Stones also cost nearly £50m years ago for potential tbf.




To a certain extent i agree its a lot of money but Just coz southampton got a great deal for Van Dijk doesnt mean its the norm.

We could have spent good money on a more experienced CB from abroad say a £35m Mustafi. As far as fees go we spent £70m on pepe & while talented he is inconsistent & frustrating. We probably expected more for the money.

You dont know in football who is going to work out for sure.

Man City have spent loads of money on CBs.

there are many bad deals out there. bad deals shouldnt be the standard setter. we paid 72 million for Pepe. so should players on pepes level be 72 million? Is that the market we want to operate on? fans always take bad deals as standards and say well player A cost this so its not really bad. He is not strong, really quick or brilliant in the air. so no physical attribute that standsout. yes he will become better with experience. But unless he becomes an absolute elite reader of the game. he will never be world class because of lack of outstanding physical attributes

 

[Barry]

I'm still not convinced that he's better than Holding, but he was calm and assured against Norwich. Didn't notice any aerial howlers either which will be good for his confidence (and ours). Hope him and Gabriel get a run together now.

 

[tcahill]

He will get better but he can also get worse. Nothing is guaranteed. When I look at White I see no exceptional qualities to put him in the World Class bracket. Everything about him seems to be good but nothing that makes you think he’s elite.

That logic can apply to any new signing, especially overseas ones. Having won player of the season in the championship and then in the PL in consecutive years, this guy is about as low risk as you can get.

As I said before, he's not meant to be world class now. He's meant to be a good PL defender, and will hopefully become world class in 1-2 seasons.

He made 3 key passes against Norwich from CB. That's more than most attacking midfielders make per game. As long as he can hold his own defensively too, he will be absolute quality for us.

 

[Melquiades]

Well the world has moved on.
Bielsa bid circa £30m for white after impressing at leeds in the Championship. He had a decent season in the Prem after that so his value certainly wasnt dropping.
Stones also cost nearly £50m years ago for potential tbf.




To a certain extent i agree its a lot of money but Just coz southampton got a great deal for Van Dijk doesnt mean its the norm.

We could have spent good money on a more experienced CB from abroad say a £35m Mustafi. As far as fees go we spent £70m on pepe & while talented he is inconsistent & frustrating. We probably expected more for the money.

You dont know in football who is going to work out for sure.

Man City have spent loads of money on CBs.

Personally I find that if you imagine that we spent 30 million on White and 50 million on Ødegaard instead of the reverse, the offseason suddenly seems a lot better.

 

[bonzka]

Love his assurance on the ball.. He's got to grow as a basic defender but there's potential for a special player. Risky at 50m, but it'll be interesting watching him grow.

 

[RunTheTrap]

That logic can apply to any new signing, especially overseas ones. Having won player of the season in the championship and then in the PL in consecutive years, this guy is about as low risk as you can get.

As I said before, he's not meant to be world class now. He's meant to be a good PL defender, and will hopefully become world class in 1-2 seasons.

He made 3 key passes against Norwich from CB. That's more than most attacking midfielders make per game. As long as he can hold his own defensively too, he will be absolute quality for us.

It’s just a matter of preference for me. I know why a lot of people like Ben White, but for me he’s not my type of CB. I like my defenders to be tall, commanding, win their duels and be aggressive. I am not fussed by their ball-playing ability. Just as long as you’re not Sokratis level bad. You just have to be comfortable on the ball.
Everything I hear or read about White was how good he is on the ball. Which made me wary of his actual defensive abilities. Making three key passes from CB is good but that says more about Ødegaard than it says about White for me.

 

[Blankety Blank]

there are many bad deals out there. bad deals shouldnt be the standard setter. we paid 72 million for Pepe. so should players on pepes level be 72 million? Is that the market we want to operate on? fans always take bad deals as standards and say well player A cost this so its not really bad. He is not strong, really quick or brilliant in the air. so no physical attribute that standsout. yes he will become better with experience. But unless he becomes an absolute elite reader of the game. he will never be world class because of lack of outstanding physical attributes

Yes there are many bad deals, you mentioned cost by bringing up a great deal so i am just pointing to the flipside tbh. You can cherry pick great deals as well as bad ones. He was likely priced too high but there you go.



Arteta wants to build from the back & likely play with a higher line so if having him & Gabriel enables us to do that & we score more goals & win matches that is all that will really matter in the end.

His ball playing looks standout & he is quicker than our other CBs bar Gabriel so i would say that is pretty important.

 

[Rasmi]

Yes there are many bad deals, you mentioned cost by bringing up a great deal so i am just pointing to the flipside tbh. You can cherry pick great deals as well as bad ones. He was likely priced too high but there you go.



Arteta wants to build from the back & likely play with a higher line so if having him & Gabriel enables us to do that & we score more goals & win matches that is all that will really matter in the end.

His ball playing looks standout & he is quicker than our other CBs bar Gabriel so i would say that is pretty important.

Forget great and bad deals. Let’s talk on average. Does the average player of Ben Whites level cost 50 million? Top 10 most expensive players in his position. Time will tell. I just don’t see it