With Ben White set to join Arsenal soon, I take a look at how he has performed in a back 4 system for Brighton against decent opposition. I watch how he performed against Aston Villa in February & give my assessment as to how he would fit in at Arsenal once he signs for the club.
Defending
Ben White is tasked with defending a lot of wide spaces because he is a lot more mobile/can cover ground quicker compared to Lewis Dunk so when the opposition attack the left-hand side of Brighton, White will always be ready to intercept/clear up the ball when the opportunity is there to do so.
One thing Arsenal lack or have lacked from their centre backs is athleticism, with Ben White offering that in abundance. He can cover ground quickly & intercept stray balls without a fuss without being unable to get back into position quick enough.
After an Aston Villa throw-in, Ben White displayed the right amount of aggression to win the ball from the feet of the attacker who seemed like he was going to win the ball & carve out a good opening for his side. White successfully tracks the movement of the forward, & then plucks the ball out of sight to get his team on the front foot.
What Arsenal need on their RHS is a CB who can control their aggression & not allow the opposition time & space to sustain pressure in the final third. Rob Holding is guilty of doing this frequently last season, which cost Arsenal a few goals on his own.
One of the justified criticisms of Ben White is that he’s quite weak in the air (especially when compared to other players that are on his level,) but in a back 4, his approach in the air changes.
As Lewis Dunk is always behind him ready to cover for him, it gives him that little bit more confidence to show the right amount of aggression to win the ball.
Ben White’s aerial anticipation is a good part of his game, he can predict when/where the ball will end up without misjudging what will happen ‘too much.’ Pairing White with Pablo Mari may be the best move to make as White can gain confidence aerially with Mari behind him whilst getting ready for Arteta’s defensive demands quickly.
Positioning
When Brighton are settled in their own half, Ben White is set in that RCB role, providing the width so Brighton don’t get stretched by opposition wingers trying to exploit the RCB-RB/RWB gap that’s always going to be there. He holds his line well, & he doesn’t stray away from the position unless he knows for sure that there will be another player that’s covering for him there.
Ben White already having good positioning when his team builds out from the back is only a good thing for Arsenal, albeit not a dealbreaker as it’s something that can be developed over time. The one concern I had with Ben White was because he had played in a 3ATB dominant side, he’d have some issues with being a back 4 CB because he wouldn’t have developed his positioning in different game states properly, but watching him erodes such fears.
When Brighton built from the back in the first half, Lewis Dunk & Ben White were tasked with holding the shape from defence & facilitating buildup play with Ben White being the man to beat the Aston Villa low-block through his long balls. He’s able to hold his line, maintain a good distance between himself & the CM’s, so he doesn’t have any positional issues when it comes to his role when his team are settled & on the front foot.
Arsenal have preferred to use a 3-2-5 instead of a 2-3-5 almost at all times, but as Ben White’s traits better suit a team playing in a 2-3-5 (he’s good on the ball, quick & has strong athleticism,) it makes sense for Arsenal to switch there once they get in a more mobile Thomas Partey partner.
Brighton had spells where they defended in a 3-1-4-2, with Ben White operating on the right-hand side of the back 3. He’s tasked with covering the blind spot for the RWB & to make sure the DM (Bissouma) isn’t easily bypassed, as that’s a common theme for lone DM’s that don’t receive adequate support.
Arsenal defend in a 4-4-2, so Ben Whtie would need to adjust himself to playing in a more central position (rather than for him playing out wide,) with the player receiving more protection through the use of a deeper fullback on the right of him.
Building play
Ben White helps build up play for Brighton by circulating the ball to the RB & then providing them with a passing option in case the opposition defend well enough to force a rethink of how the team should attack. A massive strength of Ben White’s is that he can scan an area relatively quickly & play the right pass without having to think/dwell too much on the ball.
Ben White’s thinking changes when he’s in a back 4 as opposed to a back 3 as he inevitably has to react quickly as teams press more intensely & he has more passing options as more players are ahead of the ball for him to identify (or they’re in better positions.)
When Brighton restart play after a failed attack by Aston Villa, Ben White has a preference to pass sideways instead of playing a dangerous pass to his LW/ST. This is a testament to his decision making (helps his team exploit open spaces,) rather than it being seen as something that makes him seem too risk-averse (an understandable criticism of any player,) with Arsenal not having that figure in defence who knows when to play what pass when building out from the back.
Here is a time when Ben White makes a riskier decision regarding his pass when playing out from the back. He identifies a gap where Bissouma can exploit & start an attack from & passes it to him instead of getting the Ball to Dunk who would get the ball over to Veltman.
Arsenal’s big attacking issue is how stale they are when they play out from the back, and that’s down to the personnel not being able to take the initiative & get something done. Ben White takes a lot more risks than Rob Holding & he is much more secure on the ball, you know that if he is going to take a risk then most of the time it’ll work.
Medium/Long Passes
Ben White’s risk-taking is best shown here, he’s shoved out wide because his team defend in a 3 & he takes advantage of the Aston Villa attackers being switched off & plays a simple diagonal pass to the Brighton attacking midfielder. The player is great at getting his team back to life with a line-breaking pass or a pass that gets his team in a much stronger position, with a lot of Arsenal’s problems being down to lack of invention from their defenders.
Ben White helps with starting an attack, but he does so by tracking the run that his RWB/RB makes & passes accordingly. He forces an attack to happen by bypassing the 4 Aston Villa players ready to press the CB’s & CM’s out of the game with a quick ball out wide.
Arsenal have often lacked that pass being made to their wide players in quick time, with their CB’s dwelling on the ball only to recycle it multiple times before one of their attacking players is forced to drop deep & to take the initiative when the attacking players should instead be as high up the pitch as they can, ready to receive the ball at a moments notice to attack.
This pass demonstrates the intelligence of Ben White in possession rather than it being used as an indicator to suggest anything specific about his passes. He picks up on the Aston Villa attacking positioning, preventing him from playing a pass to the central options, so he initiates an attack by playing the ball into space for the RWB to run into & carve out an opportunity on their own.
Having a CB with good pass selection & the ability to make passes to stretch the opposition is what gives Ben White that premium price. Arsenal need to attack better, and they need more players to help make that happen, that’s why Ben White is perfect.
General notes:
– He ventures to the edge of the box by nature when his team are comfortably on the ball, but that’s down to the manager setting that instruction for both of his CB’s & it can be something altered in his game.
– His defending becomes more controlled when he’s in a back 4 as he doesn’t have the safety net CB that’s in the back 3 (the Libero,) and over time, he’ll develop the traits to command a back 4 on his own.
– White is good at playing with a unit, he can follow instructions well & he doesn’t make mistakes on the ball (which is something to be expected with his experience in a back 5.)
Last Thoughts
Watching Ben White play in a back 4 compared to the 3ATB system Brighton normally employ, it’s not hard to see why Arsenal have paid £50m to get the player in, he’s well suited to a back 4, & he offers Arsenal a lot of attributes that they would wish that Rob Holding currently possesses.