The Silver Fox is always available for Mikel Arteta. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
3. The best ability is availability
With injuries becoming more frequent and prominent in football, White’s immaculate injury record is a breath of fresh air for Arsenal fans. In recent seasons, injuries have cost the Gunners in crucial moments. However, the right-back has never had a submitted injury report on Transfermarkt in his seven-year career.
His lack of absence means that he can constantly evolve with the team while forming and improving connections with teammates around him. Due to Arsenal’s playstyle and Arteta’s adoption of positional play, every player has to understand their role in great depth, and because White has a large familiarity with the position, he can operate to the highest ability.
As White is always starting matches, he can also build on previous performances, building confidence but also increasingly getting comfortable in match situations. Away from games, his perfect injury record also means that the ex-Seagull is consistently developing, and, under excellent guidance, always improving in training.
There is no expected date for Ben White’s contract renewal announcement, but there should be limited complications in the agreement, with the defender so excited to stay in red and white. Before then, Arsenal travel to sunny Spain to face Sevilla in the Champions League, the team then return to Emirates action on Saturday to face Heckingbottom’s Sheffield United.
pic.twitter.com/UdOpjcYrMD
<p>— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/10/22/3-reasons-ben-white-contract-extension-massive-arsenal/3/"https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1713829379791282657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>October 16, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<h2>3 reasons why Ben White’s contract extension is massive</h2>
<p>Here’s why extending White’s contract is huge for the Gunners.</p>
<h2><strong>1. Ben & Bukayo’s bond</strong></h2>
<p>After his first season in red and white, where he often found himself as a centre-back, William Saliba’s integration to the side saw the 26-year-old redefine himself as a right-back. Since then, he has formed an established partnership with England teammate, and Hale End graduate, Bukayo Saka.</p>
<p>White’s position change has played an integral part in Saka’s development, and their partnership gets the best out of the winger. Before White’s transition, teams would often use their winger and full-back to double up defensively on Saka, in an attempt to nullify his attacking capabilities. However, with the athleticism that White has, he constantly creates overlapping runs (1st in the Premier League this campaign) to force one of the defenders to leave Saka, giving the winger more room to create opportunities.</p>
<blockquote class="left ampstart-left"></p>
<blockquote><p><em><strong>“I’m there to help him get into positions where he can do what he is so good at. He makes it so much easier than it should be”</strong></em></p></blockquote>
<p>Ben White on Bukayo Saka [Sky Sports]</p>
<p></blockquote>
<p>Ben White’s defensive ability also allows Bukayo Saka to commit offensively without any worry that the space he has vacated may be offensively exploited by the opposition. As Arsenal often commit to a high and persistent press, Ben White’s cover for Saka and one-on-one ability allow Arsenal to retrieve the ball in the fashion they wish.</p>
<p>Ben White feels that the English pair have a somewhat telepathic relationship with one another on the pitch.<em><strong> </strong></em>Due to this connection, the focus and attention that the duo demand on the right, often also allows opportunities for diagonal balls and switch passes to exploit the lack of attention on the opposite flank.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/10/22/3-reasons-ben-white-contract-extension-massive-arsenal/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #2 - Full-Back's Form </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Ben White - Season Review 2022/23" width="500" height="281" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/10/22/3-reasons-ben-white-contract-extension-massive-arsenal/3/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/TG1VVYxrBWM?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p style="text-align: center"><strong><em>Ben White’s ‘non gung-ho’ movements, from 0:19 – 6:43</em></strong></p>
<h2>2. Full-back’s form</h2>
<p>Former Arsenal striker, Kevin Campbell, described White as “not gung-ho” after the Manchester City victory, and this phrase is crucial when understanding White’s consistency on the flank. Feeling confident with the elite players he is surrounded by, White often wins the ball back from an interception and then releases to a better offensive teammate.</p>
<p>This reliability increases trust from players around him, so they can focus on their performance and the spaces they are occupying instead of White’s. This also limits defensive errors in the Arsenal backline, as no player has to be concerned about White’s defensive insufficiencies. His teammates’ trust in him makes sense, as Arsenal’s ‘Mr Dependable’ hasn’t lost a game which he has started this season.</p>
<p>His form is also beneficial to Arsenal’s skipper, Martin Ødegaard. The pair have a good relationship, and Ødegaard’s riskier playstyle is often supported by White, who has the ability to make up for his captain’s errors. White’s desire to play short and quick passes also means that the Norwegian can anticipate the ball arriving to him quickly when he has found a small pocket of space.</p>
<p>Due to the defender’s reliability and confidence he has in himself, as White grows older, he could become the perfect mentor to struggling players or youngsters. When the Englishman was younger, he used to be ‘very up and down emotionally’, but after maturing in his footballing years, he can now control his emotional state in a better way. The likes of David Luiz and Bukayo Saka have been praised for their care of younger teammates, and as he grows older, White could be the next mentor to help the younger players.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/10/22/3-reasons-ben-white-contract-extension-massive-arsenal/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 - The Best Ability is Availability </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_137076" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-137076" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/10/22/3-reasons-ben-white-contract-extension-massive-arsenal/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1708,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1737974677-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1708" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1737974677-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1737974677-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1737974677-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1737974677-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">The Silver Fox is always available for Mikel Arteta. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
<h2>3. The best ability is availability</h2>
<p>With injuries becoming more frequent and prominent in football, White’s immaculate injury record is a breath of fresh air for Arsenal fans. In recent seasons, injuries have cost the Gunners in crucial moments. However, the right-back has never had a submitted <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/10/22/3-reasons-ben-white-contract-extension-massive-arsenal/3/"https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ben-white/verletzungen/spieler/335721">injury report on Transfermarkt</a> in his seven-year career.</p>
<p>His lack of absence means that he can constantly evolve with the team while forming and improving connections with teammates around him. Due to Arsenal’s playstyle and Arteta’s adoption of positional play, every player has to understand their role in great depth, and because White has a large familiarity with the position, he can operate to the highest ability.</p>
<p>As White is always starting matches, he can also build on previous performances, building confidence but also increasingly getting comfortable in match situations. Away from games, his perfect injury record also means that the ex-Seagull is consistently developing, and, under excellent guidance, always improving in training.</p>
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<p>There is no expected date for Ben White’s contract renewal announcement, but there should be limited complications in the agreement, with the defender so excited to stay in red and white. Before then, Arsenal travel to sunny Spain to face Sevilla in the Champions League, the team then return to Emirates action on Saturday to face Heckingbottom’s Sheffield United.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
