Assessing: Ben White
This season alone the likes of Marcelo Bielsa, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka have all heaped praise on Ben White. The recently-made England international is set to make the switch from Brighton to Arsenal. Clearly, given the praise that White has received is testament to how well he has adapted in his debut Premier League season. But, is he ready to make the step-up to Arsenal, and how will he fit in Mikel Arteta's team?
Despite playing right wing-back and central midfield last season, White was typically deployed as a right-sided centre-back. As one of the outside centre-backs in Brighton's 5-3-2 system, his role was to progress the ball from deep.
Last season White excelled at this, completing 0.68 successful dribbles per 90. No other Premier League defender completed more successful dribbles than the former Brighton man. This total also dwarfs that of Arsenal's defenders from last season. For instance, David Luiz completed 0.13 dribbles per 90.
A caveat to this, is that as Brighton played with 3 centre-backs, White as the right-sided centre-back was granted more freedom to roam up the pitch, so expect this tally of successful dribbles to decrease slightly if the centre-back is deployed in a back four.
White's good passing ability also allows him to progress the ball quickly. He completed 3.27 progressive passes per 90 last season. The former Brighton-man looks for aggressive passing options, over 40% of his passes were forward, a total higher than any other Arsenal defender from last season. Both White and new signing Lokonga's ability to progress the ball up the pitch, seem to be a crucial criteria in Arsenal's new signings, as Arteta looks to move away from the laborious build-up play from last season.
The England centre-back is also adept at switching the play with long-balls, typically to Brighton's left-wing back. He executed 64% of the 10.6 long passes that he attempted per 90. That's a long-ball passing accuracy just below David Luiz - one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League at playing diagonal, long balls, although the Brazilian did attempt nearly twice as many as White per 90.
Ultimately, it is White's defensive ability that will be paramount to how he is judged at Arsenal.
Rather than being a stereotypical, all-tackling defender, White is a centre-back that squeezes the space, and either forces the opposition backwards or into a mistake. White's pace and excellent positioning helps with this. He made 184 pressures in the defensive third last season, 12 more than any other Arsenal defender. The England international will inject tenacity and tempo into Arsenal's defending, it's an attribute that is desperately needed. Last season, Arsenal made the 4th lowest pressures in the defensive third in the Premier League. Arteta will be looking to White to add the defensive tempo to compact the opposition's play and magnify their mistakes. Despite that, White is not afraid of showing the more dogged side of defending. He won 1.58 tackles per 90 last season, more than any other Arsenal centre-back. What will be equally pleasing to Arsenal fans, is White's smooth style of defending. According to Opta, in his last two seasons with Brighton and Leeds, White has made no errors leading to an opposition shot. Meanwhile, David Luiz has made four in the same time frame.
The one glaring error in White's defensive game is his aerial ability. Standing at 6'0 tall, it's not overly surprising that he won only 53% of his aerial duels last season. David Luiz was dominant in the air for Arsenal last campaign winning over 70% of his aerial duels, so it will be a void to fill in the Arsenal defence. White is more adept at sweeping up the 2nd ball, rather than heading the first. The tall and powerful Gabriel is still likely to play as a left centre-back. The Brazilian and White must work out a way to cover for White's aerial deficiencies.
The addition of White adds to the homegrown core at the heart of Arsenal's squad. The Englishman was plying his trade in League 2, with Newport just four years ago. Some may worry that such a short trajectory from League 2 to Arsenal does not warrant the eye-watering £50m fee. But even at Newport, those close to White knew of his quality. White's-then-manager, Michael Flynn predicted that White would one day play for England, as he has now done. The quick ascension of White's career is not something to act as a caveat to points of his quality, but the contrast. Only someone with immense determination and perseverance could make the jump in such a short space of time. Undoubtedly these are characteristics that White possesses. Not only is White cultured in the different English football divisions, but also the different positions on the pitch. He played as a central centre-back, right centre-back, right wing-back and defensive midfielder last season. White's versatility could prove useful to Arteta, who as of yet, has not found cover for the central midfield and right-back positions.
Despite the high-fee, Arsenal have identified White as a defender with a specific skill set to take Arsenal a step further both defensively and offensively. His competence at bringing the ball out from defence through carries and passing will give Arsenal some much needed impetus in the first phase of build up. White's collaboration of intensity and assuredness in defending should remove many of the defensive mishaps that Arsenal have become intertwined with in the last few years. Instead Arteta will hope that his new signing, along with Gabriel can form a partnership to propel Arsenal back up the table again.