Mikel Arteta responds to Ben White’s criticism ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Chelsea

[ad_1]

Arsenal signed Ben White from Brighton for 50 million pounds last month, but struggled to deal with the Brentford attackers during the 2-0 defeat on the first day of the Premier League season.

download the video

Video is not available

The video will play automatically soon 8 Cancel

play now

Premier League match preview: Arsenal – Chelsea

Mikel Arteta has jumped into Ben White’s defense after Arsenal’s new kid came under fire for his disappointing debut against Brentford.

Arsenal signed White, 23, from Brighton for £50m last month, but struggled to deal with the Bee attackers during the 2-0 defeat on the opening day of the Premier League season.

The centre-back was regularly hit in the air by Brentford striker Evan Toni, sparking fears he could be ‘hit’ by more teams.

However, Arteta claimed White deserved credit for starting the match days after joining Arsenal as he threw his weight behind the England international.

White couldn’t handle Tony during Arsenal’s dismal defeat

“Yes, he can get better [in the air]But he won many air duels against him in the match too,” the Emirates coach told Sky Sports.

“You highlight the things he hasn’t won but Tony would win a header against any defender in this league because that’s a big quality for him.

“You have to accept that it’s an area of ​​the field where if you take these headers, it obviously becomes more dangerous for the team. But it was a good debut.

Mikel Arteta is the wrong man at Arsenal – he needs to be replaced by Diego Simeone, Stan and Josh Kroenke confirm ‘further transfer negotiations’ after a £54m double swoop.

“He didn’t train much. Bukayo Saka couldn’t appear from the start and was in the same training plan as Ben but Ben worked really hard.”

Despite his encouraging comments to White, Arteta admitted that the defender is “not where he should be” in terms of the physical aspect of his game.

However, the Spaniard is happy to have a versatile and technically talented option in his defense and added: “Ben is an exceptional defender.

Will Ben White live up to his price at Arsenal? Comment below.

“He can play in a four defense, he is very comfortable to play in three defense, he has experience in the league, he is fast, he is agile, he is really aggressive in duels.

“And then, with the ball, he has the special qualities that I need for the way we play, to make all the processes better and to be as dominant in the matches as we want.”

White is one of the many new faces to arrive at Arsenal this summer, along with Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale, Albert Sambi Lukonga and Nuno Tavares.

Arsenal have spent £140m and Arteta believes he has a ‘really strong squad’ at his disposal.

He said: “I was in constant contact with the club hierarchy, with Eddie [technical director Edu]with Richard [Garlick, director of football operations] And with our coaching staff, we try to find the players we want to recruit and we try to be on top of every deal to make that happen in conditions we can afford.

“I think we’ve built a really strong team that really enjoys working together. I hope you see the fruits of this.”

.

[ad_2]