A "basic" footballer wouldn't be able to carry out all the roles Ben White does to such a high level in this football team. And he is the literal embodiment of the "mentality monster" phrase used elsewhere on this forum.

flobaba I don’t respect White’s game. Y’all know this. Think he’s pretty basic. But, his attitude cannot be questioned. Hope he gets better soon. Timbers versatility is a great attribute to this end. We have done a great job building this current squad despite all the naysaying about Artetas penchant for defenders, which has come in extremely useful as we can now see. The likes of Tomi and Zinchenko can play in the less important competitions or in trash minutes for easier games, and give the first teamers a break.

Peak disrespect for a core squad member TBF.

    White will have a crucial role to play - I wouldn't be surprised if we start lining up our back line something closer to this in big CL games or if we need to protect a lead

    -------White-Saliba-Gabriel--------
    Timber---------------------Calafiori

    Let's face it - that backline with that goalkeeper and 11 men will barely give away a chance.

    • Tam replied to this.

      USArsenal I know. It's just me. He's not my type of full back because he doesn't know how to carry the ball. He is intelligent enough and a decent defender all told, works well within the system. But hey, not my type.

          flobaba yeah. But Arteta doesn’t play with flying fullbacks for the most part. He plays with a back 3 oe 4 to shut up shop. And then he uses the midfield and attack to score.
          He’s in line with what Mikel likes. Big, physical. Can play inside or outside. Can play as a traditional fullback or a lot in as a third centre back. He’s an important asset on set pieces.
          On top of that he has a critical asset that you can’t sneer at : availability. Before yesterday, he had started over 70 straight games. Which other fullback has given us that?

              Claudius Before yesterday, he had started over 70 straight games. Which other fullback has given us that?

              Not quite. He got injured around the time of the Brentford away game last season and missed a couple of starts. But other than that, as you say, super available - even minus a pair of working hamstrings. He's a hero really.

                  Mirth I hope we don't go down that road into being overly protective and defensive. All for building a strong base and having a team focus on defence. But line up changes like that reek of lacking conviction in your team and attack, and compromising too much compensate. We are already and overly defensive attacking team - by which I mean we've done to death the impact defensive duties have on the likes of Saka and Martinelli. That sort of line up will not free them up to do less work, it will just make us drop deeper and effectively function like we did against City wtih 10 men. We'll be a low block and counter attacking team, with Odegaard nullified and Havertz looking for long balls.

                      Tam we scored 2 goals fewer than the great entertainers all last season. we find ways to score.

                        DiabyKungFu he had 93% pass completion against Atalanta, decent against Brighton and Villa too. Spurs he was a bit dodgy and obviously not great at City, although he did complete one pass, the no passes appears to be an exaggeration.

                          Claudius There are guys that talk the talk and guys that walk the walk. Benny Blanco is definitely in the latter. I don't think there's a single City player that isn't in the former. He was ready to put Haaland in the dirt if Arteta gave him the nod at the end there and I loved it. The clips of him in the past grabbing Foden by the collar after a game were so good.

                            5 days later

                            Let's see if this stat is plastered everyone like the zero passes vs City was.

                            Mirth that was pretty obvious for me. He was played in a position he has never played before in his life before coming here.

                            So happy we now have 2 top RBs that we can rotate constantly but Timber edge it for me due to his defensive prowess against tricky wingers 1v1.

                                Mirth Pleased to have been wrong about him with my initial thoughts. I like what I'm seeing from him.