Ben White — Scout Report.
Ben White signs Arsenal contract and his medical has been passed and his £50m fee agreed with Brighton, so it’s all now just a matter of time.
In this article, I will answer some questions with data and footages about the English center-back and illustrate Why Mikel Arteta insists on buying him, what is his advantages, What will he bring to the team And Is it worth his value or not?
The 23 years old defender regularly touted as one of the brightest and most talented young centre-backs in England after his loan at Leeds and his last season with Brighton under Graham Potter, his superb performance made many elite clubs in English Premier League follow him and hand about his price.
Ben white’s Versatility, he can play at more than one position, and Nowadays, Coaches admire a player who is flexible as he helps them in rotations when it comes to red cards, Injuries, tactical changes in formation, etc…
With Brighton, he played as a RCB, DM, RWB.
In Ben white’s heatmap with Brighton, as a right center-back in back three system helps him to carry the ball to advanced positions in the pitch, we can notice from his heatmap, he also can play as an inverted RB in back four system, or a DM who can drop as a third CB in possession as a temporary conditions, so he can play in various positions and various systems without any struggling or problems.
Consistent in playing time.
One of his cons, he is not an injury prone player or who missed a lot of matches putting his manager in a pickle, as with Bielsa he played 46 games and 36 games with Potter in his last two seasons, which means he will be a milestone in Arteta’s formation and he can create a partnership with another center-back.
We can notice from radar and chart that Ben white is a modern center-back, he is comfortable to play under pressure due to his passing and dribbling abilities, also he helps his teams to press aggressively with high line.
In possession abilities.
When you look at radar and chart, comparing Ben white with Premier League average, you can notice that his passing completed is 82%, his ability to keep his ball under pressure is 56%, his ability to carry the ball to advanced positions, passes forward toward goal, Moreover that he rarely clear the ball without any precise target, all of these factors indicates that he will be very useful for Arsenal in build up phase which fits Arteta principles and what he wants to play, and his involvement in his team’s build up leading to a shot is 23%, linking up play with 61%, dribbling and enter opposition’s final third will benefits the team to progress the ball easily.
And by comparing Ben white to Arsenal CBs, you can notice that Ben white is the highest CB with a big difference from CB to him, and by comparing him to Premier League CB he is ranked as 2nd CB who made successful dribbles.
Out of possession abilities.
White is one of the most interceptors in the league, his Padj Interceptions (interceptions per team possession) is higher than League average, also pressures is his most thing he excels in it, helping Arsenal to press more aggressively which they cannot do it, as Arsenal is 13th in the league in PPDA.
PPDA: A metric that can quantify the extent and aggression of high presses employed by teams.
And again another feature that Ben white will add to Arsenal and Arteta.
And when it comes to Aerial duels we begin to talk about his disadvantages as he is very weak at this aspect.
By comparing him to Premier League average, Premier League CBs and Arsenal CBs, you can see a huge difference between him and the other defenders, as he the last one when comparing him to Arsenal CBs, and he ranked as 48th from 49th center-back who played more than 15 matches in Premier league.
But in my opinion it wouldn’t be a big issue, especially with Leno quality in stopping crosses, and Gabriel abilities in aerial duels, and with Ben white’s ability in awareness and positioning.
Video analysis
First, I will begin with his understanding and awareness of his position.
He always checks his shoulder to be aware of his position and marker, and by this approach strikers rarely can make blind side run behind him and he can avoid crosses with his good positioning.
Blocking Shots.
He always sticks to his marker in the penality box, or start movement with his marker and by anticipating his marker’s shot he makes a slide tackle to block it.
Tackles Style.
He waits his opponent to miscontrol the ball, then he made a slide tackle.
Pressing aggressively.
-Stuck to his marker.
-Impressive anticipating the ball trajectory.
-He doesn’t give his marker time or space on the ball.
-Intercepting the ball.
Dribbling abilities.
-He has a good understanding of the game.
-Quick decision to dribble, he can break his opponent’s pressing or dribble to higher position in the pitch.
Passing ability.
His passing ability and composure makes him able to break opponent’s high pressing and make Arsenal unpredictable and able the team to exploit the space behind them.
Attacking runs.
In back three system, he has more freedom to make attacking runs to support the wing back in the final third, and it will enhance the attack as he makes an overload in the flank.
But he is still a CB and his ability to cross or to make a big impact in the final third is not huge due to his last touch.
And At the end, Arsenal problem is not in his defensive system as it was the 3rd team in goals conceded in the league, but the main problems were in possession, Ben white not Maldini or Vandijk ,but he has the quaility and he is only 23 years old which means he has a lot of time to develop more and in my opinion in these days 50 Million with these qualities, age and the problems that expected from him under Arteta to solve not a huge amount to critize or sarcasm.
