Ben White's hyper-competitive streak continues throughout his life. Photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
There is a common misconception that Ben White is a footballer who doesn't like football. This has been repeated so often over the past few years that over time, the outside world simply began to accept it as fact.
This is not true. Well, not quite. White doesn't particularly like watching football, but he definitely enjoys playing it. He loves sports, competition, the struggle on the field, the feeling of victory and the desire to do his best, day after day, session after training.
Everything else related to the game? White doesn't make too much of a fuss. But the brutality of competition at the elite level? This is his passion. «He trains like he's playing in a Champions League final almost every day,» Mikel Arteta once said of his £50m defender.
«I know people say I don't like football» , says White. “I go home and don’t think about football. I can be an ordinary person, relax. [But] when I'm here, everything is very tense.»
White is adored by the Arsenal coaching staff for his relentless desire to win. It is the competition that lights the fire in his belly, the thought of taking on an opponent and coming out victorious. Even at home, he says, his competitive spirit takes over.
“I want to win at everything I do,” he says. “My wife and I play a lot at home, and I won’t let her win. I remember being young and always wanting to win, playing aggressively and doing whatever it took to win.”
These competitions with his wife Millie include the card game Uno and bat and ball. competitions. If he starts to lose, he jokes, “the ball will be lost.”
For Arsenal, White is one of Arteta’s warriors. He plays regularly through pain. “It's important to be there [and] I'm there every week,” he says, “and on the field he is the player who brings a much-needed edge to the street game.
Arteta recently spoke about teaching his players the dark arts of football. White, a master of clever tricks and cynical fouls, is perhaps the only player who doesn't need extra homework. An example would be when he suddenly loses his runner. Instead of letting him go, the 26-year-old will gladly kill him.
“If I don’t do it, they’ll probably score,” he says. “It all comes down to doing whatever it takes to win. I know I'm not going to stop everyone, and I know I'm not the best one-on-one defender, but I can do anything to help the team in game situations against their striker.»
An example would be the rout of Newcastle United last weekend when White faced Anthony Gordon. “We have instructions before the game about what processes they should be able to harm us, and he was one of them. My job was to stop him from rolling inside, so I had to squeeze him as hard as possible or he would foul. If not, he will go inside.»
Ben White makes sure Anthony Gordon doesn't pass him by. Photo: John Walton/Pennsylvania Wire
White's cunning also extends to set pieces, where his task is to cause as much inconvenience as possible. This often involves blocking the opposing goalkeeper, and in the six-yard box it is he who attracts the attention of the defenders. “Stuff happens,” he says. “Standing on my feet, on my elbows. It's OK. I just have to stand in the way and see what happens.”
None of this takes away from White's technical ability. Under Arteta, it is impossible to become a regular Arsenal player without tactical awareness, passing range and a willingness to receive the ball in tight spaces. He has demonstrated these qualities in recent weeks, playing as a right-back and de facto central midfielder.
White has downplayed the significance of the turn, although there is no doubt it is a challenging role. He wouldn't say it himself, but others in Arteta's team have not been as successful in adapting to the unique demands of the position.
“There were a lot of instructions about where I needed to be and when I needed to be there,” he says of the recent changes. “I think when Mikel is your manager, he makes it easy for you. I think most players could play in this position because the main thing if you want to play for Arsenal is to be technically gifted, strong and fast. I think most players could do it.
White receiving final instructions from Mikel Arteta Photo: REUTERS/David Klein
“I feel comfortable playing there, but there are completely different things that are worth paying attention to. Like me, playing as a centre-back or right-back, I only have to look forward — I never worry about what's behind me. This [role] is a completely different part of the game.”
Last season, White started 36 of 38 Premier League games as Arsenal unexpectedly challenged for the title. This season, he said, the team has gotten better. Arsenal had won six games in a row before facing Sheffield United on Monday.
“We have improved a lot,” says White. “If we had been in the same position this year, I think things would have been very different. There's nothing to lose. We'll just go out there and do our best and try to perform like we did in the last few games.»
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