ISAAN KHAN: Bournemouth had done their homework on Ben White’s dark arts – but Arsenal did not need his set piece skullduggery this time
- Ben White was a danger in the penalty area against Tottenham last week
- Bournemouth put him on edge early against Arsenal on Saturday
- Kai Havertz’s mental strength has been impressive… after a tough start to the season he has proven his worth – Listen to the It all starts! podcast
It’s those pesky dark arts that Ben White employs that have distracted attention from his playing skills as of late.
As seen against Tottenham last weekend, White is a threat in the opponent’s penalty area on corner kicks. That day he played a role in two of Arsenal’s goals, appearing to try to dislodge goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s gloves before the ball reached the penalty area for the first goal.
And for the third goal, scored by Kai Havertz, he backed into Vicario on the goal line and left him there.
As a result, Bournemouth had clearly done their homework. As seen in Arsenal’s first two corners of the match, a Cherries player prevented White from reaching the goal line after ten minutes.
This took away White’s opportunity for goal-line cheating, which Mail Sport columnist Graeme Souness previously described as ‘cheating’.
Ben White’s early throw-in caught the eye in Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth
Bournemouth had done their homework on White’s threat by attacking set pieces
The right-back took up several positions from corners in the second half, including an attack from the front post on 58 minutes.
However, in light of the praise Arsenal have received for their corners, it begged the question: what was the difference in Dominic Solanke’s battle with David Raya in the build-up to Antoine Semenyo’s disallowed goal, and what White is doing at corners?
Not much, if at all. There has to be some consistency.
Generally White was well behaved, but it is a bag of tricks, which also shows that he is not just planning corner kicks. A few of his throw-ins caught the eye early on, catching the opposition off guard by distributing the ball quickly as Bournemouth were setting up. Or the sheer distance he could launch the ball, which was impressive.
The England international found other ways to impress in the 3-0 win at the Emirates
White was caught taking off the gloves of Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario last week
It was Ryan Christie’s behavior that drew the most criticism: a high tackle on Bukayo Saka – his studs planted on the winger’s knee – which allowed him to escape any punishment. The VAR deemed the challenge reckless but not dangerous. That was indeed controversial.
After this, a few more strong Christie tackles flew by. It took until the 95th minute before he was shown a yellow card.
White therefore disappeared under the radar. Yet it still demanded the full attention of its opposition.
