Arsenal suffered a devastating 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday evening. This ended their 5-game winning streak, despite the best efforts of the players.
Gabriel Martinelli had almost given Arsenal the lead in the first half, however, the goal was soon disallowed through VAR. Soon, Antony gave Manchester United the lead, after slotting a through ball from Marcus Rashford past Aaron Ramsdale.
Bukayo Saka scored his first goal of the season shortly after halftime to equalize. However, Marcus Rashford and a hungry United attack were able to score two goals in nine minutes to secure the Red Devils their fourth consecutive win.
While some Arsenal players played admirably throughout the match, one of the more disappointing performances was that of defender Ben White.
The former Brighton defender continued his new role as a right-back but struggled to impact the game. Sofascore gave the Englishman a rating of 6.3- the joint worst of any player on the pitch.
During the match, White contributed only 29 accurate passes with a success rate of 78%. It was a woeful decrease from his season average of 47.2 passes and an 86.6% success rate. He was also poor defensively, as he did not make a single interception, clearance, or block throughout the match.
What next for Ben White?
William Saliba‘s impressive showings have cemented his place at the heart of Arsenal’s defense. And as Takehiro Tomiyasu is making a steady return to full fitness, it is unclear if White will have a place on Mikel Arteta’s preferred Starting XI.
Ben White was signed from Brighton last season for a fee of £50m. Former Aston Villa man Gabriel Agbonlahor has been one of the Englishman’s critics, saying:
“It’s a waste of money what Arsenal paid for him. For me, he’s not good enough.
“To pay £50 million for him, Brighton must be laughing their heads off because he’s not better than Webster or Dunk and he’s not going to start for Arsenal.”
