Jamie Carragher claims teams will look to ‘play long balls on Ben White’s head’ after £50m man’s struggles at Brentford as Liverpool legend says he did NOT want Reds to splash out on defender as he’s not ‘tall enough’ or ‘good enough’ in the air
Jamie Carragher has said teams could look to take advantage of Ben White after Arsenal’s opening day defeat to Brentford.
Goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard gave the Bees a stunning victory, in a disappointing Premier League debut at the Gunners for Arsenal’s £50m signing.
Carragher who was on punditry for Sky Sports, said White might not get the chance to step in with the ball as much as he did while playing a back three at Brighton.
Ben White had a disappointing debut for Arsenal as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to Brentford
Jamie Carragher said that White needs to be ‘stronger’ and ‘cleverer’ in aerial duals
He also admitted he didn’t want Liverpool to sign White because he’s ‘not tall enough’ or ‘good enough in the air’.
After the game he said: ‘I spoke to Ben White in the interview before the game and I mentioned about how many opportunities he’ll get to step in with the ball and I mentioned in commentary in the first-half because Callum Chambers wasn’t going forward and at times he was in the right-sided centre-back position.
‘So Ben White isn’t going to get as many opportunities to step in with the ball to show his quality that we all associate with him.
‘Now, you want to see him do well, it’s a big price tag but I must say as soon as Arsenal bought him and he was linked with Liverpool for the last 12-18 months and my fear was “I wouldn’t want him to come to Liverpool,” because he’s not tall enough or not good enough in the air.
‘When he played in at a back three at Brighton the two next to him were giants, Webster and Dunk. So you can step in with the ball, not so much of a problem with set-pieces or long throws.
‘But your two centre-backs in a back four need to be good in the air. That’s coming from me, I couldn’t dominate anyone in the air. Sami Hyypia’s job was to really dominate and I’d hopefully win 60-70% of my headers.
‘But when I said in commentary about being clever, it’s about using your body, being clever as the ball’s coming, ease someone out but he is a young player.
Carragher added that White is not ‘tall enough’ or ‘good enough’ currently in the air
‘He’s not gonna get any taller so he’s going to have this problem. People are gonna watch tonight and think ‘just play long balls on Ben White’s head’ and you’re going to get joy as proven tonight.
‘So he either has to get somebody in front of him, or be a lot stronger and cleverer in his body movement.’
Carragher criticised Arsenal’s defending during the game saying they were ‘weak and bullied’ by Brentford for their opponents’ second goal of the game.
It was a disappointing defeat for Mikel Arteta’s side who have tough games coming up against Chelsea and Manchester City.
