The thigh-high socks and tanned complexion present a pretty-boy image. The ‘I don’t like watching football’ schtick suggests a footballer with surface-level emotional investment.
It is a misleading facade. Ben White is Arsenal’s covert (until recently, at least) agent of the dark arts.
He uses these preconceptions and stereotypes as the cloak to wield the mischievous persona that lurks beneath: the old-school wind-up merchant, also known in the modern era as master s***house.
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Rather than opting for the cheeky chappie, great-lad-down-the-pub archetype, White’s pest-chic approach is a reinvention of the craft.
Of all the players to embark on this villain arc, it is amusing that the one who has made headlines for not enjoying watching football is the one who uses the streetwise tricks of the trade to get inside the heads of his opponents.
His aloof interview style juxtaposed with his poker-faced gamesmanship makes for perfect ‘meme-able’ content — and social media has been rife with it the past fortnight.
White has been exceptional in the second half of the season with his limitless running. Unfortunately for opposition goalkeepers, the one thing he has even more endurance for is making their life a misery.
This is Arsenal’s phantom menace, nuisance-in-chief, Nicolas Jover’s Trojan Horse, Double O Four.
Call him what you will, he is entertaining viewing.
Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario felt a presence over his shoulder as he readied himself for the first Arsenal corner of Sunday’s north London derby.
Vicario turned to see the scheming face of Arsenal right-back White. A second after thinking the coast was clear, a right hand reached from behind and was pulling at the velcro of his right glove.
Ben White was spotted trying to loosen Vicario’s gloves on a corner 👀 pic.twitter.com/UQN1mYR7MH
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 28, 2024
The Italian threw up his arms in protest. White smirked. Five seconds later the ball was in the Spurs net.
Spurs had no one marking White and he used this to sneak in front of Vicario before backing into the goalkeeper, pinning him to the middle of his goal.
Vicario had to physically drag White to the side so he could get to his front post but it meant he was not set by the time the ball was headed towards his own goal by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
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This was vintage White distraction technique. He did the exact same in the 38th minute for Kai Havertz’s goal: the word in the ear, the tug on the glove, the dart in front and the backing in.
This time he bumped the goalkeeper all the way behind his line but, as usual, he was smart enough to jump back onside immediately afterwards, so he was not interfering by the time the German was heading home.
“It’s a strategy,” said Tottenham manager Ange Postocoglou. “You can label it, but it’s a strategy. I don’t take a lot of interest in that stuff, never have. I’m not casting judgement, but I just don’t really care. If people are going to think that’s going to give them an advantage or whatever, I just don’t worry about that stuff. I just try to focus on building teams that win things.
“If it’s not going to be that (undoing gloves) then it’s going to be something else. Who cares? I know it’s great theatre. Whether he’s trying to undo his glove, tickle his armpit, or whatever, I don’t care. I try to get my players not to worry about that stuff. It’s not important. And if you want to go down that avenue, what’s he (Vicario) supposed to do? Turn around and throw a punch and knock him out, or say, ‘Please don’t touch me’? What does that do?
“Seriously, we’re not in the schoolyard. It’s never been where my focus lies. To be honest, if I saw one of my players do it I’d be saying, ‘Mate, seriously? Get the ball and play some football.’ That doesn’t mean it’s not a strategy that can’t be used, but I just don’t care about it.”
White was up to a similar trick against Brighton & Hove Albion’s Jason Steele this season when he waited for the referee to look elsewhere and then tapped him on the shoulder to get in his head.
Anyone who has played football will be familiar with the wind-ups that can happen during a game, particularly at dead-ball situations. A pinch in the arm here, a stamp on the toes there, perhaps even a grab of the nether regions if it is a particularly frosty afternoon.
Against Chelsea last month, White opted for the subtle move of grabbing his marker Marc Cucurella by the underarms and slamming him to the ground as if he had scored an ippon.
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White stared down at him with a bemused expression which said, “What are you doing down there?” before looking innocently at the referee.
White balances childish antics with a clear mind to know where he is and how he is affecting the penalty area in a positive way for his team.
When Arsenal worked a shooting opportunity from the same short corner, he moved out to get onside and then wide to avoid Declan Rice’s shot. When it ricocheted towards him he was able to remain composed and stroke the ball home.
It is tempting to wonder when, as set-piece coach Jover was devising his grand playbook, he stumbled upon White’s propensity to annoy, but the defender revels in the job of disrupting the goalkeeper’s reading of the flight of the ball.
“There is all sorts. Standing on your feet, elbows. It’s OK. I just have to stand in the way and see what happens,” White said in an interview this year.
Aston Villa sought to counter this by handing John McGinn, whose hunchback style makes him almost impossible to move, the responsibility of escorting him away from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez like a nightclub bouncer at 3am.
Brentford had a similar idea in March when Vitaly Janelt was given the task of being the White watchman. Goalkeeper Mark Flekken even used his defender as a cushion with which to push him away but White simply planted his feet, made himself a dead weight and leaned backwards until the defender eventually let him fall.
There are occasions when his movement is boisterous to the extent it looks farcical. If a defender tries to manhandle him, it usually only provokes him to do it with the menace of a teenager bullying their much younger sibling, who he knows cannot fight back.
Against Burnley, his battle with Zeki Amdouni led to both players literally running circles around James Trafford at one time, while another time he collided with the post as he tried to shake off his marker.
Porto did arguably the best job at protecting their goalkeeper by employing similarly disruptive tactics and pleading with the referee relentlessly before the ball was delivered.
It put the spotlight on White and, as he tried to encircle Diogo Costa on his line, Argentinian midfielder Alan Varela kept a hand behind White’s back to make sure he was always in between.
There are some games when he does not immediately place himself next to the goalkeeper at set pieces. Against West Ham, he was beyond the back post but as the ball was delivered he snuck up behind Alphonse Areola and timed the gentle collision to coincide with the keeper moving backwards.
The Frenchman lost his balance as he was left flailing, presenting William Saliba with the easiest of headers.
There may have been eyes on White had he not perfected the ability to perform these ‘bumps’ in an innocuous way. After his job is done he just casually walks away from the scene of the crime as if the mere suggestion of anything untoward having happened would be a shock to him.
White is clearly someone opposition teams are planning for but some goalkeepers appear to be too aware of him at times.
Arsenal scored their first two goals of the game against Crystal Palace in January via inswinging corners, with Dean Henderson barely attempting to get free of White as he threw a hopeful arm up.
White simply stood his ground and made no active attempt to impede him.
The wind-ups are not limited to corners. There was the petulant trip on then-Bournemouth wide man Jaidon Anthony last season as he walked away with the ball in his hand at an Arsenal free kick, a situation White defused by hysterically laughing as the referee walked over.
In the return fixture, a dramatic 3-2 win, his immediate reaction to Reiss Nelson’s stoppage-time winner was to celebrate in the face of Neto, who had earlier left a glove on him at a corner.
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Perhaps his over-exaggerated movements mean the referees are already so preoccupied by his jostling that it takes away attention from the blocking manoeuvres elsewhere that help his team-mates as they attack the ball.
As White’s cover is now blown he may have to adapt his tactics — referees will be entering Arsenal games looking out for any infringements on the goalkeeper.
It could mean he is now more likely to be penalised and goalkeepers might be more likely to highlight any contact.
Currently, though, White is playing a part in making Arsenal by far the most potent team (16 goals) from corners in the Premier League this season.
(Top photo: Zac Goodwin/PA Images via Getty Images)
