Recent Transfers since 2019 Hit or Miss?

[OnlyOne]

Ben White not a hit? He can literally play top-class in TWO positions?! People act like this guy was dog dirt last season I don't get it at all?

 

[Macho]

Ben White not a hit? He can literally play top-class in TWO positions?!

 

[OnlyOne]

He can though that's the thing, dare I start counting up the mistakes Saliba is making people will get upset but I know he's a great CB as well.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Here is my reading of the center back situation at our club right now. Ben White has been the most consistent CB out of all our CB's so far and he's now playing RB. These include Tomiyasu (inconsistent due to injuries), Gabriel (inconsistent due to giving the opposition a defensive position to target which leads to high quality goal scoring chances for them) and Saliba (mistakes that lead to conceded goals).

All that said, the only CB I would move to the bench or cash in on is Gabriel. Love his heart and spirit but technically he isnt going to be enough to elevate us to elite levels. Where we push a high line and keep the ball for long periods in matches, without errors. If an offer of 50m comes in, I'd take it.

Forget the CB stuff. Ben White has been our best defender this season and it's not even close.

Gabriel and even moreso Saliba are very talented but they've both made many mistakes this season.
White has largely outperformed them both and certainly has them both for consistency and errors made.

 

[Rex Stone]

I havent refuted the myopic argument you make, because I honestly dont think its relevant to the discussion. There's only one way to measure the suitability of a player in a team, and that is by the number of good performances he brings, the more the merrier. And by how fewer his bad performances are, the less the better. The fact that this is a myopic view is an unfortunate byproduct of the reality of the situation.

Gabriel bounces back, that's great but is that even relevant? I am not in the management meetings at Arsenal, but I can almost bet that Gabriel bouncing back from errors he was responsible for, doesnt diminish the fact that he still committed those errors, due to deficiencies in his defensive game. The key point is not to make the errors in the first place, or severely diminish making errors. Not consider his bouncbackability as some mitigating factor.

As for his replaceability, yes I agree with you on this one. And its actually the main driver for his continued stay at the club as our starting left footed left CB. Left footed players carrying a higher premium these days. But, I do feel that if we find a player that can fit our system (someone mentioned Gvardiol for example) then we should absolutely send Gabriel for a high fee and upgrade on him.

Basically, I dont think he is our best CB. What he is number 1 at right now for me, is being the number 1 high sale, out the door, if the right opportunity presented itself.

Pointless arguing with @jones about this because him and others decided White was a pointless signing all the way back when we bought him.

Never mind that he’s consistently started almost every game, locks down opposing wingers, is good with the ball at his feet, is improving going forward and gives very little change to opposing strikers. Apparently doesn’t matter.

Because he makes almost no mistakes that’s suddenly not a reliable way to judge someone and is too “myopic”. The actual criteria are way harder to pin down though.

I think if White had made the constant errors we’ve seen from Gabriel I have a funny feeling it wouldn’t be such a myopic way of looking at him…

 

[jones]

Forget the CB stuff. Ben White has been our best defender this season and it's not even close.

Gabriel and even moreso Saliba are very talented but they've both made many mistakes this season.
White has largely outperformed them both and certainly has them both for consistency and errors made.

Ben White as our best defender this season is not an outlandish take at all considering Saliba's recent struggles.

White last season better than Saliba this season I've no idea how anyone could arrive at that conclusion.

 

[Macho]

Ah the White supremacists have shown up.

Think we could get a Saliba agenda against him off the back of this thread.

 

[SA Gunner]

Pointless arguing with @jones about this because him and others decided White was a pointless signing all the way back when we bought him.

Never mind that he’s consistently started almost every game, locks down opposing wingers, is good with the ball at his feet, is improving going forward and gives very little change to opposing strikers. Apparently doesn’t matter.

Because he makes almost no mistakes that’s suddenly not a reliable way to judge someone and is too “myopic”. The actual criteria are way harder to pin down though.

I think if White had made the constant errors we’ve seen from Gabriel I have a funny feeling it wouldn’t be such a myopic way of looking at him…

Couldnt help but laugh reading that. @jones you were served here my bro.

Get that feeling too Rex, that White cannot be good enough because of some reason. My guess that reason has something to do with Arteta buying him for 50m. Although the Arteta buying him reason probably influences/angers things more.

Ill keep my eyes open... have a few suspects lined up already

 

[jones]

Pointless arguing with @jones about this because him and others decided White was a pointless signing all the way back when we bought him.

Never mind that he’s constantly played every game, locks down opposing wingers, is good with the ball at his feet, is improving going forward and gives very little change to opposing strikers. Apparently doesn’t matter.

Because he makes almost no mistakes that’s suddenly not a reliable way to judge someone and is too “myopic”. The actual criteria are way harder to pin down though.

I think if White had made the constant errors we’ve seen from Gabriel I have a funny feeling it wouldn’t be such a myopic way of looking at him…

Pointless post when I've said seconds ago that rating White as our best defender this season is a perfectly acceptable view. He's great this season doesn't mean he was nearly as good last season.

Pointless to argue with you though considering the drivel hanging off your lips scrolling through Ben's instagram. Doesn't matter how many other players you slag off he's not going Dubai with you bro.

 

[Macho]

I've been far more impressed with Saliba than White myself, the White bullishness is a bit weird.

I think the love for White has overblown his performances a tad, to me he looks like a CB playing RB and I am not sure that will work long term or justify the outlay.

Defensively he's been great though, but the RB position sorted for the next few years?

 

[Rex Stone]

Pointless post when I've said seconds ago that rating White as our best defender this season is a perfectly acceptable view. He's great this season doesn't mean he was nearly as good last season.

Pointless to argue with you though considering the drivel hanging off your lips scrolling through Ben's instagram. Doesn't matter how many other players you slag off he's not going Dubai with you bro.

Straight to the straw man about White and his off field life already. Sad to see.

 

[jones]

Ah the White supremacists have shown up.

Think we could get a Saliba agenda against him off the back of this thread.

Definitely, @OnlyOne and @Rex Bezos were licking their lips at Saliba's mistake.

The only thing being discussed here are White's performances last season yet @Rex Bezos comes in with groundbreaking analysis how he's locking down wingers. Next up he'll add stats of how many times he's poked him on Facebook to prove how he's better than Gabi centrally.

 

[Macho]

Definitely, @OnlyOne and @Rex Bezos were licking their lips at Saliba's mistake.

Yeah these guys had a hand in muddying Gabriel's reputation on here and it looks like Saliba is being lined up

Saliba navigating this dip in form will be interesting as White has some big backers waiting for his downfall. Luckily, Arteta has been fair with his selections so far in that area. Tierney probably not as fair.

 

[jones]

I've been far more impressed with Saliba than White myself, the White bullishness is a bit weird.

I think the love for White has overblown his performances a tad, to me he looks like a CB playing RB and I am not sure that will work long term or justify the outlay.

Defensively he's been great though, but the RB position sorted for the next few years?

Saliba been better than White this season for me overall as well, don't let these FM yutes gaslight you into believing this some outrageous claim.

Not by much though in recent weeks and while White will never be Dani Alves if he can keep this form up I'd be happy for him to stay there for the next few years. Have high hopes for Norton-Cuffy but White's young enough to improve even further.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Ben White as our best defender this season is not an outlandish take at all considering Saliba's recent struggles.

White last season better than Saliba this season I've no idea how anyone could arrive at that conclusion.

I wouldn't argue if someone said Saliba this year is better than White last season but I don't think there's a huge amount in it.

Other than the Brentford debut which was a nightmare I thought White was largely good with a mistake in him at times. Not too dissimilar to Saliba this season, though he probably has bigger high points this season than White did last season.

 

[Macho]

I wouldn't argue if someone said Saliba this year is better than White last season but I don't think there's a huge amount in it.

Other than the Brentford debut which was a nightmare I thought White was largely good with a mistake in him at times. Not too dissimilar to Saliba this season, though he probably has bigger high points this season than White did last season.

Saliba has looked like one of the best CB's in the league since the seasons started. People have taken this period post WC to highlight his mistakes but White has never at any point looked like a WC CB last season.

Consistent and dependable, apart from the start and the end of the season sure. There is a lot in it. White is actually accommodating him which is a big deal with Arteta.

 

[jones]

I wouldn't argue if someone said Saliba this year is better than White last season but I don't think there's a huge amount in it.

Other than the Brentford debut which was a nightmare I thought White was largely good with a mistake in him at times. Not too dissimilar to Saliba this season, though he probably had bigger high points this season than White did last season.

There's absolutely a massive amount in between them come on. People were - prematurely or not is irrelevant - discussing how big a flop White would end up being last summer, just a couple weeks ago half this place was worried Saliba would ditch us for PSG or Madrid while others said give this 21 year old 200kpw.

Even his backers were saying 50m was too much while with Saliba people are looking forward to see how he does vs Haaland ffs. Check his thread last summer this some serious revisionism going on here.

Benjamin The White 📝

Given his age, technical ability and HG status, I think he's pretty damn close tbh. Him and Gabriel are both young and I think they have the potential to build a very good partnership. He's English and good enough to start for 90% of PL clubs. That alone makes his value extremely high...

arsenal-mania.com

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

At this point Saliba reminds me of a young Rio Ferdinand. He has all the makings of a top, top CB along with a natural composure but he hasn't quite put all the pieces together yet.

Young players don't always pick the right options and can lose focus or concentration. It can be exacerbated when you can do basically anything as he can. Saliba's a Rolls Royce he just needs to learn how to handle himself. It'll come with time, I've no doubt.

He can ping a 50 yard pass, hare after a striker with his pace. Muscle people of the ball, play out from the back in as composed manner. He has leadership qualities and a very good level of composure generally. He has everything. Just needs time and patience.

He's a top, top class talent. I don't think he's a top, top class level player yet. I expect that to change within a couple of years though.

 

[OnlyOne]

Yeah these guys had a hand in muddying Gabriel's reputation on here and it looks like Saliba is being lined up

Saliba navigating this dip in form will be interesting as White has some big backers waiting for his downfall. Luckily, Arteta has been fair with his selections so far in that area. Tierney probably not as fair.

Definitely, @OnlyOne and @Rex Bezos were licking their lips at Saliba's mistake.

The only thing being discussed here are White's performances last season yet @Rex Bezos comes in with groundbreaking analysis how he's locking down wingers. Next up he'll add stats of how many times he's poked him on Facebook to prove how he's better than Gabi centrally.

Are you joking? Never once sat and counted Saliba's mistakes but if I did AM wouldn't like it. The difference is when Ben White made one 95% of the forum went after him.

Never said a bad word on Gabby.

 

[jones]

Never said a bad word on Gabby.

Gabriel you idiot.