With just a few days until the Premier League season kicks off at Selhurst Park, Arsenal’s central defence presents something of a champagne problem. After years of fans hoping for a new centre back every window only to get a Shkodran Mustafi or Pablo Mari, it would appear that Arsenal finally have the defensive depth to please. Indeed, with William Saliba returning from Marseille to join Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes, Arsenal now have three centre backs who can make a claim to be first choice.
As ever with football, one perceived problem makes way for another. Moving on from ‘we need another centre back’, the conversation is now about who should play. Let’s consider the options for Mikel Arteta.
The Incumbents
One option for Mikel Arteta is to keep things as is. This would be to stick with the strong pairing of Ben White and Gabriel. The main factor in this decision would be the importance of a settled unit. In keeping this duo together, you are opting for continuity and familiarity.
First and foremost, the two are now used to playing with each other. They can communicate effectively, and they have the sort of subconscious understanding that can only come from lots of playing time together. Beyond this, comes familiarity with Aaron Ramsdale too. A goalkeeper needs to trust and know the people right in front of them, again this would be preserved.
Furthermore, the two do admittedly make a strong stylistic pair. Gabriel is a left-footer, White a right-footer. White happy to proactively come out and press for the ball, Gabriel talented at hanging back and clearing the danger. It is a formula that works. In all fairness to them, the two did their job very effectively for large parts of last season. It would hardly be a sin to give them more time.
Keep the Style, Change the Man
If Mikel Arteta wanted to insert William Saliba, it seems like the most likely option would be to do so in place of Ben White. This is for a number of reasons.
When looking at their individual statistics, it becomes clear that Saliba could easily play White’s role. Saliba’s 8 pressures/90 are the most of the three, he also makes the most interceptions (2.21/90), and makes the most progressive passes (86.48/90) at the highest accuracy (93.7%).
When you think of Arsenal’s defence, you think of Ben White being the defender most vital to progressing the ball, the one who is most comfortable on the ball. Over in France, William Saliba has shown that this is a role that he can comfortably play.
Now, I readily accept that defensive stats can be some of the hardest to judge. Different leagues pose different threats, and different styles of defending in different teams will create more of certain metrics. The point here is simply that if passing ability and controlled aggression is what you want, Saliba can readily do the job.
In pairing him with Gabriel, you preserve the left-right combination, have an incredibly tall pairing, and do not lose any ability on the ball.
The Surprise
Often, a pairing of Ben White and William Saliba is written off or overlooked. The view is that, often due to his left-footedness, Gabriel is a lock. It might be fun to try and challenge this idea.
When looking at White and Saliba’s relatively similar stats and approaches, we should consider the possibility of an Uber-aggressive pairing of the two. Both can threaten with the ball, and both are happy to press up to try and steal the ball. Having both in the same team would allow Arsenal to push up and play a higher line. This would allow them to get the ball back quickly and feed it into midfield at will.
In particular, this might be a consideration in games where Arsenal expect to have the majority of the ball. Gabriel is no slouch on it, but it does feel as if White and Saliba have more progressive options in their bag. This would allow them to suffocate teams, recycling possession, and the ability to counter-press quickly if the ball is lost.
Ben White from the outside seems to be a quintessential Mikel Arteta player. I would be highly surprised if he chose not to play him.
Maximum Security and the Dawn of the Whiteback
Beyond pairings, there are two ways that Mikel Arteta could make everyone happy.
The first is in the final third of a match. Arsenal, narrowly leading, are looking to close out the match. In the year gone by, on came Rob Holding with his new head of purchased hair, signalling for three at the back. This season, Arsenal could do the same with White, Gabriel, and Saliba.
In specific situations this feels like a way that all three end up on the pitch at the same time. It would allow for total defence.
More likely, is a product of Takehiro Tomiyasu’s fitness struggles. With Arsenal missing a right back, we enter the age of the Ben Whiteback.
Having dabbled there before, this would allow the defensive trio to all feature at once. Whilst obviously not ideal, there are certain aspects of Ben White’s game which could make this a relatively successful temporary fix.
In possession, White should be able to cover all bases. He can drop back to join the defensive two, he can slide into midfield to offer another option for the ball, and he does have the passing ability to overlap or underlap Bukayo Saka in the final third. On paper, it might just work.
Now, this might not be a long-term fix. As a centre back first it would be no surprise if Ben White has a rough weekend or two against some more troublesome wingers, but it might be the best option Arsenal have for now.
