Arsenal’s sporting director, Edu, told The FA that Ben White does not want to be considered for the England squad.

It seems that whatever happened during the Qatar World Cup is still sensitive for the right-back.

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by Tim Spiers and Arsenal correspondent, James McNicholas, to discuss the outrage from both point of views.

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:13 What Southgate said last week
00:01:18 White leaving during the World Cup
00:03:13 White’s interview with Sky Sports
00:06:30 Ben White at Arsenal
00:13:07 White’s durability
00:14:10 Arteta’s demands
00:15:22 Ben White’s contract announcement
00:16:45 Will rival fans boo White?
00:18:00 Is the door still open for Ben?
00:20:00 Why are people upset with him?
00:22:10 The travelling involved with England
00:23:50 Not playing at tournaments
00:27:38 Club v country competition
00:29:47 Final comments

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#Arsenal #England #Euro2024

50 Comments

  1. Juse Bellingham did not want to be called up to a freindly last year.. Not a whimper from Southgate. It;s only friendlies, crying out loud.

  2. I remember a time when Chris Sutton got absolute pelters from everybody and all he did was refuse to be included in an England B squad. He was correct as that was kinda humiliating. Chris Sutton was never considered for England ever again.

  3. Why doesn't he want to represent his country? He's an arrogant little Arsenal spice boy who thinks he's better than the rest of the team. Get your feet up lad, you've got more time to work in your fake tan and shite tats. Real team player.

  4. "A lot of Arsenal fans are club over country at this point". A lot of Arsenal fans are social media hyped up prats who have their tongues up pound shop Pep's rear end. No respect for that club after how they all turned in Wenger-the greatest they'll ever see.

  5. He must think there is literally nothing he could do to take Maguire's place (similarly, there's nothing Maguire could do in a negative sense that would make Southgate remove him, including long periods not playing for his club, with Southgate giving Maguire game time to compensate for not playing for United, which is like living in upside down world. Southgate has decided to gift the 2018 squad who put his name on the map permanent places in the team/squad as a sign of loyalty. Small club mindset (which is where Southgate should be managing).

  6. I get why he doesn’t want to go and sit on the bench when he is good enough to start. But i’d also understand if England don’t pick him ever again

  7. Anti national sentiment has been being built up in this country for decades, but in earnest for over the past 10 years. It comes as no surprise that Whites decision has the full support of the liberals who have flooded the media, and any voices stating what would have been completely normal opposition are being mocked. I would love to hear Andrew (arseblog) take the same mocking tone he took with a journo evoking memories of those who fought and died for the country, with Ian Wright, who took the exact same position.

  8. You guys aren’t getting it. Yes the majority of people don’t care if Ben white plays for England but rival fans will still boo him to get an edge in a football match

  9. He’s not remotely interested in playing for his country. He’s more interested in spending all day with his wife. That shows what a personality he is.

  10. Folks have to understand that a guy like Ben White playing for Arsenal, a key member of The Arsenal defense, not getting any game time for England, but then seeing muppets get to play ahead of him is hard. Yes, it's ego, but it's a healthy ego, knowing your worth. He's not even getting any shot, just there for vibes. Warnock, Coady might be okay with that, but White is a different class to them, and there's a reason he is a different class to those two guys I've mentioned.

  11. Ben white is clearly an odd ball. He was acting like a diva when he wasn’t starting for arsenal. Ben white isn’t going to win England the euros, so wouldn’t worry about it

  12. Without watching yet. The answer is OBVIOUS. They shit on him, And sent him home from the world cup in Qatar. ¿Right? After never playing him. F. Southgate !!!

  13. If I was Ben White, I wouldn’t play for Southgate either. Southgate ruined his dream. Too much favoritism, barely any rotation. Once Southgate and Holland is finally gone, that team will FLOURISH!

  14. as for Ben White being pissed off with banch warming. Who told Ben that he was mandated always to be in the first 11 ? Does he have some magic piece of paper ?

  15. With all the pressure and everything else that comes with being a prem player, you can't have your head in the game constantly you'll get mentally burnt out. We didn't go to Dubai because we were physically tired it was for psychological reasons too.

  16. What I don't get is how if this genuinely happened in front of the squad, it has managed to stay hidden for so long. There'll be roughly around 30 people there is that were true. If that was the case, there's no way it is staying quiet. There'd have been some sort of leak somewhere. This is why I think nothing actually happened in front of the squad. Again, this is only speculation. I wish everyone that had an opinion on this matter could end it with that.

  17. I don't even blame players for not wanting to step-up to their national team when it's worse than your club team. If you play for Man. City or Inter Milan or another top team, the caliber of your training and play is the upper echelon of the game. We're talking the best coaches and programs. When you get that national team call-up, you are stepping down in terms of quality of training and play. When we talk about the best coaches in the world, no one is mentioning national team coaches relative to club coaches. Is England as well appointed as the top teams? Not really.

  18. My guess is that Ben, having played under excellent coaches such as Bielsa, Potter and Arteta, also doesn't think Southgate and Holland could coach their way out of a wet paper bag.

  19. Great podcast! Also, if someone obviously doesn’t enjoy watching football on the TV but loves to play it- why would he enjoy watching the Euros from the bench or the stands? He’s a guy who likes to play, not watch football hence when he know he won’t play it’s different to a guy like me who’d love to just be a part of a squad because I love watching football

  20. 4 matches in 3 years. 0 starts. Two of those substitution at 90th minute. Southgate was going to pick him just because of media pressure. Maybe he felt what's the point in going. He must feel terrible just being there.

  21. Those delighting in calling BW a deserter are exactly the same people who always used to deride him as a waste of space when some previously queried why he wasn't being picked. Self-righteous jingoism and common sense are often in inverse correlation when it comes to many England 'fans'.

  22. Stones play 5 matches per season, always makes the team regardless, Harry Maguire was a calamity dor the better part of 3years, he was first name on the team for Southgate every single time, i dont begrudge White for not wanting to play at this time

  23. Why are the fans not having ago at southgate. A player is choosing not to play for England because of him and his twat of an assistant.

  24. I heard his mrs had a miscarriage during WC and he fell out with Steve Holland about him wanting to go home. If Southgate leaves I think White would be called up.

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