ben white: adaptability
Our defender on adaptability and learning from experiences
A fair amount of Ben White’s footballing education came during his three loan spells away from Brighton as a youngster.
The loan system is a tried and tested method for young players to cut their teeth, and Ben is a shining example of its benefits.
Before making his league debut for Brighton, he was sent to Newport County in League Two as a teenager, and the following season he moved up a tier to play for Peterborough. Then in 2019/20 he was ever-present in Leeds United’s title-winning campaign in the Championship, before finally earning a regular slot back at parent club Brighton in the Premier League. It means that our defender, who turned 27 earlier this month, had experienced life at every level of the football ladder before joining us in 2021.
He believes many of the habits he learned in that time have served him well ever since, but says he’s been trying to set himself high standards ever since his first years in the Southampton youth academy.
“That was where I learned the important basics like timekeeping and generally being professional,” he says. “To be honest I never really struggled with that as a youngster, because part of being in an academy growing up is that you have to constantly be on time.
“I don’t like being late, and I grew up like that. I don’t remember ever getting told off for it, or missing a bus or anything, but we all knew that you just cannot be late. That was drilled into you early on. It was part of respect.”
It’s well documented that Ben wasn’t surrounded by football at home as a youngster, as his parents are not big football fans. But he says they were a big influence in instilling the behaviours off the pitch that are so necessary to be a success on it.
“My parents were probably the main ones for that for me,” he adds. “They were the ones who used to drive me to training and games all the time, so they would make sure I was never late. But really I think it came from myself as well. I was keen to have good habits early on, and set my own standards quite young. I was always self-motivated like that.
“But growing up in football as well you have lots of senior players around you to look up to and who set an example.
“You try to take bits and pieces from lots of different players when you start out, but really I’m still doing that now. There are a few players in our squad that I look up to. Tomiyasu for example – he does some crazy things! The exercises and things that he does in preparation are just so different to what I’ve known before in football.
“Also Martin Odegaard is a great example in how he trains. He’s always getting massages, having a cold bath and making the most of things like that. His preparation and professionalism
is amazing.”
Ben spent eight years in the Southampton academy, but never featured for the senior team, being released as a teenager. He says the time he left Southampton to join Brighton’s youth set-up coincided with the period in which he made the greatest step forward in his development as a player.
“It was probably when I was with the under-18s,” he says. “I think I grew into my body at that age, and could notice myself start to get physically better. From there my confidence grew, and that’s when I left Southampton and joined Brighton as a bigger player.
“I was always quite tall for my age, taller than the other players, but I noticed I was getting stronger at about 18.
“It really made a difference for me on the pitch, but in terms of how I approached training and everything else, that was always the same from when I first started. I’ve always had that feeling that I saw every training session as a chance to improve. I want to always improve and take stuff into the games. For as long as I can remember I’ve had the feeling that I want to go into every training session wanting to give 100 per cent and trying my best. That’s obviously how it still is now.”
“in the premier league you have to do everything to a world class level all of the time”
When Ben joined Arsenal, that made it five different clubs in five different seasons, working for five different managers. It’s a sign of Ben’s undoubted adaptability and ability to put into practice the things he’s learnt in training.
“Yeah you have to be adaptable,” he smiles, “and obviously playing in different leagues as well, you change the way you need to play. Different managers want different things as well, so when I came to Arsenal it was obviously nice to finally settle down and be somewhere for longer that a year. Off the pitch that helps as well. I feel settled and it’s nice to know you aren’t going to be sent out on loan next year!
“Working with different managers for me is just about listening to what they need and want from you. I think that’s why I was able to adapt to playing in League Two, in League One and then the Championship. I don’t think I would be able to play the game I play now in League Two for example. There are obviously a lot of differences and you have to change what you are doing, depending on who you are playing with and who you are playing against.
“I think the big difference you realise when you get to the Premier League is that you have to do everything - every single aspect of the game - to a world-class level, and all of the time. Doing it well and doing it all the time is the difference between this level and the lower divisions. It’s every day, all the time.
“But also you learn different things in different leagues, and it’s important to bring some of that to the Premier League, because aggression and things like that are a big part of football at any level.”
Being adaptable hasn’t just meant playing different styles of football in different divisions, though. He has also showed his versatility by seamlessly switching positions.
Signed as a centre back from Brighton, he won their Player of the Year award for his performances at the heart of the defence. But with less than 50 appearances under his belt for us, he was moved to right back, a position he has made his own ever since. Again, he puts this smooth transition down to being able to take instruction from his coaches.
“When you do have to play in a different position, the manager makes it easy for you. He simplifies it, giving you the right ideas to be able to excel in that position. What I found the biggest difference was how physically demanding it is playing right back. You are up and down the pitch a lot more, but I think I managed to move into the role well physically, so that helped with everything else.
“I had played there a bit at Brighton, so it was OK. Even when I was at Leeds, I was playing centre back, but I would come forward a lot, like a full back would, so it wasn’t completely new to me.”
Ben might have made the switch from one position to another sound straightforward, but a huge amount of work has gone into it off the pitch too, especially watching footage with the club’s analysts.
Our defender is well known for not watching football to relax, but he does spend a lot of his time scrutinising his own performances.
“Yeah, I study a lot after games,” he says, “I like to see what I’ve done well, what I can do better. I’m always trying to learn really, because you find yourself in a certain situation that might not have happened before, so you want to be ready. Or you come up against players that you can learn from and take it into other games.
“I do that at home independently, but also at the training ground too. I can watch all my clips on my phone, so I will always watch that on my own before we have any meetings or I talk to anyone else about it. I watch all of it, and try to view it like an analyst would. If you have made a mistake you still need to watch it, try not to let it affect you and try to do better next time.”
As somebody that takes instruction so well, and clearly enjoys learning, taking coaching qualifications for a possible future career would seem like a logical next step. Not so, confirms our No4.
“No, I’m not at all interested in that, and I can’t really see that ever changing,” he says. “I love playing, I love everything about being a footballer, but I don’t think I’ll be motivated to go into that. I can’t see myself telling other people how to play. It’s not for me, but I can see Jorginho doing that in future. He’s just done everything
in the game hasn’t he? I can’t think there is anyone better to learn from than him – he will be great.”
So if Ben doesn’t stay in football after his playing days, what direction will he go in? In a recent interview he suggested he would like to become a dog walker, but are there any ambitions he has away from football?
“There’s nothing that really screams to me at the moment,” he smiles. “I love what I’m doing at the moment, so I’m just putting all my energy into that. You can always learn more and improve.
“As for the future, well, I’m quite easy going, so as long as I’m around my family, I’ll be happy. That’s it really, I just want to be happy."
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