Pundit can’t believe ‘what happened’ to White at Arsenal after scathing Neville claim
Alan Hutton has blasted Ben White for his “strange” performance for Arsenal against Crystal Palace on Monday night.
The former Spurs defender, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, admitted the 24-year-old had a “brilliant” start to the game before going off the boil.
A late goal from Alexandre Lacazette spared Arsenal’s blushes to seal a 2-2 draw against the Eagles at the Emirates Stadium.
Christian Benteke and Odsonne Edouard had put Patrick Vieira’s men in front after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener.
White, making his sixth Arsenal appearance, came under fire from Gary Neville for failing to engage Edouard for Palace’s second.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, as quoted by the Sun, Neville insisted White “can’t drop off” in the way he did and admitted it was poor defending.
Hutton admitted he could not believe how the centre-back went from looking full of confidence to struggling against the Eagles.
“Watching last night, for the first 10 or 15 minutes I thought Arsenal were brilliant,” Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge.
“Ben White striding out of the defence with the ball, I thought, ‘here we go’ and then, ugh, I don’t know what happened to him. It was a bit of a strange one.
“He’ll grow into a very good player, I’m sure of it. He’s still finding his feet at the moment.
“We’re seeing in bits he’s very confident, he’s coming out with the ball which I like to see.
“The way Rio Ferdinand used to do at Manchester United, he’d come out with it and then find a pass. I saw that in White last night. He just needs to do that consistently now.”
In other news, pundit claims Mikel Arteta forced senior star out of Arsenal as comments emerge.