Mikel Arteta is hopeful Ben White will be able to get back into a rhythm with Arsenal, having now recovered from his injury setbacks in the early weeks of the season.
Arsenal defender Ben White hasn’t played nearly as much as he might have liked to so far this season, only making four appearances in all competitions for a total of 207 minutes on the pitch.
A large part of that has been due to ongoing fitness concerns, with the right-back missing Premier League matches against Leeds and Liverpool in August and the trip to Athletic Club in September.
Mikel Arteta has now confirmed that the 28-year-old had to work to overcome an injury setback, but he’s finally getting back to a place where he’s ready to compete again.
“He had a setback and that hasn’t helped, but I think in pre-season he was probably our best player,” Arteta said. “We need him, because when Ben is at the level that he can show, he’s a top player for us, a player that drives the team in a different way, gives us a different threat on that flank as well.
“It was an injury that kept him out for a few weeks and we have to manage his load and he didn’t have the rhythm to do that. So the reason why he’s not been playing is to manage that.
“He’s in a good place now, he’s been training more recently and his feeling has been very good and he will have minutes to play.
“With that injury, it didn’t allow him to have that consistency, and hopefully now he’s going to get that rhythm because the team needs him.”
There’s certainly been a lot of reliance on Jurrien Timber so far this season. Though the right-back is one of the world’s best players in his position, he’s also had injury problems of his own, so sharing some of his minutes would help to keep him healthy.
White has been very valuable to Arsenal when fully fit, with his combination with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard on the right-hand side proving particularly effective in the past. Fans will hope to see the trio playing together again on a more regular basis going forward.