Arsenal vs Brentford: Benjamin White’s time for revenge

Oftentimes the wait between matches isn’t as enjoyable as it has been in the period between Arsenal beating Wolves and them hosting Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.

Results have gone the Gunners’ way and it sets up the weekend’s London derby perfectly. But just like this break between these fixtures has been one to savour, what has transpired since the opening day defeat at the Brentford Community Stadium and present day has brought smiles to faces. Arsenal are a different team.

That 2-0 defeat under the floodlights on Friday to kick the 2021/22 campaign off was devastating. Expectation, anticipation and, above all, hope, seemed to fizzle out. Whether or not it was the first game of the season and there were players missing through, it was a humbling result off the back of a dreadful performance.

It wasn’t exactly a starting lineup to set the pulses racing, although it did feature two new signings for Arsenal: Albert Sambi Lokonga and Benjamin White. Neither had nights to remember.

Arsenal vs Brentford: Benjamin White’s time for revenge as he faces Ivan Toney who dominated him aerial in reverse 2-0 defeat on opening day

The pair were never going to be flawless and win the game single-handedly for Arsenal, but the result did the narrative no favours. White was brought in an big money and the world questioned the parting of £50m on someone who was supposedly dreadful in the air.

While aerial ability is not White’s strongest suit, it does not imply in any way that he can’t head a ball, or even contest one. It was all grossly blown out of proportion. Still, watching Ivan Toney dominate him and all the Arsenal defenders despite standing at under 5’9″ did little to quell such criticisms.

As the season has progressed it’s become plainly clear that White is not alone in coming out second best to the 25-year-old. Virgil van Dijk suffered a similar fate in Liverpool’s 3-3 draw. Only four players have won more aerial duels than the striker, two of them are central defenders and another one is Chris Wood.

All factors considered – the setting, Toney’s obvious ability, and it being White’s first competitive start – it wasn’t a great surprise that Toney came out on top. He has and will continue to compete furiously for every ball in the air.

White, in the mean time, has shown precious little signs of weakness in that department since. He’s played more minutes than any other player for Arsenal this season, showcasing the many strings to his bow, including dogged and resilient defending in the face of constant aerial bombardment. Putting the transfer fee aside it’s been an excellent campaign from him.

Will he be eyeing revenge? Absolutely. A cool and calm customer off the pitch, he revels in the physical side of the game and being successfully targeted in the reverse meeting by Brentford and Toney will have stuck in his mind. That will be the inspiration he needs to show more assertiveness than on the opening day, as well as demonstrate how far he’s come in the 24 games he’s played for the club since. Not that he has anything to prove to anyone, mind you.

And, most importantly, it’s an aggression he needs to channel in a positive sense since controlling that side of Brentford’s game will go a huge way towards cutting off their main supply line and nullifying their already blunt attack.

However, were he to go on and be second best in every aerial duel and Arsenal still win it won’t matter. Better defenders will lose out to Toney. At this stage who comes out on top individually is irrelevant so long as the end result is in your favour. It’s about three points and three points only, which can in itself be White’s revenge. Equally, if he hits a perfect diagonal that sets up an Arsenal goal all while keeping a clean sheet then nobody will care tuppence how many headers he won.

He might just a little bit, though.

In fact, he probably will.