There is a lot of talk suggesting that Ben White is being played out of position but this is not the case. Ben White is a modern versatile defender who can comfortably play anywhere in the defensive positions including the central defensive area. To claim that he is playing out of position is wrong because he did in the past played as a right back and has the quality to play there. His quality and intelligence gives exactly the same impact as Tomiysau and that is because the two are very similar in profile. Both can play at centerback, right back and can be deployed at CDM, although Tomiyasu is more accomplished at right back than White.

In the 2019/20 season while playing for Leeds on loan, Ben White played a few games as a CDM helping Leeds to promotion that season. On his returned to Brighton in the 2020/21 season, he continued to show his versatility after being deployed as a CDM and also as a right back in several games. That versatility and his quality on the ball is what interested Arteta to bring him to Arsenal.

Also Arteta’s structure is designed to have a more defensive minded player at right back. This allows the player to invert into midfield when sustaining pressure or sit back to form a back 3 similar to Pep Guardiola’s Man City. Arteta also in the past preferred centerbacks in the right back position with both Sokratis and Chambers being preferred over players like Bellerin, Cedric and Maitland-Niles.

Similarly, the devensive minded right back is the reason why Arsenal signed Tomiyasu over Emerson Royal last summer. Naturally, Tomiyasu is a centerback who was converted to a fullback when he moved to Bologna in 2019. He still plays as a centerback for Japan.