Ian Wright questions £50m player as he shares his one big ‘worry’ about Arsenal right now

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Heading into the international break, Mikel Arteta has described the last eight weeks at Arsenal as an ‘absolute nightmare’.

Arteta was referencing the countless number of injuries he’s been dealing with at Arsenal since the last break in October, in particular the absence of Martin Odegaard.

Arsenal have been without their chief playmaker and also the forward who often leads their pressing efforts.

Odegaard has become endlessly important at the Emirates Stadium, and he’ll be absolutely crucial to any chances of winning the Premier League.

Ian Wright thinks Ben White should have done better for Chelsea’s equaliser

That being said, when speaking on the ‘Wrighty’s House’ podcast, Ian Wright highlighted a worry trend he’s spotted at Arsenal when they’ve been in the lead of late, perhaps one that Odegaard’s return can help with.

And when discussing an example of Arsenal’s worrying tendency to sit in and defend any lead they get, Wright also questioned Ben White’s defending for Chelsea’s equaliser.

Wright said: “I’m just a little bit worried, with that kind of dropping off. Even when I watch the game, I’m just thinking, we’re just getting a bit deeper, why don’t we push up?

“Push up and keep them in there. I just feel like we’re in a place, where okay, we’ve done it now, we’re in the lead.

“Okay, let’s defend, because we are, we are good at defending, even though the goal, when you look at the goal, and it was, I heard Mikel talking about, it was a second phase, and I’m sure he’s going to lose his s*** over that.”

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“Because Declan and Thomas Partey was still on the edge of the box, where when Neto picked the ball up, coming off the right, Enzo just passed into a space, just a massive space.

“And with a player of that quality, given the opportunity to shoot clean like that, you’re probably going to concede a goal.

“So again, we have to get back up to speed in the margins of what we’re doing. Get it back.

“Ben White was way too far out on the right, so he should have pushed back inside, pushed Thomas Partey or Declan Rice across, so then there’s somebody in that massive space when you see the goal.”

Ben White isn’t offering the same attacking threat for Arsenal

Taking a closer look at White’s performances this season, it’s clear that the Englishman hasn’t quite been able to replicate his form from last term.

White has lost his edge at Arsenal, at least in terms of his attacking numbers – it’s rare to see the former Brighton & Hove Albion man overlapping Bukayo Saka with success these days.

Perhaps White’s performances are one of many things that Arteta needs to fix at Arsenal right now.

After 11 games played, Arsenal are fourth in the Premier League and already nine points behind Liverpool.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	11	9	1	1	21	6	15	28
2	Man CityManchester City	11	7	2	2	22	13	9	23
3	ChelseaChelsea	11	5	4	2	21	13	8	19
4	ArsenalArsenal	11	5	4	2	18	12	6	19
5	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	11	5	4	2	15	10	5	19
6	BrightonBrighton	11	5	4	2	19	15	4	19