£50m Arsenal star has really lost his edge this season, and he proved it against Chelsea

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After 11 games played, Arsenal are fourth in the Premier League sitting on 19 points – a far cry from where they may had hoped at this stage.

Significantly, Arsenal are now nine points behind Liverpool and four behind Manchester City, Mikel Arteta and his side certainly have an uphill battle on their hands.

Fortunately, with Martin Odegaard back in the side, Arsenal did look much better against Chelsea, particularly in the second half.

It wasn’t a complete performance by any means, but Arteta’s team finally provided sufficient evidence that they can turn their form around, even if it might be too late.

That being said, although Gabriel Martinelli impressed against Chelsea, one or two Arsenal players have continued to deliver below-par performances, at least when compared to last season.

Ben White is no longer offering an attacking threat for Arsenal

Although he’s not often mentioned in that conversation, Ben White has been far from his best for Arsenal this season.

White was put to the sword by Pedro Neto at Stamford Bridge, he was beaten all ends up on one or two occasions.

READ MORE: Kai Havertz was absolutely fuming with one Arsenal teammate vs Chelsea, he cost them the win

Ultimately, that will just be a one-off for the Arsenal defender, he’s rarely ever outdone one-versus-one.

However, White is increasingly looking like a centre-back playing out wide this season, it almost feels as if all of his attacking ambitions have suddenly diminished. 

Jamie Carragher recently compared Arteta to Jose Mourinho, comments which are baffling on the face of it.

But White, without his attacking threat overlapping Saka on the right, does feel like a Mourinho defender, a pigeoned-holed centre-back who’s a bit awkward going forward.

Perhaps, like others, White has simply been missing his combinations with Martin Odegaard on the right, but he’s certainly lost his edge in an attacking sense.

Mikel Arteta needs to start getting the best from Ben White again

Whilst there’s not a huge discrepancy in White’s goal involvements just yet this season, it certainly looks as if he’s on course to fall short of his figures from last term.

Given how Arsenal often dominate with the ball, Arteta needs regular contributions from his full-backs, especially given White is the one who’s allowed to overlap.

Unlike his teammates, White can’t necessarily point to the incredibly busy fixture list either, his condition should be benefited from not playing for England.

A difficult one for Arteta to get to the root of, but Arsenal will definitely be a better outfit once White is at his dominant best again.

A superb footballer who’s key to Arsenal’s robust reputation, but perhaps the defender needs to refocus his attention on providing one or two more delicate attacking moments.