Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon has slammed Ben White's reaction to Sunday's draw against Southampton, claiming his comments were "over the top". It came after the versatile centre-back turned right-back was critical of the Gunners' performance as they dropped points for only the second time this season.
It seemed as though that wouldn't be a possibility early on as Granit Xhaka fired an opener into the roof of the net just 11 minutes into the clash. Though Mikel Arteta's side enjoyed creating in the first half, they were unable to extend their lead and that would end up being costly.
The home side came out rejuvenated and caused plenty of problems until they found their breakthrough midway through the second half. Stuart Armstrong's marauding run beyond the backline was picked out, with the midfielder then firing home to draw his side level and leaving Arsenal unable to find a response.
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Talking to Viaplay after the match, White said in review: "I think the first half was really good. We created loads of chances and we should have scored more. We should have probably put the game to bed in the first half and we didn't.
"[We were] Sloppy in possession, didn’t win duels, the opposite to the first half and that’s why the game went the way it did. We’re only human… it’s tricky."
He was then quizzed on setting up the opener, which came with mixed feelings: "Obviously to be a part of it is amazing but it’s about the team and unfortunately we didn’t get the win today."
While it was an honest assessment of the game and shows the recent standards set at the club, former defender Dixon wasn't a fan of the reaction. "Wow, did they get beat 8-0?" He said in response to the interview. "Yeah, that was a little bit over the top.
"He’s feeling what he’s feeling but I still think that this season, when you play like that in the second half, you’ve got to take it on the chin and go, ‘yeah, we didn’t play great, move on to the next one’. But he was very down there wasn’t he?"
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