England boss Gareth Southgate has praised Arsenal defender Ben White for his performance during Saturday's 2-1 win over Switzerland at Wembley.
White joined the Gunners for a reported £50million over the summer, signing from Brighton after enjoying an impressive campaign with Graham Potter's side. He has since enjoyed an impressive few months in north London, registering 13 Premier League clean sheets already this season - more than any other English centre-half.
The 24-year-old's solid form was rewarded by Southgate, who named him in The Three Lions' squad for this month's friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast. However, some argued that White was at fault against the Swiss, with the talented centre-back failing to deal with a cross that Breel Embolo eventually turned in form the opener.
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Manchester United legend Roy Keane was one of those critics, claiming that the Arsenal ace got caught by Xherdan Shaqiri's delivery. "It really is tough, you’re up against good teams," Keane told ITV.
"Sometimes it’s just slight mistakes which we see for the goal and he [White] just got caught out. It’s good quality from Switzerland and they were on top at that moment in time. And we can criticise Luke Shaw for not stopping the cross, but people like Shaqiri have produced at this level many times before.
"They’ve got to get closer but as soon as it leaves his foot White’s body position is all wrong, Embolo’s got his number. He just got caught out, as simple as that.
"It’s a great finish and he got punished. You hope sometimes to get away with it, but it’s a great delivery and he’s just been caught out."
Now, England manager Southgate has given his honest thoughts on White's performance, praising his passing ability whilst also admitting that he was slightly at fault for Embolo's goal. Speaking after the match, he said: "We played out from the back well, Ben White and Marc Guehi were very good.
"Ben got caught a bit for the goal but apart from that to come in at late notice with John Stones feeling something, he and Marc should be pleased."
