Arsenal defender Ben White has detailed what it’s like to go up against his team-mate in training every day
Ben White admitted last year that he doesn’t enjoy facing Gabriel Martinelli one-on-one, despite the Brazilian enduring a relatively subdued outing in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday. Martinelli, who came on for Noni Madueke at the interval, found it difficult to influence proceedings as Arsenal were eventually beaten by their hosts.
Rayan Cherki broke the deadlock within 16 minutes before Kai Havertz restored parity shortly afterwards, but Erling Haaland netted in the second period to inflict a damaging blow on Arsenal’s Premier League title aspirations. Arsenal travelled to Manchester following the 2-1 reverse against Bournemouth, having been cautioned against adopting a defensive approach in pursuit of a draw.
While the Gunners retain their position at the Premier League summit, Pep Guardiola’s team still possess a match in hand against Crystal Palace and travel to Burnley on Wednesday evening. Success at Turf Moor would see City draw level on points with the north London side and leapfrog them to top spot.
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Despite Arsenal’s recent setback, Ben White was effusive in his admiration for Martinelli 12 months ago, explaining precisely how challenging the Brazilian proves to be during training sessions.
“I play against Gabriel Martinelli every day in training for example, and to be honest I don’t want to go too near to him most of the time, but at the same time we have to keep it competitive,” he told Arsenal’s website.
“But you know there is a line, and it’s the same for everyone. We all come up against the same people each day, and there’s like an unwritten rule that you don’t go in too hard for a 50-50 or something like that.
“You can save those for the weekend!”
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White added that while the players compete fiercely to succeed, everything stops once training concludes.
“Every day me and Martinelli have a one-v-one battle, but then as soon as the session is over our relationship is so good,” White added.
“You do your best and give everything when you are training, but you need to look after each other too, you have to be clever.”
Arsenal return to Premier League duty on Saturday evening when they welcome Newcastle United (5:30pm), before making the trip to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.
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