"He is pretending to be injured" – Dion Dublin slams Arsenal star after defeat to Brighton
Dion Dublin has criticized Arsenal defender Ben White for 'pretending to be injured' moments before his side conceded the winning goal at Southampton on Saturday.
The England centre-half was off the pitch just before the passage of play which led to Jan Bednarek scoring the game's only goal just before half-time.
White attempted to get up and stop the strike by closing the Saints defender down, but he was late as Arsenal slumped to their third consecutive Premier League defeat.
Just rewatched the goal for the first time and oh my god what is ben white doing https://t.co/LU0BwmU20b
The former Manchester United and Aston Villa striker wasn't impressed with White, who could have easily got to the ball if he hadn't gone down. He told PL Productions, as per HITC Sport:
"It's a strange one, Ben White finds himself off the side of the pitch. He is pretending to be injured and then thinks 'Oh no, I better defend.'
"Then he comes onto the pitch too late. He could have got closer to Bednarek if he stayed on the pitch and not pretended to be injured.
"He would have been okay and they wouldn’t have conceded. Put it this way, he would have gone to bed thinking 'I could have got a bit closer and I am not going that again.'"
nooo Ben White’s knee is still strapped up in training today 🥴🥴 https://t.co/9JjAhWkMAv
Mikel Arteta slammed for not signing Aubameyang replacement at Arsenal
It has been a miserable couple of weeks for the Gunners, who, having looked set to finish in the top four, now find themselves in sixth, three points off arch-rivals Tottenham.
Arsenal's biggest problem has been their lack of goals, having only scored 12 since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was released in January. The former captain has gone on to bag eight goals in ten La Liga games for Barcelona.
His departure has left Arteta with Alexandre Lacazette, who has only scored twice from open play all season, and Eddie Nketiah, as the only two senior strikers left at the Emirates Stadium.
Both of those are out of contract in the summer, and former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor believes the Spaniard made a mistake in not signing a replacement.
Agbonlahor told TalkSport:
"They've let Aubameyang go for free, and he's out there at Barcelona scoring goals. So if Arsenal don't get top four, for me, the problem is that Arteta made a mistake letting him go.
"Yes they had a falling out, but you've let a goal scorer go, free of charge, to Barcelona. And you can't score, Smith Rowe is still a young player, Martinelli's still young, Saka's still young, they're going to have stages where they're not bang at it."
"That's why he's been wearing the armband of this football club."
Mikel Arteta comments on Alexandre Lacazette's contract situation at Arsenal after the forward revealed he has spoken with other clubs 🤔 https://t.co/CVucoVOy7a