Ben White: Should Brighton play him as a defender or a midfielder?

Ben White is a versatile young man. The 2020-21 Premier League campaign is only eight games old and already White has rattled through three different positions for Brighton & Hove Albion, playing as a midfielder and both the central and right sided defender in a back three.

White is not the first man to fulfil multiple positions under Graham Potter. The Albion boss values versatility above almost any other trait in a player.

Steve Alzate was parachuted into the first team squad last season because he could fulfil multiple roles to the point where the only positions he did not play in 2019-20 were goalkeeper, centre back and centre forward.

Dan Burn is one of Potter’s favourites for his ability to play as a centre half, a left back and a left wing back. If you knew how to get the Bet365 bonus, you would not want to use it betting on which position Burn or Alzate were starting as it seemed to change week to week.

White’s position has garnered much more attention than where Alzate or Burn play. That is a result of the hype that surrounds him following an outstanding season on loan with The Leeds United and the fact that every one of the big six has been linked with signing him in the past year.

Liverpool are the latest rumoured to be considering a January bid. Jurgen Klopp needs a new defender with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez facing lengthy spells on the sidelines and the Reds’ boss is said to view White as an option who could make both an immediate difference to his injury hit backline as well as being a long-term investment.

If the reigning Premier League champions see White as a defender and he has been tipped to play for England as a defender, why then is Potter using him as a midfielder for Brighton? And in which position does his long-term future lie?

There are several answers to that first question and, unlike many of Potter’s whacky ideas, they all make sense and do not involve selecting positions based on the spin of a roulette wheel or whose key comes out of the wife swap bowl.

White started the first four games of the campaign on the right of Potter’s three man defence. His performances there were mixed, as most realistic Brighton fans expected them to be given that we had witnessed first hand how big the step up from Championship to top flight is through Adam Webster’s struggles last season.

Webster had been the outstanding defender in the second tier in 2018-19 with Bristol City, prompting Brighton to break their transfer record and pay £18 million for his services.

At times, Webster looked like a fish out of water in his first seven months as a Premier League player. It took time for him to adapt but once he did, he delivered a series of outstanding performances post-lockdown which made that significant outlay look like money well spent.

White’s early season form in the back three was similarly inconsistent. He did well in the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea and the 3-0 win at Newcastle United but struggled away at Everton in particular as the Albion shipped four goals at Goodison Park.

The defeat to the Toffees was the final match that White played on the right of the back three. For the trip to Crystal Palace, he was moved into midfield to take the place of Alzate, who was rested as a result of his international exertions for Columbia.

White’s testing afternoon against Everton was not the only possible reason for his positional change. It also facilitated the return of Burn to the starting XI, bringing much needed height to a side that was leaking goals at an alarming rate from set pieces.

Only Potter will know whether if it was White’s struggles or the need to fit Burn into the team that necessitated his new role at Selhurst Park.

If it was the latter, then it is hardly a glowing endorsement of the Albion’s regulars that, despite being highly paid professional footballers, they were unable to do a basic task like marking from a dead ball and so the manager had to cram a bloke who makes the Jolly Green Giant look like Tom Thumb into the side.

White seemed to enjoy himself in the middle of the park against Palace, putting his passing range and vision to good use. He remained there for the 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at the Amex, a decision which was not without controversy; starting a central defender in midfield at home against one of the Premier League’s relegation favourites seemed overly negative on the part of Potter. Imagine for a second the meltdown if it were Chris Hughton making that decision…

White’s selection as a midfielder away at Spurs made much more sense given the attacking qualities of the opposition. He did an extremely effective job of screening the back three, helping the Albion enjoy significant periods of domination despite suffering a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The home game with Burnley saw White start in his third position of the season as Potter moved him from midfielder to central defender in the Brighton back three.

That switch came about due to an injury to Solly March. With Bernardo seemingly having left his footballing ability behind in 2019, Burn started at left wing back with White dropping in to join Webster and Joel Veltman.

A clean sheet against the Clarets followed with White being the most impressive of the Albion defenders on show. Playing central allowed him more scope to play the ball out of defence, something he did to great effect when releasing Danny Welbeck with a beautiful dink over the top for a one-on-one chance which the debutant striker squandered.

So, there has been plenty of method behind White’s constant switching of roles. Which leaves the second part of the initial question to answer – which is his best position and therefore, where should he playing?

If you take our WAB Brighton Power Rankings as a guide, then White averages a rating of 6.66 on the right of the back three, 6.57 as a central midfielder and he scored 6.46 from his sole run out as a central defender against Burnley.

Those numbers suggest that the back three is where his long term future lies. For what it is worth, Potter agrees based on his comments from his pre-Spurs press conference when quizzed on White’s position.

“It’s hard to predict someone’s career but I think Ben has got the capability to play a few positions. If I’m guessing now, I think he will end up as a central defender”

“That’s his best position, that’s where he has played most of his games. I think he probably enjoyed the midfield role, probably a bit more against Crystal Palace because of the type of role it was. He has got the capability but I think if I’m going to a betting man I’d say centre back of those positions will be his main position.”

We too would prefer to see White in the back three. Yves Bissouma has proven himself a capable holding midfielder since replacing Dale Stephens and there is no shortage of partners for the Malian international in the middle of the park without needing to resort to using a defender.

Alzate was in excellent form before Potter jettisoned him from the starting line up post-October international break. Adam Lallana’s quality needs no introduction and playing him alongside Bissouma leaves the number 10 role vacant for either Pascal Gross or Alexis Mac Allister.

Gross has double the number of Premier League assists of any other Brighton player whilst Mac Allister is a rarity in that most of the times he has taken a shot this season, it has gone in the vague direction of the opposition goal.

Getting one of Gross or Mac Allister into the starting XI can help make Brighton more potent in attack, improving on a record of one win in eight in the process.

There is also the fit-again Davy Propper to consider. The handsome Dutch midfielder suffered an injury in pre-season and is only now approaching full fitness.

On his day, he is one of Brighton’s best technical player. A more attacking role with Bissouma holding could see Propper finally replicate the scoring form he has previously displayed in a Netherlands shirt and for PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie.

As for Brighton’s strongest defence? It has to be Dunk, Webster and White. If Burn must play because of the set piece issue, then have him fill in at left wing back until March is back from injury. And when March is fit, drop Webster based on his last three appearances.

Really though, Premier League footballers should be able to pick up a man and win a clearing header from a corner without requiring the help of a sky scraper sized teammate.

The fact that we are debating where a player of White’s undoubted talent fits into the Brighton line up is testament to the strength in Potter’s squad.

Having so many options is a great thing – and the reason why the Albion should be powering away from the relegation zone over the coming weeks. Unless Potter decides to play White in goal which, lets be honest, would not be a great surprise.