da betcris: Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have had a heated argument surrounding Ben White and his decision to reject an England call-up.
da heads bet: Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Ben White refused call-up from EnglandNeville and Carragher disagree over his abilityEx-Man Utd right-back believes he would playGettyWHAT HAPPENED?
White refused to be considered for selection for their friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, meaning that Gareth Southgate was left without the Arsenal defender. He instead fielded a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell against the Samba stars; against Belgium, Ezri Konsa replaced Walker at right-back, while Lewis Dunk also came in at centre-back in place of Maguire.
Now, Neville and Carragher have disagreed over White's decision, with the latter believing he wouldn't get near the team, and the Manchester United legend insisting he would have played at centre-back.
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White does not actually play as a centre-back for Arsenal currently and has instead been trusted at right-back. In 27 games in the Premier League this season, he has played at full-back 23 times, scoring twice and laying on four assists.
WHAT NEVILLE & CARRAGHER SAID
Discussing the issue on Carragher argued that White's absence is being exaggerated, saying: “I don’t think it should be made into a huge story because he’s not going to play anyway.”
Neville, though, feels the Arsenal man would be a reliable presence and replied: “He will now though, Carra. He’d play him centre back, I think.”
After Carragher maintained that would be pointless given he does not play that role at Arsenal, his fellow pundit pressed his point further, as he was not impressed by the stars who played in the heart of the defence against Belgium.
However, Carragher then replied: "It’s easy to say that now after the game, but he doesn’t play centre-back for his club and John Stones is the Ben White if you like – you’re not going to play Ben White and John Stones together as centre backs."
GettyWHAT NEXT?
England will continue their preparations for Euro 2024, with upcoming friendlies against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland in June, before the tournament kicks off. Southgate's side will face Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia in the group stages.