ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate urged fans to lay off Ben White after he asked to not be picked for his country again.

Southgate, who named a 25-man squad to face Brazil and Belgium, revealed the Arsenal star does not want a call-up despite his red-hot form.

Ben White has signed a new Arsenal deal but rejected an England return

Gareth Southgate says it’s a ‘shame’ White said no to him

Four-cap White, 26, who signed a new four-year Gunners deal on Thursday, went home for personal reasons during the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Yet Southgate says the door is still open for him, adding: “I don’t want a backlash. I understand we are in a situation where that could happen.

“But he’s signed a new contract so there’s no question he’s got the love of the Arsenal fans.

“The shame is I’d have liked to have picked him.

“In these situations, I’ve tried to protect players. Yet that’s impossible here.

“Because of the timing of asking to come off the long-list for our squad, I don’t think that it would be right not to state the situation we’re in.

“We’ve explained to Arsenal we were going to do that. And if you make a decision like that, you do have to stand by it.

“The door is open — but that’s unlikely now for the Euros because of the situation this month.

“Moving forward, I’d hope he feels differently about it. I can’t say he doesn’t deserve to be in.”

SunSport understands the defender has not ruled out a return one day.

But Arsenal sporting director Edu rang FA chief John McDermott to tell him White still did not want to be considered.

Knowing that Southgate would be asked about White, Arsenal yesterday morning confirmed he has signed on until 2028.

Southgate, whose side host Brazil a week on Saturday and Belgium three days later, added: “I have to respect the decision.

“I spoke to him post- Qatar and there was reticence from his side.

“I don’t know fully why that is. There is no issue between us. There is no issue with [England No 2] Steve Holland. That has been mentioned and I don’t like that.”

England manager Gareth Southgate and assistant Steve Holland 

Southgate acknowledged that White, who has been a standout player for Premier League leaders Arsenal this season, might face some backlash but felt it was “impossible” to hide the reason behind his omission from the squad for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

However, Gareth Southgate’s statement was like a drop of water that pushed the Ben White issue to a climax, causing the press to decide to expose the remaining “half truth” at the 2022 World Cup.

According to The Athletic, during the World Cup campaign in Qatar, White and Holland had an ‘angry exchange’ in front of other England players as Holland believed White was not taking on board the information he was given about opposition tactics and training data.

The report adds that Holland also raised the fact that White had admitted he is not interested in football beyond his own career.

Gareth Southgate’s assistant, Steve Holland, recalled Ben White’s statement “if I don’t play, I don’t really care about football” when he was in Qatar with the England team, making his image worse. he in the national team becomes different from the rest…

Steve Holland also criticized and “vented his anger” at Ben White when he did not seem to feel at home when he gathered with the national team. Ben White as a ‘guest’ in the England team led to him being criticized by Gareth Southgate’s assistant.

There was a big argument with Steve Holland, Southgate’s powerful assistant

The truth is that Ben White found it difficult to integrate – not because he was second choice but because he could not adapt to the environment at England – which Steven Gerrard once described as “5-stars prison”

During the World Cup taking place in Qatar, England’s coaching staff often passed along data from training sessions and matches, as well as information about the team’s next opponent.

And during a discussion, Steve Holland believed that Ben White did not really take the above information seriously – this led to back and forth words between the two sides in front of the whole team…

A week later, all sides carefully considered the options and decided it was best for Ben White to return to Arsenal. No one knows the details of the final discussion between Ben White and coach Gareth Southgate…

But for coach Gareth Southgate, a player in high form like Ben White refusing to join the national team is definitely not what he wants to happen.

A note from The Athletic is that the fact that Ben White cannot play too much from Euro 2021 until the following World Cup also greatly affects his spirit of dedication every time he is called up to the national team.
Sometimes we cannot know how strongly a player being called up to the national team but not playing too much can have a strong impact on their psychology…

Actually, we should look at the story from a general perspective, Ben White and Gareth Southgate both had their own reasons for their choices at that time and we cannot know the exact truth of the story. What is the story?

For Ben White, what happened in Qatar was just the last straw that made him decide to leave England. As for Gareth Southgate, it was difficult for him to name Ben White in the starting lineup at that time, considering the players in his position on the England team and their voice in the team.

During the tournament in Qatar, White felt like an outsider

However, we can be sure that Ben White is a player who always possesses an extremely standard attitude and teacher Ta is also an extremely strict person with the behavioral culture of each of his students at Arsenal – regardless of whether it is inside or outside the club.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Ben White would actively criticize a member of the national team.

Maybe when Ben White’s decision was announced to the media, it was seen as a betrayal. But this was not a decision made quickly. Ben White is simply choosing based on his own thoughts right now.