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‘Absolutely embarrassing’… TalkSPORT pundit furious after what £50m Arsenal player has done
Danny Mills has slammed Arsenal defender Ben White for failing to ‘pick up the phone’ to Gareth Southgate.
The Arsenal defender has made the headlines over the past week after making himself unavailable for selection for England.
With the Euros just around the corner, Ben White has arguably been England’s most in-form right-back in recent weeks.
Now, Danny Mills has torn into White as he feels the defender should have at least picked up the phone to explain his decision to Southgate.
Speaking on , Mills claimed that while White has every right to make himself unavailable for England, he feels the Arsenal man should explain his decision.
“The biggest issue I have with this is the ridiculous childishness and lack of respect for anybody in football, in authority, that he couldn’t pick the phone up to Gareth Southgate and speak to himself and have an [adult conversation] to say ‘I don’t want to be selected and this is my reason’,” the former England international said.
“He got Edu to speak to Gareth Southgate and the England team and said sorry Ben doesn’t want to be in this. I think that’s embarrassing. He’s a 26-year-old grown man. You can’t pick the phone up to the England manager? Playing for your country is unbelievable.
“If you don’t want to play, that’s your decision. I don’t agree with it, I would never do it. I turned up for hundreds of squads, sat in the stands loads of times, kept going, not a problem.”
“It’s his choice but to be so disrespectful to not pick the phone up to Gareth and say something I think is absolutely abysmal. I think it’s weak and I think it’s very, very poor. And then not to come out and make a statement publicly and just allow speculation to run rife, is even worse,” Mills added.
He then compared Arsenal’s sporting director, Edu, calling England to share White’s decision to someone getting their parent to phone in sick for them.
“It’s a similar sort of thing,” Mills went on. “It’s pathetic. It’s absolutely embarrassing. He’s a 26-year-old grown man that can’t pick the phone up to the England manager.”
Why is Ben White not in the England squad?
White hasn’t featured in a Three Lions squad since the World Cup back in 2022 after leaving the tournament due to ‘personal reasons’.
Just last week, Southgate announced his squad for upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium and was quizzed on the defender.
He insisted that there is ‘no issue’ between White and England’s coaching staff, in particular assistant manager Steve Holland.
“It’s absolutely the question you should ask because clearly on form, I can’t sit here and say he doesn’t deserve to be in,” Southgate admitted.
“We, John McDermott, had a call from Edu last week to say that Ben didn’t want to be considered for England squads at this time.
“For me, that’s a great shame. He’s a player I really like. He’s a player we took to the Euros when he was at Brighton, a player we took to the World Cup.
“I spoke to him post-Qatar because I was keen to pick him and there was clearly reticence from his side. I don’t know fully why that is. But I have to respect that. I want to leave the door open for him because he’s a good player and a player who can make a difference for England.
“But he’s not available to us and the only other thing I would say is there is no issue between us at all. And also I should say there is never any issue with Steve Holland because that has sort of been mentioned in articles and I don’t like that.
“People can talk about me and say I have to accept things get said that are false about me and for whatever reason in this role, you have to almost stomach that. But I’m not prepared for that to happen to a key member of my coaching team because that is not the reason that Ben is unavailable for selection.”
It’s fair to say that White has come under fire over the past week, with Harry Redknapp labelling his decision to snub England as ‘disgusting’.
Arsenal legend Paul Merson has also expressed his disappointment over the 26-year-old’s lack of desire to play for his country.