Arsenal have two stellar right-backs in Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White – now arguably their greatest ever in that position picks his favourite of the modern-day
(Image credit: Future)
Arsenal have Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu competing at right-back – now Lee Dixon has told FourFourTwo who he'd have in that role.
Dixon won multiple titles for the Gunners on the right side of the club's iconic back four, with Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn completing the defence. Though the role has changed massively in recent years, however, modern-day Arsenal have two defensive-minded players competing for that position.
And Dixon is impressed with both – though FFT wanted to put him on the spot to choose one…
Lee Dixon tells FFT which of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White he prefers for Arsenal
Lee Dixon in 1989 with Arsenal (Image credit: PA)
“I’d go with Ben White – just for his consistency,” Dixon picks. “It depends who you’re playing against, though: if you’ve got someone to man-mark, you probably go with Tomiyasu.
“The all-around game at right-back now though, you need a little more about you than just your positioning on the ball and I think that White has improved so much as a right-back. He’s only going to get better, too, because he wants to learn and be in the team.
“From what he’s done, going from centre-back to right-back, it’s great.”
Lee Dixon has enjoyed the Emirates Stadium becoming a fortress this season (Image credit: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
With his former club riding high in the Premier League, Dixon says he's been impressed with Arsenal's improvement. As a childhood Manchester City fan, however, is the former right-back still tipping Mikel Arteta's men to finish the job?
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“I’m gonna stick with Arsenal at the moment,” he says. “I think they’ve shown enough about them this year that when they’ve had a dip in form – which isn’t often this season – after losing to City, they’ve bounced back and won five on the trot which is really impressive.
“I think the togetherness within the squad, the link between the fans and the squad, I think that’s all Mikel Arteta’s doing. I think the players have played a big part in terms of the results but he’s been instrumental in joining that circle with everybody.
“And now the Emirates is a place where people come and fear, which in the past, it’s not always been that way.”
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Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
