00:00England fell just short of an historic triumph at Euro 2024 in July, but one player who was
00:08not there, trying to make the nation proud, was Ben White of Arsenal. Gareth Southgate
00:14revealed back prior to the March Internationals that he was unavailable for selection to the
00:19national team.
00:49He took two Euros when he was at Brighton, a player that we took to the World Cup. I
00:56spoke to him post-Catard because I was keen to pick him and there was clearly reticence
01:03on his side. I don't know fully why that is, but I have to respect that. I wouldn't leave
01:12the door open for him because he's a good player and I think he's a player that can
01:16make a difference for England, but he's not available to us. The only other thing I would
01:23say is there is no issue between us at all. I also should say there's never any issue
01:33with Steve Hodden because that has been mentioned in articles and I don't like that. People
01:41can talk about me and say I have to accept that things get said and are false about me
01:50and for whatever reason in this role you have to almost stop at that, but I'm not prepared
01:56for that to happen for a key member of my coaching team because that is not the reason
02:02that Ben is unavailable for selection. The question now is whether Ben White will make
02:09himself available for selection again, but if so, he faces competition from Kyle Walker
02:14of Manchester City, Rhys James of Chelsea, who has faced various injury issues in recent
02:20times that prevented him going to the Euros. There is also Kieran Trippier of Newcastle
02:26United who, despite playing much of the tournament at left-back, is still well thought of in
02:31the right-back department. His team-mate at Newcastle, Tino Livramento, is a possible
02:36upcomer for the spot too, both he and his left-back partner at Newcastle Lewis Hall
02:41are well thought of. Until then, England will have to put in place a new manager and with
02:47no appointment yet on the horizon for the Three Lions ahead of the September Internationals,
02:52it remains to be seen whether Ben White will come back into contention to play for the
02:57team.
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