Who is Steve Holland? England's assistant coach at the heart of Ben White feud

Steve Holland may not be a name that every Football supporter is overly familiar with, but he has been hitting the headlines in recent days.

Currently England's assistant manager, a now public feud with Arsenal defender Ben White has resurfaced ahead of the March international break - one that has led to the right-back declining a call-up to the current Three Lions squad.

But just who is Steve Holland, the man at the centre of the latest England controversy?

Who is Steve Holland?

Holland doesn't have much history as a footballer himself, with the now 53-year-old having been let go by Derby County at an early age following a significant injury. He never represented the Rams at senior level and eventually fell down to semi-pro level with the likes of Northwich Victoria and Hyde United.

At just 21, Holland made the decision to retire from playing and instead move into coaching. After acquiring his licence from the FA, he was hired as a youth team coach at Crewe Alexandra just a year after calling quits on his playing career.

He gradually worked his way up the hierarchy until he became one of the club's first team coaches in 2007, before eventually claiming his UEFA Pro Licence and making the move to be the Stoke City academy manager in March 2009.

Just five months later, Holland would make the move to be manager of Chelsea's reserves, and was promoted to the first team to become Andre Villas-Boas' assistant manager in June 2011. He would go on to be assistant to Roberto Di Matteo, Rafa Benitez, Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Antonio Conte, eventually leaving the role in 2017.

How long has Steve Holland worked with England?

Holland left Chelsea at the end of the 2016/17 season to take up the position as England boss Gareth Southgate's assistant manager, but the coach had actually been working with the current Three Lions manager since 2013.

Holland had been assistant to Southgate during his time as England Under-21s manager, dating all the way back to 2013. However, during his time with the youth team, he continued his role with Chelsea on the touchline.

The 53-year-old has been Southgate's assistant for over over a decade now with the national team, including at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and the 2020 Euros - where England reached the final.

What happened between Steve Holland and Ben White?

The fallout between Ben White and England stemmed from an incident involving Holland at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, leading to the Arsenal defender making himself unavailable for inclusion during the current March international break.

According to recent reports, the feud began when Holland asked Kyle Walker a question about Manchester City's tactics, which the full-back answered. When Holland posed the same question to White, the 26-year-old didn't know the answer, with Holland blaming his lack of interest in football for his lack of knowledge.

White has previously admitted that he's not interested in watching Football during his own personal time, although he watches performances of himself and other players for analytical reasons when with Arsenal.

Southgate has suggested that there is no issue between White and Holland during the current international break, with the England boss saying that there is still a space available in the squad for the full-back should he change his mind in the future.

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