Since his loan stay at Elland Road, Ben White has gone on to have the career that everyone at Leeds United had hoped for.
The Arsenal player spent seasons on loan at Newport County and Peterborough United before joining Leeds, but it was in West Yorkshire that he truly established himself.
White played every minute of Leeds’ Championship-winning season, and in the summer, the Whites made three permanent offers to Brighton, which he declined.
After a season at Brighton, he joined Arsenal for £50 million and has been an important part of the team’s revival as Premier League title contenders.
White has had the opportunity to work with some of the best coaches in the business, but none stand out more than Marcelo Bielsa.
White on what Bielsa said during the first ever Leeds session.
During his tenure at Leeds, White primarily played centre-back, although he also covered for Kalvin Phillips in midfield when he was unavailable.
Under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, he has developed into one of the Premier League’s best right-backs. Journalist Rory Smith recently recounted an incident when he witnessed White play four different positions in a span of minutes at Leeds.
Clearly, a year of consistent Championship football under Bielsa helped his career tremendously, but it wasn’t all sunshine and roses at first.
In an interview with Prime Sport, White revealed that during his first chat with Bielsa, he was told three brutal areas for improvement.
He stated, “I think he was so good at that [getting into your head].” My first training session, he didn’t speak English, so someone had to interpret. He told me that I was too slow, not nimble enough, and not intellectually quick enough, and then walked away.
“He didn’t speak to me again for possibly months. I can probably count the number of times he spoke to me. But when he said something to you, you simply did it.
“I think it’s a big thing to say, you’re too slow, you can’t really work at that speed, but I think it was just for him to say you’re not at the greatest level and you have a lot of room for improvement. Obviously, I did; it was my first training session since the summer, and I was definitely too slow.”
Bielsa: players either adore or loathe him!
Bielsa has recently gained attention for all the wrong reasons, following Luis Suarez’s criticism of his management during the Copa America.
In fairness to Suarez, anecdotes like this one from White demonstrate why not everyone accepts his approach.
Clearly, everyone at Leeds, including White, bought into everything Bielsa told them because they recognized the potential impact he could have on their careers.
However, for experienced players such as Suarez, Bielsa’s style may not be appropriate.
