Ben White has gone onto enjoy the career everyone at Leeds United thought he would since his loan spell at Elland Road.
The Arsenal star had seasons on loan at both Newport County and Peterborough United before joining Leeds, but it was in West Yorkshire where he really made a name for himself.
White played every minute of every game of Leeds‘ Championship title winning campaign and in the summer that followed, the Whites made three offers to sign him permanently, which Brighton refused.
After a season at Brighton, he then made the £50 million switch to Arsenal and has been a key part of the side which has seen them become Premier League title challengers again.
White has had the opportunity to work with some top coaches throughout his career, but perhaps none more unique than Marcelo Bielsa.
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White on what Bielsa said in first ever Leeds session
During his time at Leeds, White predominantly played as a centre-back, while also occasionally covering for Kalvin Phillips in midfield whenever he was unavailable.
Under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, though, he has transitioned into one of the Premier League’s best right-backs. Journalist Rory Smith recently recalled a moment he saw White play four different positions in the matter of minutes at Leeds.
Clearly a year of playing regular Championship football under Bielsa did absolute wonders for his career, but it certainly wasn’t all sunshine and roses early on.
Speaking in an interview with Prime Sport, White revealed how in his first ever conversation with Bielsa he was told three brutal areas of improvement he needed to make.
He said: “I think he was so good at that [getting in your head]. My first training session, he didn’t speak English so someone would interpret it. He said to me, ‘that I was too slow, I wasn’t agile enough and somehow I wasn’t mentally quick enough’ and then just walked off.
“He didn’t speak to me again then for probably months. I can probably count how many times he spoke to me. But when he would say something to you, you would just do it.
“I think it’s quite big thing to say, you’re too slow, you can’t really work at that quickly, but I think it was just for him to say you’re not at the highest level and you’ve got so much to improve on. Obviously I did, it was my first training session after I hadn’t trained all summer and I probably was too slow.”
Bielsa – players either love him or hate him!
Bielsa has come into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons recently after Luis Suarez’s criticism of his management at the Copa America.
And in fairness to Suarez, it is stories like this one from White which show why not everyone does take to his methods.
Clearly everyone at Leeds, including White, got on board with everything Bielsa told them as they recognised just what an impact he could have on their careers.
However, for players established like Suarez, then perhaps Bielsa’s style isn’t the right way to handle things.
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