Very few professionals can be described as complete and not a single 18-year-old in this country is without his flaws. For that reason, I hope Aidan White doesn't let his head drop after his unforgiving outing at Southampton last weekend.

* Click here to watch latest YEP news and sport video reports.

His misfortune was to come up against a player in Jason Puncheon who was right on his game and played in a way which Aidan struggled to cope with.

* Click here for latest YEP news and sport picture slideshows.

It's quite rare to see a left-footed winger on the right side of midfield – more prevalent are right-footers on the other side of the pitch – and Puncheon's tendency to cut in off the flank caused problems all day.

* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from your YEP.

Aidan's preference is to show players the outside and Southampton pulled him out of his comfort zone.

* Click here to follow the YEP on Twitter.

Replacing Aidan at half-time was a harsh decision but the right one on the part of Simon Grayson. In truth, he did what his players were failing to do and gave Aidan some protection.

* Click here to watch the latest edition of The Boot Room.

It was a good example of being cruel to be kind.


* Click here to visit the Leeds United webchat page.

As Simon said afterwards, Aidan should not shoulder the blame on his own. Others were equally responsible for the havoc that Puncheon was wreaking.

* Click here to take a trip down memory lane with our Leeds United action replay.

When I played on the wing, Don Revie would always stress to me the importance of dropping back and filling the slot behind me whenever we lost possession. That way, you cut the supply to the opposition's attacking players and reduced the pressure on your defence. As far as I was concerned, it was part of my job.

* Click here for read the latest views and opinions of our Leeds United columnists.


To everyone at St Mary's, Puncheon's influence was obvious. Our midfielders should have reacted to that by attempting to take him by the scruff of the neck and blocked the flow of possession to the right wing, stifling him before he had the chance to get going. A full-back cannot do that job and White found himself as the last line of defence too many times.

The experience was a difficult one but I'm sure he'll benefit from it. As much as he may struggle to realise it now, these days are part of the learning curve that every good footballer has to climb.

Essentially, it has given him something to work on and identified a weakness which he can work to eradicate. We all prefer to bask in our qualities rather than wallow in our shortcomings but you don't get better by focusing on the positive aspects of your game. Improvement comes down to realising where you fall short and where you can develop.

If White needs an example of that, he should look no further than Wayne Rooney, possibly the best player in England at the moment.

I read recently that Rooney has been working especially hard this season on his heading ability, something which he regarded as a hole in his game. He's taken on extra training and devoted additional hours to tackling that, and it can't be a coincidence that so many of his recent goals have been scored with his head.