Marcelo Bielsa didn't speak to Arsenal star for 'months' after blunt Leeds United loan criticism

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The former Leeds United boss took no prisoners when giving advice to his players.

Ben White was under no illusions over the need to improve after joining Leeds United on loan, with Marcelo Bielsa pointing out his weaknesses in typically blunt fashion.

White joined Leeds on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer of 2019, with Bielsa giving his seal of approval for the young defender to replace Brentford-bound Pontus Jansson. Impressive loan spells as Newport County and Peterborough United were a far-cry from challenging for Championship promotion, however, while Jansson’s shock exit left a massive gap to fill.

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But White proved to be a revelation at Elland Road as arguably the Championship's best defender that season, coming on leaps and bounds under the iconic Argentinian. And reflecting on his early weeks in West Yorkshire, the 27-year-old was grateful for Bielsa’s no-nonsense approach to providing feedback.

“I think he was so good at that [getting in your head],” White told Prime Sport of Bielsa. “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.

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“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.”

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Leeds went on to win the Championship title that season, with White partnering the experienced Liam Cooper and playing every single league minute as his side romped to 93 points. Bielsa was keen to sign the centre-back permanently that summer but Brighton’s demands proved too high for the newly-promoted Whites.

He stayed at the AMEX for one campaign and impressed enough for Premier League title challengers Arsenal to sanction his £50million purchase. The England international has developed into one of Mikel Arteta’s most trusted players at the Emirates and will hope to be part of a triumphant top-flight Gunners outfit this season.

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