I was kicked out of Leeds United changing room — Marcelo Bielsa didn't speak to me for months — Leeds Live 18/10/24
The defender was demoted to Leeds United's Under-23s squad after arriving at Elland Road in the summer of 2019
Ben White says Marcelo Bielsa's tough training regime at
Leeds United pushed him to his limits and helped shape him into the player he
is today. The defender moved to Elland Road on loan from Brighton and Hove
Albion in the summer of 2019, playing a key role under then Whites boss Bielsa
as the West Yorkshire outfit secured promotion back to the Premier League.
White was a revelation in defence. His impressive form saw
him named the club's young player of the season.
But White admits he struggled initially to settle into his
new surroundings and warm to Bielsa's methods. In an interview with Ben Foster
for Amazon Prime, White claimed he was made to spend weeks in the Under-23s
changing room after arriving at the club.
"When I first went to Leeds, I got in there, two days
in I was in the first-team changing room," he said. "The first team
wasn’t in yet, for some reason, they were not there. They had a day off or
something. I go in there, and someone comes in and tells me ‘No, you’re in the
23s changing room. Kicks me out of the first-team changing room, and puts me in
the 23s. I stayed there for five, six weeks. So I’m ringing my agent saying
‘what’s going on?’"
White was given no explanation for his demotion, pointing
out that Bielsa did not speak English and relied on an interpreter. “In my
first training session, he didn’t speak any English so someone would interpret
it," said White. "He said to me that I was too slow, I wasn’t agile
enough and I wasn’t mentally quick enough, and just walked off. Didn’t speak to
me again for probably months. I can probably count how many times he spoke to
me. But when he would say something to you, you’d just do it. I think it was
just for him to say to me, ‘you’re not at the highest level, you’ve got so much
to improve on.’”
United went on to win the Championship title that season
under the iconic Argentinian. Bielsa expressed an interest in signing White on
a permanent basis following their promotion but the Seagulls demand proved too
high.
“I have never done as much work in training than at Leeds,
it was four hours every day, double sessions, sleep at the training
ground," said White. "The runs we had to do were horrendous. But I
had that in my mind that I would wait it out and I would be okay. I ended up
playing every minute that season."
After his successful United loan stint, White returned to
Brighton before making a high-profile transfer to Arsenal in July 2021 for £50
million. The England international has established himself as a key member of
Mikel Arteta’s backline.