From Elland back, White causing a stir

FIVE months ago, Aidan White was at the crossroads of domestic and international football.

His prospects with Leeds United and England were equivocal at best: more promising at his club than with his country but moot nonetheless. A year had passed since his last appearance for Leeds and an England U19 cap seemed unlikely to translate into senior honours.

White’s answer to his international impasse was to accept an invitation to represent the Republic of Ireland’s U21s, qualifying through his grandfather, who lived in Wexford.

A solution to his domestic situation was reliant on circumstances which brought him into Leeds’ line-up for their win over Hull City on August 16. Twenty more club appearances have followed this season, the latest a rare off-day in Leeds’ sorry defeat to Reading on Saturday.

In a matter of months, White has played more times for Leeds than he had in three previous years as a member of their squad.

The Republic of Ireland, too, have warmed to him suddenly.

So compelling is his form — Saturday aside — that Noel King, the Republic’s U21 coach, recently said the 20-year-old was “one of the first names on my teamsheet” — high praise for a footballer who appeared on King’s radar for the first time this summer.

White’s reawakening is in keeping with his unheralded emergence from United’s academy in 2008. At the time he had no profile or reputation; the archetypal faceless schoolboy. Few in Leeds had heard his name or seen him play.

Gary McAllister, then the club’s manager, introduced the public to a diminutive 16-year-old during a reserve game between Leeds and Huddersfield Town. Both teams were flooded with senior players but discussions afterwards centred on the meekly-built left-back whose speed and aggression stole the show.

In his short time as a professional, White’s pace has been his prime asset. It began a debate (as yet unsettled) about whether someone so explosively quick should be tied to a defensive role or let loose on the left wing.

King’s persistence in fielding White as a winger while Simon Grayson, the current Leeds manager, employs him at full-back serves only to muddy the waters.

Yet pace alone was not enough to induct White into United’s line-up and keep him there indefinitely. Within days of his marauding display against Huddersfield, McAllister gave him his senior debut in a Carling Cup tie against Crystal Palace.

An exemplary league debut at Carlisle United followed. The swift elevation asked much of White and he was dropped after toiling in a 3-1 defeat at Millwall, his fifth league start in-a-row.

Complicating his development was persistent cramp, something White blamed on nervous tension arising before matches. It did not help either that when Grayson replaced McAllister in December of 2008, White was suffering from an ankle injury which refused to heal quickly.

Prior to this season, Grayson had used him on just 18 occasions and 10 of those as a substitute. White finished last season on loan at Oldham Athletic.

On his return in July, signs of maturity were noticeable. His physique was no longer that of stick-thin youngster but rather that of an athlete. Crucially, the increase in bulk did not lessen his pace. Grayson continued to look elsewhere for a left-back, selecting Ben Parker and trialists Boldizsar Bodor and Jlloyd Samuel at stages of pre-season and asking centre-back Darren O’Dea to play there at Southampton on the first day of the English term. While Leeds were losing 3-1 on the south coast, White featured in a low-key friendly against non-league club Farsley Celtic.

But with Grayson grasping for a reliable defence, White’s chance came against Hull 10 days later. Since then he has become a versatile fixture in the club’s line-up — defensively sound but willing and able to join the midfield, often to hasten United’s attacks in times of crisis. The scope for improvement lies in White’s decision-making and the precision of his final ball.

Proof of his rising stock is Leeds’ on-going attempt to extend a contract which expires in June. White rejected their initial offer and cannot be sure of his future at Elland Road.

With the Republic’s U21s, meanwhile, he is now ingrained, described by King as a “revelation” and tipped by him to win a full cap.

For it to come in Poland or Ukraine next summer would be truly remarkable.