Is Ben White an upgrade on former Leeds United defender Pontus Jansson?
Danny Mills has told talkSPORT that Leeds United’s Ben White is an upgrade on Pontus Jansson.
United signed the Brighton & Hove Albion defender on a season-long loan this past summer and suffice to say that he’s a huge hit with fans of the Elland Road club.
The 21-year-old has started and finished all eight of Leeds’ Championship games and is a big reason as to why Marcelo Bielsa’s side have the best defence in the division, having conceded just five times.
One of the players who White has replaced in West Yorkshire is Pontus Jansson, who joined Brentford after the youngster’s arrival.
And Mills is confident that the ‘exceptional’ defender is a better option for Leeds than the Sweden international.
He told talkSPORT: “His biggest problem was he wanted to be a folk hero at Leeds. He wanted to be that type of player, whipping fans into frenzy and not solely concentrating on football.
“I think Leeds have been fortunate that they’ve got Ben White who I think is an upgrade. He’s been exceptional and Player of the Month in the last couple of weeks. He’s been superb.”
Mills definitely has a point about Jansson wanting to be a folk hero, and to be fair he was for the three seasons that he spent at Elland Road.
You don’t earn the popularity he did among Leeds fans without being an excellent player and he was for the most part, but White seems to go about his job less quietly but no less effectively and it’s fascinating to see how he will develop under a coach like Marcelo Bielsa.
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