Joe White signs - A new/old look Crewe Alex midfield

Crewe Alex's midfield has been a problem area for years. Ever since they lost Ryan Wintle and his controlling presence in there, they have struggled to maintain control of games. And as England have just proven, a team who can't control the tempo and pace of games isn't going to be very successful.

They've tried many things since dropping into L2 in 2022, none of which have been particularly effective. However, one of the most promising groupings they got was in 2023-24, when they had Jack Powell, Joel Tabiner, Luke Offord and, of course, Newcastle loanee Joe White. That season is remembered for how it started so well, but turned into a real struggle by the end. A large part of that was injury based. They lost Powell, Tabiner and Offord at various points to long term injuries, but them only getting White for half a season before he went back to Newcastle was a huge blow that they never recovered from. Well, they have taken steps to rectify that by bringing White back to the club permanently, on a 2 year contract. So, what to make of all this? It's universally positive right? Pretty much, but there are some caveats to the move. So, let's break it all down:

Downsides

White really struggled last season. He made just 6 appearances in League One for Leyton Orient and Bradford. For him to be back in League Two after seemingly cracking it with the Alex and MK Dons suggests his career has stalled somewhat. He was also dogged by injury whilst at Orient and there is no guarantee he is anything close to the same player he was when he left the Alex.

I also don't want to repeat previous talking points, but as I did it with Offord, I'll do it with White. Never go back still applies. We saw Crawley try to recreate their super side from 23-24 last season and it didn't go well. All the players who did so well for them in their run to promotion flopped, including Orsi, Lolos and Darcy. The Alex trying to reassemble their 23-24 squad by bringing back Offord and now White might suffer a similar fate.

This is a stretch, but does anyone remember the last player we signed permanently from Newcastle after he had initially played well on loan? Brad Inman is the answer. He was excellent in 12-13, but after coming back on a 3 year deal, he was poor in both 13-14 and 14-15. He had a good goalscoring season in 15-16, but he was in a dire team, so I'm loathe to give him too much credit. I really hope White avoids a similarly ignominious fate in his 2nd spell at the Alex.

Upsides

Let's be real here, those points I raised above are stretches. This, like Offord, feels like a slam dunk signing. First let's take a look at his career in it's entirety. He had a slow start to his life as a senior pro with so-so spells at Hartlepool and Exeter, but his time at the Alex was superb. I'll always remember his display at the previously unbeaten Mansfield in January of 2024, where he ran the show.

He then went back to Newcastle, where Eddie Howe thought highly enough of him to keep him in the matchday squad and even bring him off the bench 4 times. His loan at MK Dons in 24-25 was a seemingly productive one, with 6 goals and 2 assists registered. That in turn got him a move to L1 last season. It's fair to say that had he not got a serious injury early into his loan spell at Orient that his 25-26 might have gone very differently. At 23, he's still of a good age to develop and kick on and recapture the football we saw at Gresty Road.

What makes this an even more impressive bit of business is that he's returned on a 2 year permanent deal. That means that should he kick on as we all hope he will, the Alex could potentially cash in on him in 12 months time. White spoke in his initial interview about him wanting to play for Lee Bell and return to the club, much like Luke Offord. He spoke about finding a home, which I've always felt young players contracted to big PL clubs should strive for should it become clear their path to the first team at said clubs is blocked.

White can now focus on his career properly. He's come back to a club where he is known, liked and where the fans will be fully behind him from the get go.

Wider Impact

The bigger question of course is how he fits into the Alex's squad. Pretty well is the answer. His addition transforms what up until a few weeks ago looked to be a lightweight midfield group. He slots in alongside Conor Thomas, Owen Lunt, hopefully Luke Offord(should he not get stuck playing at CB), hopefully Luca Moore(once he signs his new deal) and Owen Taylor. That now looks to be a well rounded group. You have Thomas and Offord that can play the number 6 roles, being the defensive enforcers. Lunt and White can be the number 8 box-to-box players who are technically strong and can pop in a few goals and assists. Moore and Taylor will surely see their roles become more defined as the season progresses.

White adds a fair amount of technical ability and most importantly, goal scoring and creativity to the middle. It now gives the Alex a group of midfield players that seem to be perfectly balanced and most all, deep enough to cope with 1-2 injuries. 4 starting options, 1 as bench depth and the 6th as an emergency back up. Heck, throw in Holicek and Tabiner in there as more emergency options and it's hard not to be happy with how they are now shaping up in the most crucial area of the pitch.

Conclusion

However, without wanting to end what has been a mostly positive piece with a cold slap of reality, we need to acknowledge that the squad is still far from being ready to start the season. They are still 4 signings short of where they need to be, which is 1 striker and 3 defenders(RB/CB/LB). And those signings are likely to be loanees if the current financial state of the club is accurate. Loanees as we all know can go either way. You can hit on players like Tommi O'Reilly and Emre Tezgel, or miss on players like Jay Mingi. We also know that whilst they can add high levels of talent, they also usually lack experience

On top of this, there are still major issues when trying to construct an opening day XI, because with Dancey and Billington still yet to sign their new deals, they still don't have any natural RBs tied down. The Accrington game is now just 3 weeks away. Time is slowly ticking away and whilst they've done well to snag Gibson, Offord and now White, they have just 20 players contracted and able to play once the season commences.

White's addition is a big boost, just like Offord's was. But they badly, badly need more bodies in the door and quick.