The tale of the left back position at Elland Road continues to rumble on, with Gaetano Berardi today admitting “the team needs better than me” in that position. Phil Hay from the Yorkshire Evening Post reported the honest story from Berardi, although the Swiss defender say he will continue as long as Christiansen asks.
It’s fair to say that at left back Gaetano Berardi is a bit awkward. Most noticeably for me he can get caught out of position on the left where he doesn’t on the right. He often tucks inside naturally and that can cause him a problem. In terms of effort and commitment not one person will ever tell me Berardi isn’t right and the top of the pile, but today he admitted that the team probably need a new left back at some stage. With Vurnon Anita a central midfielder, turned right back he isn’t ideal for the left back position and despite being very talented Cameron Borthwick-Jackson clearly isn’t doing something right behind the scenes.
Berardi joined Leeds as one of the first Massimo Cellino signings and early indications were he wouldn’t last too long. Some bizarre tackles and disciplinary issues cost not just him but the team and eventually he was left out. After a while and into a new year he was recalled by Neil Redfearn, with Sam Byram pushing into the midfield. His performances improved and by the start of the next season he was one of our more consistent performers. The same went for the season after, and then last season he took the place of “injured” Charlie Taylor and became first choice left back. He’s a cult hero at Leeds United and nobody can question that, but he should be competing at right back in an ideal world.
