Gaetano Berardi reaches 100 games for the football club today, a fantastic servant and one that doesn’t look like letting up in the weeks and months to come. The Swiss full-back captains the side today, something he hasn’t done for the club before, and he’ll want to make sure it’s a day to remember.
Did anyone actually think Berardi would come this far in a Leeds United shirt? probably not. Early signs were that he was a hot-headed and ill-disciplined footballer brought in to simply make up numbers, how wrong we were. Early red cards and rash decisions weren’t exactly endearing him to the Leeds fans but as the turn of the year came, so the turn in Berardi’s Leeds United career. Starts came as Sam Byram was pushed into the midfield by Neil Redfearn and the signs were that he had learned from his early season struggle. He finished the season very well and started the next season as the first choice right-back.
Berardi seems to lose his spot over and over but he always come back into the side. Luke Ayling signed and it seemed like that would be it for him, yet he took Charlie Taylor’s place off him and didn’t give it back. He started this season at left-back and was injured, in came Vurnon Anita and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, he took it back. He was sent off at Bristol City, he took it back on return. A player I can see being a Leeds United for years to come, even if he is used as a squad player at times. Today is a big day for the side, a tricky encounter and he will want to make sure he and the side end the year in winning fashion.
