Gaetano Berardi has been dropped to the Leeds Under-23s for their clash against Birmingham on Monday, it has been confirmed.
Leeds announced via their official Twitter account that Berardi, 30, will start at left-back for the PDL-National final at Elland Road.
The one-time Switzerland international was an unused substitute in Marcelo Bielsa’s first team squad on Sunday as the Whites lost 3-2 against Ipswich at Portmand Road.
? | #LUFC U23s Starting XI: Miazek, Berardi, Struijk, Halme, Shackleton, McCalmont, Gotts, Bogusz, Clarke, Stevens, Edmondson pic.twitter.com/PsSYyQncki
— Leeds United (@LUFC) May 6, 2019
OPINION
It is odd that Berardi is being risked in the Under-23s. Bielsa has often sent his first team players to feature in the Under-23s to get them up to match fitness after injuries, but Berardi has played quite a lot in the last few weeks and this seems like an unnecessary risk before the play-offs get underway. Although he is better at right-back Berardi has the ability to play anywhere across the back-line, so having him available in the two semi-final showdowns with Derby could be the difference between victory and defeat if there are other injuries in the squad. Hopefully he can get through this PDL-National final unscathed. It’s going to be a frantic encounter between two strong Under-23s teams and Berardi is known for being injury-prone. Bielsa is playing a risky game here and that is not something that he should be doing right now. This could be a very bad decision by the Leeds United manager.