Leeds United haven’t gotten off to the best of starts this season. They’ve won just one Premier League game so far and they’ve got the third-worst defensive record in the division.
There are a number of issues you could blame this on. Second-season syndrome, the infamous Bielsa burnout or just a general drop-off in quality, but the actual problem could be much more obvious than any of those potential factors.
Indeed, to put it bluntly, Leeds have had absolutely no luck with injuries, especially in defence.
Diego Llorente has missed plenty of games, Robin Koch is still out while Luke Ayling recently had surgery on his knee.
Factor in a three-game suspension for Pascal Struijk earlier this season and Liam Cooper’s long-term fitness issues and you can see just how precarious of a position Leeds’ defence is in.
The fact that Jamie Shackleton has had to be utilised at right-back and Charlie Cresswell has had to start several games this season shows just how disastrous this crisis has been, but perhaps it could have been avoided if they didn’t release Gaetano Berardi at the end of last season.
Now, we’re not going to argue that Berardi would have been able to fix every problem Leeds have had this season in their defence, but he would have been able to provide cover and experience across the back four.
With all due respect to Cresswell and Shackleton, they’re inexperienced, and with Leeds struggling at the beginning of the season, they’ve had a tough task and have thrown in at the deep end.
Perhaps Berardi’s experience would have helped Leeds in some of these games rather than the youthful energy provided by Cresswell and Shackleton.
The Swiss defender is still a free agent, so maybe, just maybe, we haven’t seen the last of him at Elland Road. After all, Bielsa rates him very highly describing him as a ‘complete’ player back in May.
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