Leeds United had to adapt to life without Kalvin Phillips on Tuesday as the midfielder missed the first of three matches due to suspension after his red card against QPR earlier this month.
Marcelo Bielsa stated that his plan was to play Ben White in defensive midfield against Millwall, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
Indeed, the Whites lined up with Stuart Dallas in the midfield to begin with, while White played at centre-back.
With so much chopping and changing in the defence you’d expect to see Gaetano Berardi in the mix somewhere, but he wasn’t even on the bench on Tuesday.
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Bielsa’s decision
The Argentine knew that he’d have to line up a little differently to usual on Tuesday due to Phillips’ absence, and the idea of playing White in midfield had certainly floated through his thoughts.
With that in mind, you’d expect him to at least pick Berardi for a spot on the bench as he can competently cover at left-back, centre-back and right-back, but he wasn’t in the matchday squad at all.
The Swiss defender hadn’t been reported as injured after the manager confirmed there were no new injury updates during his pre-match press conference.
We can’t explain why he wasn’t involved, but it does seem to say a lot about his future.
End of the line
It seems as though Berardi’s days at Elland Road may be numbered.
There have been reports that his contract won’t be renewed at the end of the season, and this snub seems to cement the idea that the 5 foot 10 man is not a part of Bielsa’s plans going forward.
With Phillips suspended, a reshuffle was needed at the back, and an injury during the game could have forced Bielsa into tinkering even further, and he chose to neglect a man in his squad who is experienced in both full-back positions as well as at centre-half.
It doesn’t make much sense, but it certainly doesn’t bode well for Berardi’s future – especially if Leeds get promoted and need new recruits to compete.
In other news, Leeds fans have been drooling over one man after Tuesday’s game.
