After avoiding relegation last season, Leeds United are in another battle to avoid the drop from the Premier League this season.
Jesse Marsch, who was appointed Marcelo Bielsa’s successor in February 2022, guided the Whites to 17th spot last season. The American was shown the exit door earlier this year and was replaced by Javi Gracia.
Leeds have struggled under the Spaniard, picking up 11 points from 11 games under his guidance. This has left them currently in 17th place, level on points with 18th placed Nottingham Forest.
While Leeds are going through a difficult phase, their former defender, Gaetano Berardi, has told Gianluca Di Marzio about the importance of Bielsa to him at Elland Road.
The 34-year-old spent seven years at the Yorkshire club before leaving them for free at the end of the 2020/21 season. During his time at Leeds, he played under Bielsa’s orders for three years.
“Marcelo Bielsa has been fundamental to my career. He was always attentive to detail. Even if we had played a good game the day before, the day after he would only highlight the mistakes we had made and convince you that you had played a bad game,” he said, explaining how the manager got the most from his squad.
Berardi, who is currently at AC Bellinzona, pushed the impact the Argentine had at Leeds.
“He had only been here for a few weeks and we were on retreat. With his translator he decided to get us to do an hour-long activity where we collected garbage in a park. I have to say it was very interesting. It made us understand how many sacrifices fans make to earn the cost of the ticket and come and see us,” Berardi explained.
Berardi suffered a serious injury in his last season at Leeds, when they got promoted to the Premier League. He ended up making his two league appearances because of Bielsa.
“He always pushed me to get me back because he wanted me to [Premier League] debut. But he said I had to recover well because he didn’t want me to make a bad impression. It was an important emotion. We were just a few games from the end, but it was very competitive,” he stressed.
