Video: '˜Quiet Man' Berardi targets home comforts with Leeds United

Leeds United's Gaetano Berardi with a cut on his eye at Turf Moor on Tuesday night. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA

IF SOMEONE cared to explain the meaning of the English phrase '˜Jeykll and Hyde' to Gaetano Berardi and his Italian wife, chances are that they would nod their heads quickly in unison.

Sometimes, appearances can be deceptive.

A ferocious competitor on the pitch, Berardi is unassuming and quietly-spoken off it.

Confrontation is in the Swiss defender’s DNA.

It was there for all to see on his return from a dislocated shoulder in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Turf Moor when he copped a nasty cut just below his right eye following an incident at a corner with a Burnley rival. An occupational hazard perhaps.

Off the pitch, Berardi goes about his business under the radar like several Leeds ‘hard men’ of yore. Think David Batty and you get the drift.

You sense that Berardi prefers to shun the limelight and that he is someone who likes nothing better than spending quiet time with his wife after straining every sinew in his workplace – in training and on matchdays.

On those competitive tendencies, Berardi – hoping to make his return to the fray in the league this afternoon with his last appearance coming on the opening day of the season at Bolton Wanderers – said: “I have been like this since I have been very young and I go to the situations (on the pitch).

Leeds's Gaetano Berardi battles for the ball with Burnley's Ashley Barnes on Tuesday night at Tuf Moor. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA

“But not every time, not if I go into the city centre.

“I am very quiet with the people, but available to speak – no problem.

“But I am always ready to go in every difficult (pitch) situation and in every session. I try to be hard as it is my style. If I am not hard, I can’t play football maybe.

“My wife knows better about this. But she can say that I am very quiet.”

Like United head Thomas Christiansen, Berardi is loathe to make outlandish predictions and will not get carried away following Leeds’s exhilarating start to the season, but he has opted to make one telling prediction.

Namely that the ‘war wound’ that he was sporting this week after catching an elbow from a Burnley player on Tuesday probably will not be his last during his time at United, whose fans see the Swiss as a kindred spirit.