The dust has began to settle at Leeds United following their play-off defeat to Derby County last month, but there is still plenty to sort out at Elland Road over the course of the summer. Â
Leeds are licking their wounds and plan to go again, but the future of Kiko Casilla is up in the air after an indifferent impact at Elland Road following his arrival from Real Madrid.
Phil Hay at the Yorkshire Evening Post has admitted heâs expecting Casilla to depart, noting the 32-year-oldâs big wages as a problem.
In addition to that, Casilla endured a horrific evening in that play-off semi-final defeat to Derby, with his collision with Liam Cooper gifting the Rams a route into the tie at a time when Leeds were winning 2-0 on aggregate.
Casillaâs error was the catalyst for Derbyâs comeback, with the Rams going on to win 4-3 on aggregate and reach Wembleyâs play-off final.
That was just a short part of Casillaâs Leeds career, and here, we take a look at the Spaniardâs impact in our latest FLW Spotlight:
In 19 appearances Casilla conceded 22 goals, with seven of those coming in the final three games of the season.
He kept six clean sheets, though, leaving him with a 31.6% clean sheet rate.
Marcelo Bielsaâs style of play meant that Casilla had to be comfortable with the ball at his feet, and in truth, his stats make decent numbers in this area.
4.7 long balls were played on average per game, whilst the former Real Madrid man averaged 28.6 passes per game, which came at a success rate of 74.6%.
The Verdict
On the whole, Casillaâs stats donât make particularly bad reading. He was comfortable in possession and didnât concede a worrying about of goals since arriving.
However, his erratic display against Derby will take some serious time to get over. He was a wreck at the back and every time play went near Leedsâ penalty area you felt a mistake was on the horizon.
There was no trust between the back-four and the goalkeeper after Casillaâs collision with Cooper, and when the new season begins, if heâs in goal, the Elland Road faithful will be on edge.
Then, when you consider the wages that Hay mentions in his reply, a move probably needs to be sorted this summer.
Thoughts? Let us know!