Former Leeds United goalkeeper Paul Robinson has heaped praise on Kiko Casilla following his improvement this season compared to last.

Kiko Casilla signed for Leeds in January last season and came with a strong reputation as part of the Real Madrid squad that won three Champions League titles while he was there. However, one problem that this presented was that Casilla was a sporadic feature of the side as he warmed the bench at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Due to his lack of action before making the move to West Yorkshire, Casilla was visibly rusty in his first half-season at Elland Road, making a handful of costly errors and lapses in judgement which ultimately saw Leeds crumble in the automatic promotion race and play-off semi-final.

These high-profile blunders led to many questioning his future under Marcelo Bielsa, but Casilla began this season determined to atone for his errors, which he has done superbly by boasting the best record in the Championship after 21 games. The Spaniard has conceded a staggeringly low 10 goals and kept 12 clean sheets already, streets ahead of the next best ‘keeper David Raya at Brentford.

Speaking to MOT Leeds News, Paul Robinson outlined the transformation that Casilla has undergone over the summer, where he said: “I’ve criticised him at times but Casilla is the most improved player in the team this season.

“I’ve spoken about the impact [Ben] White and [Kalvin] Phillips have made for Leeds, but Casilla has really grown into the Championship and improved.

“He used to have trouble with high balls, at times he still does. One issue he’s still got is that his depth perception for through balls is off.

“But I feel the way he has knuckled down and adapted his game… he made a save just before Leeds scored the other day, which was absolutely vital.”

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The Verdict

Robinson is spot on in his assessment of Casilla. While he has been somewhat shaky in some scenarios where he needs to make quick decisions, he has been exceptional for Leeds in all aspects of his game.

Casilla is one of Leeds’ most important players in the current system, with commanding presence filtering into the defence along with superb distribution from the back.