As Leeds were being swept aside by Crawley Town last Sunday, there was one chief suspect at fault.
The Whites conceded three unanswered goals in the FA Cup and as usual, Kiko Casilla was a complete disaster.
On the chalkboard
Casilla’s time at Elland Road has been nothing short of shambolic. Considering he was signed from Real Madrid, you’d expect him to have some pedigree but he has shown anything but that in Yorkshire.
A multiple Champions League winner, Casilla is one of the most error-prone stoppers in the Premier League and his form in the Championship for Leeds was questionable.
Whether it was a calamitous error in the play-offs against Derby, a moment of madness versus Brentford or his eye-catching succession of blunders vs Crawley, mistakes seem to follow him like a bad rash.
The Spaniard is fortunate that he’s still playing for them, though. He was charged with racially abusing Jonathan Leko last term but the Whites have rather bizarrely kept the faith.
In short, he should have been out the door at the first possible opportunity.
The solution
Well, the simple resolution here is to sell him and sign a new goalkeeper. Leeds have been linked with Sam Johnstone this month but considering how important he is to West Brom, they’re better off looking for other ‘keepers.
One suitor is Seny Dieng at QPR. It’s reported that both Arsenal and the Whites are chasing his signature and judging by his performances this term, he’d be ideal at replacing the error-prone Casilla in Leeds’ squad.
Speaking about the 26-year-old in November, Rs boss Mark Warburton said: “He did really well, Seny. He went out on loan to Doncaster and had the best stats out of 92 league clubs. He has come back and been outstanding.”
Indeed, so far this term the Swiss has produced 62 saves – the fourth-highest in the English second tier. Last term, he had the third-highest save percentage in the whole of League One when he was on loan at Doncaster.
Dieng’s save success rate this campaign is 73% whereas Casilla’s was just 67% during his first season in the Championship. That goes to show just how much of an upgrade they’d land here.
Crucially, the QPR man is an assured shot-stopper and rarely makes a mistake. Leeds’ current number two, on the other hand, is littered with individual errors.
Thus, Victor Orta simply has to secure the services of Dieng this month. Illan Meslier needs a more reliable number two to offer him competition and cover. This signing would achieve exactly that.
It would also surely be the final nail in the coffin for Casilla’s time in Yorkshire. This would be utterly game-changing for Leeds. No longer would they be scared of having to replace Meslier.