Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa has praised Kiko Casilla in Leeds Live.
Casilla is the back-up goalkeeper to Illan Meslier and has hardly played this season.
The former Real Madrid goalkeeper has played just twice in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup this campaign.
Leeds boss Bielsa has praised the 34-year-old Spaniard, and has given an insight into how he is behind the scenes.
Bielsa told Leeds Live about Casilla: “To pick another example, I valued a lot what Casilla has done in this season. The mood in which he absorbed the treatment he that had.
“And the way with a participation that was very sporadic, he collaborated with everybody. A lot of what Meslier could achieve this year is linked to how Casilla lived through it with him.
“And the way in which he collaborated with him, the ‘keepers are a group within the group with a specialist coach and the ‘keepers where they spend two hours together between the four of them, not within the 20, they need each other. The climate of the training is responsible from very few people. His support was very influential in this.”
It must be hard for a 34-year-old experienced goalkeeper to be a substitute week in and week out, especially when the player ahead of him is only 21.
Meslier is one of the best young goalkeepers in the Premier League and has done exceptionally well.
Bielsa’s comments suggest that Casilla has been very professional and has not been a problem at all for his teammates.
It is really good to know that Casilla has been so professional and has played his part in Leeds’s success this season.
Leeds are guaranteed of finishing in the Premier League top 10.
If results elsewhere go their way today, then the Whites could even end up above Arsenal and Everton.
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