Johnny Giles has blasted Leeds United goalkeeper Kiko Casilla for his abysmal performance in the Whites’ 4-2 defeat to Derby County at Elland Road on Wednesday night.
Jack Marriott scored Derby’s opening goal with his first touch of the match when he made the most of a defensive mix-up between Casilla and Liam Cooper.
Casilla charged out of the penalty area even though Cooper seemed as though he was going to deal with the situation and clear the ball out of danger.
However the ex-Real Madrid shot-stopper seemed to put Cooper off and forced his own team-mate into a mistake that led to the goal that sparked Derby’s comeback from 2-0 down on aggregate.
Leeds legend Giles was clearly not happy with the performance of Casilla, who he blames for that goal.
“Leeds had a terrible goalkeeper, he was a bag of nerves,” Giles told Off the Ball, as shown via their official Periscope account on Thursday night.
“There was a lack of discipline also about Leeds, I’m sorry to say. The first goal was a terrible goal, the mix up with the goalkeeper. It was the goalkeeper’s fault.”
OPINION
Casilla has been a clear improvement on Bailey Peacock-Farrell for Leeds, but the Spanish goalkeeper was a total liability on Wednesday night and it was a bit of a surprise that Marcelo Bielsa didn’t substitute him off at half-time. Not long after Marriott scored for Derby, Casilla did exactly the same thing again when he charged out of his box when he really didn’t need to. It was amateurish really and not what you would expect from a 32-year-old goalkeeper who had made 43 appearances for Real Madrid and even earned a cap for Spain. Leeds are not going to get promoted this season and as harsh as it may sound, Casilla’s moment of madness is one of the big reasons as to why it is not United versus Aston Villa at Wembley in the play-off final. Leeds were in a comfortable lead until Marriott’s scored from Casilla’s blunder and that gave them the confidence they needed to go on and win.