Bielsa defends making Casilla Leeds captain despite racism verdict
Marcelo Bielsa has defended his politically freighted decision to name Kiko Casilla as the Leeds captain for the Carabao Cup defeat against Hull Wednesday night, maintaining it was a move fully endorsed by the Spaniard’s teammates.
The former Real Madrid goalkeeper received an eight-match Football Association ban and £60,000 fine in February after being found guilty of racially abusing the forward Jonathan Leko in a game against Charlton last September.
The charge was upheld on balance of probability by an independent Football Association regulatory commission and some fans were outraged to see Casilla handed the armband. Casilla has said the verdict was not “a true reflection” of the incident and that he would never use “words with a racist meaning”.
“I interpreted the feeling of his teammates,” said Bielsa after Casilla marked his first appearance of the season by filling the role usually assumed by the injured Liam Cooper. “His teammates think he deserved to be the captain and we have to listen to those messages. The players see in their captain someone they feel can represent them.”
The Leeds manager had a degree of sympathy for the dissenters but suggested the critics may not represent a majority of supporters and that they were not fully conversant with Casilla’s situation. “I cannot deny that the captain not only represents his teammates but he also represents the club,” said Biesla. “And of course we also value the conduct of Kiko, which we can only judge because we are part of the group. Surely the public won’t have all the information that his teammates have?
“I respect the opinions of any person but, after that, opinions can be argued. The opinion of the masses should always be heard but I don’t know if you know what percentage of fans it is?”
Although Bielsa stopped short of disputing the FA commission’s verdict, the decision to invest Casilla with the armband was clearly pointed. “When you are subject to what other people judge you for, what other people think, it doesn’t matter what we think, we have to accept the decision of the authorities,” said Bielsa.
There had been speculation that Casilla would leave Leeds this summer but the 33-year-old – who appears to have lost his league starting place to the 20-year-old French goalkeeper Illan Meslier – appears to be very much part of Bielsa’s plans.