Best Leeds XI since the PL

Leeds United’s best XI since the Premier League – Goalkeeper

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Leeds United have had plenty of talent arrive and depart since relegation from the Premier League back in 2004 but just who has been the best? We’ve decided to try and create our ‘best XI since the Premier League’ and we want you to vote. In a standard 4-4-2 formation, we’re going to give you a choice of five players from each position, all we need you to do is choose one out of those five. The voting poll can be found at the bottom of the last page.

Today’s position is goalkeeper – here are our five picks:

Rob Green

I know Green has only been at the club since the start of this season but just how many points has he won us this term? It’s crazy the effect he’s had on the side and the confidence he’s given the back four in front of him. I wasn’t sure he’d be our first choice when we signed him on a free transfer but he’s certainly proved me wrong, already keeping more clean sheets in 37 games than Marco Silvestri kept during the whole of last year. He recently signed an extension to his current deal which will keep him at Elland Road until the end of the 2017-18 season which is very positive news.


Kasper Schmeichel

Schmeichel has a very strong case and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him win here, despite the fact he was only at Leeds for one season. He was signed on a free transfer after agreeing to forgo the rest of his future wages at Notts County due to their financial trouble and joined Leeds in May 2010. He was very good during the season which was Leeds’ first back in the Championship since 2007, making crucial saves during his time at Elland Road and winning the SkySports Championship Player of the Month for August and the FA Cup Player of Round Three. He left Leeds to join Leicester in the summer of 2011 for a measly £1 million, a decision which was very unpopular with the fans as well as Schmeichel himself who was shocked with the decision and claimed he never wanted to leave.



Neil Sullivan

Signed in the summer of 2004, the former Wimbledon stopper enjoyed a great first season at Elland Road and was a very popular figure with the fans. He made plenty of saves, including many penalty saves during his time at Leeds. Sullivan was a key member of the side that reached the 2005/06 Championship Play-Off Final before being beaten 3-0 to Aidy Bothroyd’s Watford. The following season saw him depart for Yorkshire rivals, Doncaster Rovers. There he came back to haunt Leeds by keeping a clean sheet during the 2007-08 League One Play-Off Final. Neil recently returned to the club as the Academy Goalkeeper Coach, a position which he is still in today. In our opinion the best ‘keeper we’ve had since the Premier League days although if we are promoted this year we may well have a change of heart.



Casper Ankergren

After struggling in the ‘keeper department during the first half of the turbulent 2006/07 campaign which ultimately saw us relegated to League One for the first time in our history, Leeds signed Danish goalkeeper Casper Ankergren from Brondby. He was initially signed on loan before Leeds paid a fee for Ankergren in the summer of 2007. He firmly established himself as a fans favourite with his commitment to Leeds during the period that saw us enter administration. He was a big part of the promotion chasing sides in the 07/08 and 08/09 season before finally helping Leeds gain promotion back to the Championship in 2010. He was also in the net for our famous FA Cup victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Ankergren was released at the end of the 2009/10 season and joined Brighton – a club who he is still with at this present time. A great shout just for his commitment to the cause during the lowest point in our history.



Alex McCarthy

Finally we have Alex McCarthy. This is probably the most controversial out of the five ‘keepers simply because he played just six times for the club. At a time when Leeds were struggling, McCarthy came in on-loan and helped us get back on track after an injury to Andy Lonergan and the poor form of understudy Paul Rachubka. In his six appearances Leeds won four games, drew one and lost one, with the current Southampton stopper keeping three clean sheets. I was gutted when he left and thoroughly believe we’d have finished better had he remained at Elland Road. Probably won’t win it but a decent shout who has been better than a lot of ‘keepers we’ve had in the past 13 years.



So there’s our five choices, now it’s your turn to vote. Just who has been Leeds United’s best goalkeeper since the Premier League days?



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  • Bluesman says:

    First season for Monk as manager. He has to be the best manager ever at Leeds United, even considering the brilliant Don! Whether he will go on to achieve greatness will depend on the backing he gets, but he is certainly the best manager in the Championship, in my view, without doubt!

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