Javi Gracia defends Illan Meslier recent form, should start for Leeds United v Fulham
Javi Gracia has backed Illan Meslier to overcome his recent poor form, and he is expected to start for Leeds in their Premier League clash with Fulham on Saturday (22 April).
The French goalkeeper has conceded 11 goals in his last two appearances in defeats to Crystal Palace and Liverpool, taking his total tally for the season up to 60 – more than anyone else in the league.
But despite some calls about whether he should keep his place in the side, Gracia defended the 23-year-old and said the results weren’t due to him while speaking in his pre-match press conference.
“If we’ve conceded 11 goals in the last two games, it’s not because of the goalkeeper,” he said, in response to a question about Meslier’s for, as quoted by LeedsLive.
According to BBC Sport journalist Adam Pope, it’s expected that Meslier will keep his place and start against Fulham.
Right decision
Obviously Meslier hasn’t been at his best in recent weeks, and as a team Leeds concede far too many goals.
But dropping Meslier only means that a goalkeeper who has barely featured this year will have to come in in his place, but they’re also definitely not as good as him.
His reflexes are excellent, as is his distribution, and there is no doubting that our defensive record would be even worse without him with some of the saves he has made during this campaign.
The manager is showing great belief in him not only because he trusts him to do the job, but because he is by far and away our best chance of survival between the sticks.
If we can get Meslier back to his best it will greatly boost our chances of results and avoiding relegation, and then potentially the club can look at the goalkeeper situation for next year if they feel a change is needed.
In other Leeds news, a “significant” relegation clause update emerged after the defeat to Liverpool.