‘Shocker’, ‘Terrible’ – Many Leeds fans blast player after first half ‘stinker’ v Man City
Illan Meslier was very much the hero of the day when Leeds United beat Sheffield United last weekend.
The 20-year-old Frenchman pulled off a number of world class saves that helped his side to sneak an impressive 1-0 win, and saw him personally lauded by the likes of Paul Merson and Garth Crooks.
Fast forward six days, and the stopper was coming for all sorts of stick from the Elland Road faithful during the first half against Manchester City.
The warning signs were there early on for the Whites in an opening that saw them toil against a City side who were good value for their 1-0 lead at the break.
Kevin De Bruyne struck a free-kick from an absurd distance that very nearly caught out Meslier at his near post, and were it not for the width of a post, the keeper would have had a very embarrassing howler on his top flight CV.
From that point on he looked quite shaken, and his distribution in particular left a lot to be desired.
Ordinarily, Meslier’s kicking is fairy admirable.
His short pass completion rate so far this term was 100% going into this match, as per Wyscout, but on more than one occasion he put his side under unnecessary pressure by misplacing his efforts to play out from the back.
An assured distributor is such an important part of Marcelo Bielsa’s tactical blueprint, and Meslier will be desperate to ensure that his first half performance against Pep Guardiola’s men is not repeated too many times this season.
Here are some of the best tweets from exasperated Leeds fans:
https://twitter.com/hectorswhites/status/1312430631150903299?s=20
In other Leeds United news, ‘Stunning’ – Leeds chief hails Victor Orta and scouting team for unearthing brilliant youngster.