Pundit exclusive: £5m Leeds ace must improve as big problem haunts Bielsa
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United
Paul Robinson has said that Illan Meslier still has work to do on crosses and set pieces, despite a growing reputation at Leeds.
Meslier signed from Lorient for just £5m in the summer after a season-long loan.
He took the gloves when Kiko Casilla was banned for racist abuse last season and since then he’s kept 13 clean sheets in 26 games.
However, set pieces have proved Leeds’ Achilles’ heel this season and Robinson believes Meslier still has to improve to become an elite all-round keeper.
Talking exclusively to MOT Leeds News Robinson said, “Don’t get me wrong, Meslier is a fantastic goalkeeper who’s come on in leaps and bounds since he came in. I rate him really highly.
“But he needs to work on his handling and set pieces.
“Being a top, top keeper comes with time, confidence and experience.
“He had that confidence against West Brom and it showed me that it’s something they’ve been working on and something he’s taken on board.
“It’s something he knows he has to make part of his game, now even more so as teams are going to target Leeds with high balls and through set-pieces.
“It’s something he’s going to have to play a huge part in as well as the back four. Against West Brom he did that.
“He wasn’t always clean with his handling and with his punching but he made the right decisions and he wasn’t afraid to keep making the right decisions even if he wasn’t always getting the right connection on the ball.”
Leeds have the worst record in the league for conceding from set-pieces but it’s something that Marcelo Bielsa has said he’s working on.
Two clean sheets and six points from the last two games will have given the whole side confidence but a different test awaits on Saturday when Leeds come up against Harry Kane.
In other Leeds United news, Talks held: Leeds contact club over move for £9m centre-mid with ‘pure technique’ – report