Neil Warnock ‘disappointed’ as Illan Meslier footage drops at Leeds United
Neil Warnock was far from happy as Leeds United crashed to defeat against Portsmouth on Sunday.
The Whites travelled to Fratton Park on 9 March and fell to their first Championship defeat since late November after Colby Bishop’s second half strike sealed a 1-0 win.
Daniel Farke‘s side didn’t go without their chances as Joel Piroe missed two clear-cut opportunities with one coming in each half.
Junior Firpo also missed two excellent chances, but the result ultimately rested on one moment which frustrated Warnock.
Warnock slams Illan Meslier for mistake v Portsmouth
The Frenchman has come under serious pressure this season for a catalogue of goalkeeping errors.
Meslier faced the most criticism for his error against Sunderland but has continued to frustrate supporters for lapses in concentration.
This was arguably the case once again against Pompey as Bishop went through on goal and was able to lift the ball over the onrushing 25-year-old.
The frustration comes when fans were subjected to replays and saw the keeper make a forward run before stepping back and forward, clearly unable to make a decision.
This was picked out on Sky Sports Football (9 March, 2:19 pm) by Warnock who was frustrated by Meslier and his lack of conviction.
He said: “I just think he could have come the first time. I think if his positioning was towards the edge of the box, where I think it should have been, I think he would have got to it easily.
“I was disappointed with the goal from his point of view.”
Leeds United stumble v Portsmouth
It is safe to say that the Whites were far from good enough at Fratton Park and were ultimately impacted by the atmosphere and physicality of the home side.
Things could have been so much different if Dan James had been awarded a first half penalty but that shouldn’t come as an excuse.
Piroe missed two excellent chances, the second of which was an open goal after Nicolas Schmid had been left stranded inside his box.
With that being said, sometimes a team needs to rely on its keeper to keep them in games when goals aren’t flowing and Meslier didn’t do that on the south coast.
| Stat | Illan Meslier v Portsmouth |
| Saves | 2 |
| Expected goals faced | 0.23 |
| Long ball accuracy (%) | 21 |
| Acted as sweeper | 0 |
Ultimately, the performance just wasn’t good enough from anyone in yellow and even with the Dutchman’s misses, Farke’s men were undeserving of anything from the game.
Questions will be asked of the Leeds striker and his teammate Meslier but there was always a goal coming for Pompey, it was just a question of whether the away side could cancel it out.