‘You can get a serious injury’ – Jamie Redknapp slams Leeds player after win v Burnley
Jamie Redknapp has slammed Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier for dangerously putting his knee into the back of Burnley defender Ben Mee on Sunday.
Leeds earned a narrow 1-0 victory against Sean Dyche’s side at Elland Road but the game was by no means without its controversies.
Referee Rob Jones awarded Leeds a free-kick after Mee was clattered by Meslier. Just as the whistle was blown, Ashley Barnes stuck the ball into the back of the Leeds goal after a horrible piece of goalkeeping by Meslier.
There was absolutely no ways that Mee fouled Meslier with the Burnley defender having his back to the goalkeeper. While at the same time, Meslier stuck his knee into Mee’s back.
Former Tottenham and Liverpool player Redknapp hit out at how dangerous the challenge was after the game.
“The mistake Robert Jones makes is that he blows too early. Sometimes you’ve got to let it breathe. He just comes in and takes him out. His left knee goes into the back of him,” Redknapp said on Sky Sports Main Event.
“When we think about the game has become sanitised, we talk about players jumping with their arms up in the air but for some reason we let that go when a goalkeeper decides and comes to put his knee in the back of someone’s back. You can get a serious injury doing that.
“It’s a brilliant finish as well by Ashley Barnes. And it’s the other way around if anything. Let it go and then make a decision.”
It all could have gone wrong for Leeds
If Jones had awarded the correct decision for that incident, it could have been a very different result at Elland Road on Sunday.
Meslier fouled Mee, so it should have been a penalty. And just after the whistle was blown, the ball was in the back of the net.
It’s hard to guess why Jones didn’t wait a second before blowing his whistle so he had the advantage of VAR to help make a decision.
Burnley applied a lot of pressure for the rest of the game but their lack of quality up front shone through while Leeds’ defensive strengths also came to the forefront of their performance at Elland Road.
Marcelo Bielsa has been widely criticised for not altering his style of play in recent weeks with Leeds conceding six goals against Manchester United last time out.
While we accept Burnley are no Man United, it was brilliant to see the defence finally perform well and keep a clean sheet.
However, there’s no denying that the away side should have been awarded a goal.
In other Leeds United news, fans were blown away by this player’s “MOTM” performance against Burnley.