Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has urged Leeds United to stick with goalkeeper Illan Meslier despite another error-strewn performance against Swansea City yesterday afternoon.
The Whites began the day in second place in the Championship following Sheffield United’s win over Coventry City on Friday night. Three points at Elland Road would’ve seen Daniel Farke’s side return to the summit ahead of what is shaping up to be a nail-biting end to the season.
Another victory looked a formality when Brenden Aaronson bagged the opener in the first minute, but Swansea soon settled to stand firm. The visitors equalised through Harry Darling in the 64th minute when Meslier spilled a corner, but Willy Gnonto looked to have to have netted a late winner when he struck four minutes from time.
Swansea weren’t done though and Zan Vipotnik squeezed the ball home from a tight angle in the 96th minute, which the Leeds goalkeeper let slip through his fingers.
Merson Urges Leeds To Stick With Meslier
The draw now means that Leeds are two points behind Sheffield United. However, they are now level on points with third-placed Burnley and in danger of slipping out of the automatic promotion places.
Following the game, Meslier came under the spotlight from many fans on social media. It isn’t the first time the Frenchman has become the centre of attention, with a number of high-profile mistakes having cost his team this season. Despite that, former England international Merson believes Farke has to stick with his goalkeeper for the season run-in:
“You’ve got to just stick with him, he makes mistakes, he does make good saves, but he does make mistakes.
“This is not the first mistake that he has made this season, but he’s got good mental strength, he comes back out.
“He always puts himself in the firing line, so I have a lot of respect for him like that, it’s just one of them days, he goes from hero to villain in 70-80 minutes of football.”
Writer’s View
It was another catastrophic afternoon for Meslier and one that could prove costly in their promotion bid. With Sheffield United and Burnley consistently grinding out results, dropping into the play-offs would be nothing short of a disaster. It does appear that they have no choice but to stick with the 25-year-old for the remainder of the campaign, but it is likely that a new shot stopper will be recruited in the summer.
