Illan Meslier: Sam Allardyce weighs in on Leeds United's goalkeeper conundrum ahead of Luton Town clash
Daniel Farke has some huge decisions to make when Leeds United face Luton Town this weekend.
His side have wobbled in recent weeks, sparking fears among supporters there will be a repeat of last year’s capitulation in the Championship promotion race.
Illan Meslier, Leeds’ first-choice goalkeeper for the bulk of the last five years, has come under fire for a series of blunders.
Pressure mounted on the 25-year-old at the weekend, when he made two mistakes that led to goals against Swansea City.
The only manager to have dropped Meslier since the Frenchman took the number one spot in 2020 is Sam Allardyce.
He moved Joel Robles up the pecking order following his appointment in 2023, giving the Spanish veteran the gloves as the Whites battled in vain to retain their Premier League status.
Speaking on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce has urged his successor to follow his lead and take Meslier out of the spotlight.
He said: “I dropped him straight away. I’d watched the previous games before I came in, and the staff were telling me that he was a great goalkeeper, but he was having a crisis.
“We all know the two most important people are your goalscorer and your goalkeeper, so he went out of the team straight away.
“He didn’t take it well, a bit of sulking and so on, but it had to be done because it was harming him, it was going to make him worse leaving him in, even though he was going to be disappointed being left out as he had quite a big reputation by then.
“It needs to be done, it’s a hard decision as well choosing goalkeepers. What you worry about with other keepers sat on the bench for so long, is that they can’t be as good as they are. It doesn’t matter how much training they do.
“It’s a decision you have to make and you hope you’ve made the right one, but it wasn’t a difficult decision based on the errors Meslier had made previously.
“He’s got a long hard journey coming back to be what everybody knows he is now, we see the same with outfield players. Once they jump on him, the lad’s confidence can be destroyed, especially as a goalkeeper.”
Karl Darlow is Leeds’s second-choice stopper but has not made a single league appearance for the Whites this term. He has, however, become the Wales national team’s number one.
Homegrown goalkeeper Alex Cairns is third in the pecking order and has not appeared for the Whites since his return to Elland Road last summer.