Phil Hay has said that the communication between Leeds goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell and his defence ‘didn’t seem to be right’ in the 2-1 win over Wigan on Sunday.
Peacock-Farrell made a mistake early on, seemingly standing in the wrong position for a free-kick which Wigan scored in the 6th minute of the game.
They came back to beat Wigan but the mistake, on top of others in recent games, prompted some Leeds fans to ask Hay, senior reporter at the Yorkshire Evening Post, whether he thought Marcelo Bielsa would drop him.
He said no but did add that “it was noticeable… that the defence were chirping at him a fair amount”.
He went on to say that “communication didn’t seem to be right”.
no, not at this stage. Although it was noticeable yesterday that the defence were chirping at him a fair amount. Communication didn't seem to be right.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) November 5, 2018
OPINION
Bailey Peacock-Farrell has done a lot right for Leeds since he broke into the first-team set-up. But he’s also made a number of high-profile mistakes this season and many fans have been calling for Jamaal Blackman, the Chelsea loanee, to come in in his place. That’s not looking that likely at the moment and we think Peacock-Farrell has won as many points for Leeds as he’s lost them this season. However, communication is absolutely key between defence and goalie and if there’s something not working there it needs to be sorted out fast. Leeds aren’t scoring as many goals as they should, considering their dominance against teams like Wigan, and they don’t have leeway in games to put up with more mistakes from their keeper. It can be a pretty harsh life between the sticks, with faint praise coming if you play well and everyone coming down on you like a ton of bricks if you mess up. However, we think Peacock-Farrell still deserves his place in the Leeds line-up.