Josh Hobbs of the All Stats Aren’t We podcast recently joined the panel on the All Leeds TV YouTube channel to discuss the club’s recent defeat at Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side were beaten 4-1 by Roy Hodgson’s Eagles, suffering their fourth defeat of the campaign. One of the goals conceded by the Whites was an own goal from Helder Costa after he deflected a cross into his own net, beating Illan Meslier at his near post and Hobbs has been discussing whether or not the 20-year-old shot-stopper should be criticised for not doing more to prevent it, as well as his recent form in general.
Former Leeds goalkeeper Nigel Martyn had criticised Meslier for his positioning in the build-up to the goal which led to Leeds heading into the interval 3-1 down.
Defending Meslier, Hobbs said: “It’s crazy, let’s look back to last season when we really saw a bad run from a goalkeeper, where literally it felt like every single shot was going through the crisp-packet hands and every single corner [he] was coming out flapping.
“At that point in time, I felt like every time we were under attack, we were likely to concede because our ‘keeper was so bad, whereas with this, I don’t think you can criticise [him] for that own goal. He was positioning himself for the cross, which is what that was – it was a cross – if it came across as it would have done, he just comes and collects it, it’s a horrible deflection.”
TIF Thoughts on Josh Hobbs’ comments regarding Illan Meslier…
Meslier’s performance at Selhurst Park, according to WhoScored, earned him a disappointing rating of 4.66/10, which is significantly lower than the 6.34/10 he has averaged in the English top flight this season. On that basis, you can understand why this particular display in isolation is being discussed, however, based on what Hobbs has had to say, we can assume he believes the Whites are still better off with the Frenchman in goal rather than Kiko Casilla, whose performances were alluded to in his comments.
Did you think Meslier was to blame for any of the goals conceded at Crystal Palace?
Yes
No
Casilla, who joined the club from Real Madrid in January 2019, was found guilty of racially abusing an opponent last season, and as a result, was required to serve an eight-match ban and fined £60,000.
Having subsequently been handed the opportunity to play as Leeds United’s number-one in February, judging by the fact Meslier has kept his place since, while Casilla has been an unused substitute in the club’s last four Premier League encounters, it could be argued that Bielsa is likely to retain his support of the 20-year-old Frenchman.