There have been moments for Illan Meslier at Leeds United. His save to deny John Lundstram at Bramall Lane in 2020, the claw to keep out Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall last season, the nine increasingly better stops at Anfield in 2022’s 2-1 win.
This is a goalkeeper who has looked like one of the club’s crown jewels since arriving, initially on loan, in 2019. After promotion, his was one of the most important signatures Victor Orta, then the director of football, wanted. One year after that transfer, Meslier was signing his current five-year deal, having played a key role in the run to ninth in the Premier League.
His potential was plain to see from day one. Five months on the bench ended when he got his bow at Arsenal in the FA Cup in January 2020. The then-19-year-old’s display left Marcelo Bielsa purring.
“The way he played is very positive for us looking at the future because, when the team controlled the match, he managed the ball well and, when the team was controlled by the opponent, he offered good, top-level answers,” the head coach said at the time.
But since he signed that contract in 2021, there has been an obvious overall decline. In 2021-22, which began with Bielsa and ended with Jesse Marsch, Meslier let more saveable goals in than any other top-flight goalkeeper. According to FBref, Meslier conceded 16.2 more goals than he should have based on expected goals. Norwich City’s Tim Krul was second, with 11.7.
In 2022-23, the season that ended in relegation, the same database said there were 12.4 goals Meslier should have saved. Only Southampton’s Gavin Bazunu performed worse. This is not a statistic driven by the team’s wider performances. Shots were being let in that a goalkeeper is expected to save.
Sam Allardyce’s decision to replace Meslier with Joel Robles for the final four matches of that relegation season spoke volumes. Nobody would have been surprised if he found an exit, like so many others, in that summer after the drop. He stayed, however, and made it his mission to return the club to the top flight.
Meslier was dropped as Leeds were relegated (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Daniel Farke threw his support behind the goalkeeper last year and has not wavered in that despite adding Karl Darlow, a proven Championship stopper. The stats improved for Meslier last season, though the data still said he conceded 3.1 more goals than he should have.
Farke chose to stand by Meslier with more force than ever before last week. Fresh from three goals that left egg on the No 1’s face, the manager could not have been more forthright. It would be some U-turn if Darlow now started against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
Marcos Abad was United’s goalkeeping coach from Meslier’s first day in 2019 until his own departure in 2023. Nobody at Thorp Arch knows the former Lorient man better. Speaking to The Athletic, Abad endorses Farke’s public support for Meslier.
“When you are watching the training with Illan, you don’t have any doubt he is the No 1,” he said. “His potential is super. The team-mates know the level he put on the pitch.
“In the last action of the last game (against Hull City), he tried to save the corner and put the ball in front of him and the deflection or the bounce gives an advantage to the attacker. If you make two or three (mistakes) in a row like this, everybody points at you, but when you know the level of the goalkeeper you have… it’s very difficult to make a change when you know this goalkeeper can save one ball that is impossible for the No 2.
“The doubts about the goalkeeper are ridiculous because the level is so high.”
Farke mentioned Meslier’s decision to remain with Leeds after relegation, the goalkeeper’s rejection of transfer offers and desire to return United to the top table. Abad’s advice was different.
“If he left the club two summers ago, I’m sure he would be playing in the Premier League in another team,” he said. “This is the situation, but the pressure of Leeds now means every single detail that is not perfect is going to be pointed (out). My advice was maybe you had to leave, but he wanted to stay, to be promoted again with Leeds.
“I understand (his decision), but, sometimes, as a goalkeeper, it’s important to know when you have to leave because, if not, it’s like every single action is going to be analysed very deeply.
“This is not healthy. This is not helpful.
“The support of the manager (though) is very good. (Farke is) doing amazing, supporting him and leaving everyone’s doubts and the gossip behind.”
Andy Lonergan, Wigan Athletic’s player/goalkeeping coach, has made 352 appearances across his career between the sticks, with 42 of those across two spells with Leeds. He understands the pressures of being a goalkeeper, but, more importantly, of life at Elland Road. The 41-year-old also felt Farke did the right thing last week.
“Ideally, you get confidence (from those comments),” he told The Athletic. “If the manager has come out and backed him that much, he’s going to feel a million dollars. You can play with freedom then. If you’re always looking over your shoulder, you can get a bit edgy.
Meslier saving a shot against Middlesbrough (George Wood/Getty Images)
“When you start thinking, ‘Is the manager having me, is he not?’ it becomes a bit of a problem as a No 1. I had it a bit in my second spell. Felix (Wiedwald) was playing. We kept winning. Then we went to Millwall away, got beat 1-0, first defeat, and the manager was really critical of him.
“I was friends with Felix, I got on really well with him, but I felt he wasn’t cut out for that league. That was my opinion. The manager was really digging him out and I’m thinking, after one loss and going seven unbeaten, ‘Wow, it’s a bit harsh’.
“After that, Felix sort of doubted himself.”
Farke’s decision to stick with Meslier virtually ends the Darlow narrative building. If it’s not going to be a different face between the sticks, the next step is ensuring Meslier moves forward, improves and stops costing the team points.
Farke discussed how self-critical Meslier is last week. Abad feels he always showed the character to move forward from poor displays and focus on the future.
“When they (the fans) say he’s the ice man, for me, it’s more than ice man,” he said. “(When he was) only 19 years old, (he played) against Arsenal at the Emirates in the FA Cup. The way he played this game, playing with the feet, amazing. He gave an amazing performance in a defensive point of view in a top-level situation.
“This shows that he developed a strong mentality, but he knows what he has to do in each moment according to what we prepared. He likes reviewing everything to know what the point is in each clip, in each play.
“He never showed the next day that he is affected too much by what is happening. He always looks forward, he always tries to see the next game and it’s what we created together. This is my feeling because, always, we say the best action is in the next drill, in the next game, in the next minute.
“This is how you have to build your strong mentality. You can be frustrated. It was hard work, what we did with that, because he came after being the boss in his old team in France. Here, he has to show a different mentality — everything was new.
“The challenge was bigger and we were creating this mentality, very strong. This is my feeling about his massive strength: he faced everything thinking that the best is coming.”
Meslier will have benefitted from Farke’s backing (Cameron Smith/Getty Images)
Current goalkeeping coach Ed Wootten and fellow stoppers Darlow and Alex Cairns will have been important voices in Meslier’s ear over the past 10 days. Sources at Thorp Arch, kept anonymous to protect relationships, have repeatedly talked up Cairns’ role behind the scenes. He was, memorably, the teenager thrown on for his debut during one of the most chaotic nights of goalkeeping Elland Road has seen.
Lonergan was watching on from the stands, with a fractured finger, when his backup, Paul Rachubka, conceded three goals in one half against Blackpool in November 2011. All three were the goalkeeper’s fault. He was withdrawn at the break by Simon Grayson.
Cairns is homegrown and experienced. Some inside the club would not be surprised if he was still here in 10 years, playing the role of a third-choice goalkeeper, as Scott Carson has done at Manchester City.
Lonergan rates Darlow, but reiterates the point that Farke sees all the goalkeepers in training. Regardless of that, Lonergan has long admired what he has seen in Meslier.
“Meslier is a Premier League goalkeeper in my eyes,” he said. “He won’t think twice about those mistakes. I don’t know him. I’ve never met him, but from just watching him, I don’t think it’ll stop him from doing what he’s good at.
“With a lot of goalkeepers, you can see when they made a mistake, they are more safe. It’s like ‘I’ll limit the mistakes rather than carry on affecting the game’. Meslier is fantastic. I loved him in the Premier League. He’s an absolutely brilliant goalkeeper.”
As the manager, Farke is paid to make big decisions like this with Meslier. He doubled down last week because he sees that as the best route for the club to promotion. Ultimately, the German knows if it’s the hill he and promotion die on where the finger of blame will point.
(Top photo: Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
