Illan Meslier has, in the opinion of Sky Sports pundit Jobi McAnuff, been “reborn” at Leeds United under Daniel Farke.
This is true even though Leeds lost 1-0 to Sunderland last night, dropping them to 10 points behind Ipswich Town and possibly 11 behind Leicester City should they defeat Millwall tonight.
Similar to October’s midweek loss to Stoke City, Leeds struggled for the majority of the game, and Meslier had to save his team’s bacon with a brilliant save from a corner in the first half.
Speaking live on Sky Sports News, McAnuff praised Meslier’s save profusely and said it exemplified how he has been “reborn” as a player this season.
“Alex Pritchard made a fantastic delivery into the box,” he remarked. Jenson Seelt receives a header, but Meslier makes an incredible save here. complete stretch.
As you can see, there’s good contact, and he crosses the goal and extracts it with a claw. Amazing goalkeeping performance; this season has truly seen a rebirth for him.
Meslier getting better but not coming back
Meslier made a tremendously impressive stop, which Kevin Phillips, a fellow Sky Sports pundit, referred to as “world class.”
Though there have been indications of improvement, McAnuff is undoubtedly not reborn, so there is still a long way to go before what he has said is accurate.
It’s possible to argue that Meslier contributed to Jobe Bellingham’s winning goal because the Sunderland player was able to score with a header from inside the six-yard box because he was too rooted to his line.
Last night’s game perfectly encapsulated Meslier’s performance over the past few months; he consistently produces saves like the one he made at Leicester City.
However, he still has trouble controlling his area. If he had been more comfortable stepping off the line, Leeds might have drawn even and Bellingham might not have scored.
