Leeds United Defenders Will Second Guess – Former White On Illan Meslier Effect | OneFootball

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Former Leeds United defender Aidy White has pointed out that having a goalkeeper like Illan Meslier, who tends to be prone to making mistakes, can cause the defenders to second-guess their moves.

Leeds faced Swansea City in the Championship on Saturday, where despite taking the lead twice, they failed to secure three points as the game ended with a 2-2 scoreline, which resulted in the Whites dropping to second place in the league table.

Whites goalkeeper Meslier saved Josh Tymon’s penalty in the 14th mintue of the game to help Leeds manage a first-half lead, but it was due to his horrendous mistake that Swansea managed to equalise in the 64th minute with Harry Darling’s goal but later, Wilfried Gnonto gave them the lead which they again failed to capitalise on as the Swans levelled the scoreline in injury time.

Saturday was not the first time this season where Meslier has made a horrific error and a section of Leeds fans have accused the French goalkeeper of being sloppy at the back, which has cost them several points this season.

White stated that there are some goalkeepers in the game who tend to be error-prone and added that they fail to shake off that habit, making sloppy errors.

The former Leeds star pointed out that having a goalkeeper like Meslier, who tends to make bad mistakes, could result in defenders not being able to keep faith in the last man of the defence and thinks that the players in defence will start to second guess their choices more often in the game due to not having someone solid behind them.

When asked how he would feel having Meslier at the back, former Leeds defender White told BBC Radio Leeds post match (17:48): “You tend to have those ‘keepers that have a mistake in them and it sticks with them throughout their careers; some of them really struggle to shift it off.

“As a defender, when you have that behind you and not full confidence in your goalkeeper, it just puts seeds of doubt in your mind.

“Should I play it back to him? Is he going to come for this one? Is it going to cost us? It is a difficult one because you start second-guessing yourself; it is not a nice position to be in for the goalkeeper or for the defenders.”

Leeds bought in Karl Darlow from Newcastle United in the summer of 2023, but Daniel Farke has chosen to keep his faith in Meslier despite him making several mistakes during his tenure.

The Whites cannot afford to slip up anymore, as they are on the same points with third placed Burnley in the league table and it remains to be seen whether Darlow will replace Meslier in the starting line-up for the Luton Town game at the weekend.