The Iceman Stayeth

Illan Meslier’s stock has been a volatile one. Kiko Casilla’s fall from grace (both in terms of the Derby play-offs and the Jonathon Leko incident) created an opportunity for someone new to wear the gloves in Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds team. A team that would become iconic. When Meslier stepped up, the giant keeper experienced almost immediate love from fans, demonstrating a far wider range of passing and more consistent playstyle than Kiko. But mistakes are inevitable when you’re trying to develop a young goalkeeper and mistakes create turbulent stock.

Meslier is now in his fifth season at Leeds so it’s easy to forget that he’s still only 23, having joined as a fresh-faced (but enormous) nineteen year old. But as his number of appearances rises, the tolerance fans have for his mistakes diminishes. This is also where context starts to matter because your goalkeeper making occasional mistakes in an otherwise great season hits very differently compared to when those mistakes are costing points Leeds sorely need.

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