Good Morning. It's Tuesday 1st April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Farke set to stick with Meslier A snapshot doing the rounds on social media captured the raw emotions of Meslier's teammates perfectly following his dropped catch which led to Swansea's first equalizer. Joe Rothwell's disbelief, Sam Byram's despair, and Joe Rodon's exasperated gaze painted a picture of a team struggling for both form and unity. While Meslier shoulders blame for the late draw, calls for his immediate replacement are risky. Rotating goalkeepers, especially during the crucial final stretch of the season, is a gamble with potentially dire consequences. Sam Allardyce's attempt to do so during Leeds' Premier League relegation battle proved ineffective, highlighting the inherent instability such changes can bring. Is Karl Darlow, at 34, a better alternative? While he might be less prone to spectacular errors, he also might not possess the same shot-stopping ability as Meslier. It's easy to forget, in the heat of the moment, the points Meslier has single-handedly won for Leeds throughout the season. It's simply too late in the season to start introducing new faces; and that goes for the likes of Debayo and Chambers! Introducing a new shot-stopper forces the defense to adjust to unfamiliar traits, a disruptive change given Darlow's limited playing time. Consistency is key, and Meslier has demonstrated resilience throughout the season, bouncing back from errors with strong performances. While the criticism Meslier faces is justified, Farke appears likely to stick with what he knows and trusts. The upcoming summer will undoubtedly bring a new shot-stopper (and Manager) to Elland Road, but, for now Leeds fate rests in part, on Meslier's shoulders and Farke's unwavering support. please log in to view this image Could Joseph's fresh legs make a difference Joel Piroe arrived at Leeds United with a reputation for goals, and for much of the season, he has lived up to it. With a respectable 15 goals and 6 assists to his name, the Dutch forward has been a key figure in Daniel Farke's attacking setup. However, recent form has cast a shadow over his starting position, raising the question: is it time for Piroe to take a seat on the bench, and spend some time as an impact sub? The stark fact is that Piroe has only managed to find the net once in his last seven appearances for Leeds. While his overall season tally remains impressive, this current drought is concerning, particularly for a player expected to be a consistent source of goals. What's more, Piroe has been a constant fixture in Farke's starting XI throughout this period, playing full 90 minutes in each of those seven games. The dip in Piroe’s output coincides with a crucial stage of the season, where every point is vital for Leeds United’s promotion ambitions. A striker misfiring at this juncture naturally attracts attention and scrutiny. This leads to the inevitable consideration of alternatives, and in this case, Matteo Joseph and veteran forward Patrick Bamford, who is nearing a return to full fitness. Joseph, a younger and less experienced option, has pace, energy, and a willingness to run the channels, offering a different dynamic upfront. Could a start for Joseph inject fresh impetus into the Leeds attack? Resting Piroe might not only give Joseph a valuable opportunity to impress but also allow him to recharge his batteries, both physically and mentally, and perhaps rediscover his scoring touch from the bench with thirty minutes spare to go. Of course, dropping a player with Piroe’s goalscoring record is a significant decision but Leeds need fresh legs, and Piroe could do with a much-needed breather. The Whites have netted 78 times already his season, 19 more than nearest rivals Boro so have plenty of goal-scoring options from within their squad. please log in to view this image
Good morning everyone Can’t understand the fear of dropping Meslier who is one of the the worst or if not the worst keeper in this division, Ell talks about him coming strong after blunders, but when keeping the clean sheets, the defence are realy on top of their game, keeping the oppo to very few shots, but their not able to do this week in week out, as we all know any shots which do filter threw end up in the back of the net, so this talk of being a great shot stopper, well for me he ain’t that either. Believe you me he will cost us more points than he will gain us by the end of the season, if as some of you think it would be a mistake to replace him with Darlow who if given a run could come good, then so be it, but I for one, don’t think Farke should gamble such a big prize on it.
Morning all I’d not hesitate to drop Meslier for Darlow, he was solid for Wales and excellent last season for Hull we don’t face many shots per game, it’s about clangers, gifting teams goals. I certainly don’t understand why it’s risky to drop him. He’s going to gift the opposition points at least once more on the run in Imagine the playoffs again and having Meslier in goal Joseph needs to go out on loan, he’s not offering anything at the moment, I’d actually prefer Bamford on the bench at the moment
You are selling today ell The flapper has cost more points than saved not the other way and Joseph's fresh legs haven't got any chance of getting the required goals... simples repeating the same mistakes gets the same results
I dont care who plays in goal or upfront all i want is 3 points at Luton. Everyone gets paid good enough to do a job so feckin do it.
Ell has his trawl net laid out this morning. He's caught this tiddler as I'm in the mood. My particular favourite: "It's easy to forget, in the heat of the moment, the points Meslier has single-handedly won for Leeds throughout the season." You owe me a new keyboard Matt, mine is now disfunctional from the coffee I've just spat all over it It's his job to make saves, all keepers make saves all though meslier did seem to disprove that theory by letting in 12/13 consecutive 'shots on target' a while back. It's laughable how the fanfares come out for any regulation stops he manages.
No amount of swapping around will make any difference if these lads haven’t the bottle and given last years finish and what’s unfolding you’d have to say they haven’t. I’m not overly critical as for the most part these guys are very young and inexperienced
I was worried about Luton before our drop in form. They keep finding ways to not win, but generally they batter most opponents at kennilworth road. They also like to drop bombs into the penalty box against everyone, so we pretty much know what's coming Meslier's way. Even Boro have found some form. Our 2 trickiest games are our next 2. I'm not typically a pessimist but we could play ok and genuinely be adrift by next tuesday.
Good April fool, Ell. "It's easy to forget, in the heat of the moment, the points Meslier has single-handedly won for Leeds throughout the season." have to agree, I’ve forgotten them.
Burnley got a similar next 2 to ourselves in terms of difficulty- Coventry (a) and Derby (a) Big chance for Sheff Utd to create a gap over at least one of us- Oxford (a) and Millwall (h)
you are a bit senile though 20... there was the away game at errr and the home game against errr. Nope i can't remember them either.
We’d have beat Swansea if it wasn’t for Meslier, he has cost us 10 points this season https://www.planetfootball.com/leed...-united-mistakes-costly-errors-points-dropped If we were on 91 points now would you be claiming the entire team have bottled it. It must be soul destroying for a defender. Imagine you’re a defender, you need to make a clearance, usually you’d clearly it anywhere but wait, I better not give a corner away as our keeper doesn’t do crosses. The opposition manage a corner and you think our keeper is ****, we’d better get an extra player or two back as he needs extra help. It’s not just the mistakes, it’s players not trusting him
I was thinking earlier, if Burnley slip up, we might be cheering Sheffield on in a couple of weeks time
Too risky at this stage to start experimenting. We had the chance to bring in fresh faces in the new year - and didn't! As always the fans will suffer...
Genuine question - Swap a player who is part of your squad now with 7 games to go, they know the setup and have trained with you week in and week out You bring another teams player in during January as they’re getting zero game time at their parent club Why is one option okay and the other too risky
The ‘risk’ is we bring Darlow in and he isn’t any better. But he can’t really be worse can he? Or did we so this end up with The championship’s 2 worst keepers? So where’s the risk? It’s not like Meslier’s distribution is ederson-like. I’m happy to believe that Meslier is lev Yashin in training, but he just doesn’t have the required confidence/concentration/bottle - whatever it is in match situations.
If Sheffield united go up they will be the worst side to do so since errrr Luton maybe. Whichever, they’ll be one of the worst sides to go up automatically in some time. They’re actually playing well now but have been so unbelievably spawny all season. Kind of makes you think it’s their year.
When you look up Karl Darlows saves on YouTube, clips are all eight nine or ten tears old. We might as well get Robbo back between the sticks or even Seaman
