Where Leeds United might have been without the heroics of Illan Meslier this season is difficult to comprehend. The Frenchman has been in superb form for Leeds United since the start of the campaign, making a series of pivotal saves that will undoubtedly go on to have a big say on the Whites’ Premier League fate.
His performance at Newcastle United on Saturday, in the pouring rain, was just the latest player of the match-worthy performance from the 22-year-old, keeping his third clean sheet of the campaign with a number of fine stops. Given the level of consistency in his performances, it’s probably fair to say Meslier's clean sheet record doesn't do him justice, but his importance to the team cannot be underestimated.
That was clear at St James’ Park as he dealt with Newcastle’s five shots on target with relative ease. Sure, the Magpies could and probably should have posed more questions of Meslier, with 11 efforts failing to hit the target but he dealt with everything that came his way, commanding his area well at set-pieces and directing those in front of him well.
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The Whites’ defensive efforts on a whole deserve credit, with Liam Cooper and Robin Koch performing well on Tyneside following their costly mix up against Manchester City, while Tyler Adams’ presence in the middle made a big difference, but Meslier was the man that stood out once more. Sven Botman, Joelinton and Joe Willock were denied by the towering custodian in the first half as he got down well to keep the Whites on a level pegging going into the break.
However, his best moment came at the start of the second half, rushing off his line to deal with the threat of Chris Wood, who found himself in acres of space as he latched onto a knockdown. It was the type of save he made on a couple of occasions last Wednesday against Manchester City, reacting quickly to smother the threat of Erling Haaland by closing down the space and displaying his giant wingspan.
The goalkeeper was probably Leeds’ best against the champions, too, despite picking the ball out of the back of his own net on three separate occasions and that performance came on the back of missing most of the club’s mid-season break with a bout of glandular fever. His performance at Liverpool just before the World Cup will go down as his best game of the season so far, statistically, making nine saves as Leeds provided one of the shocks of the year at Anfield.
Marsch, though, believes his outing at St James’ Park was arguably better.
“With Illan I'm always challenging him to mature with his presence in goal, with his belief in himself with himself, with his assuredness in decision making and with saves and with crosses,” Marsch said. “For me, by being the last defender at the right time, the choices he made with the ball, the saves he made, the crosses that he caught, this is probably his best performance since I've been here, even with Liverpool.
“So I think we're seeing it, seeing a goalkeeper that's growing right before our eyes and that's going to be really important for us.”
Meslier’s significance really is there for all to see, but as he continues to grow in confidence and stature within the group it seems he could have an even bigger role to play moving forward. The Whites are battling at the wrong end of the table at present, with the point at Newcastle meaning they now sit three points off the bottom three, but Meslier’s presence can be such an asset moving forward.
He’s only got three clean sheets to show for his efforts, but he’ll be looking to add to that tally in the coming weeks and if he can keep the goals out, that’s certainly something Leeds can build off.
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