Paul Robinson surprised Leeds player is still at the club | OneFootball

Former Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson has made headlines by admitting he is surprised Illan Meslier remains at Elland Road after falling down the pecking order.

Robinson’s comments, delivered on the An Echo of Glory podcast, show that Leeds have kept a player who is not longer a part of their future plans and someone who is not happy to remain at the club.

Meslier burst onto the scene under Marcelo Bielsa and was widely tipped to enjoy a long career as Leeds’ No.1.

However, the goalkeeper has failed to live up to expectations at Elland Road and his poor form has seen him fall down the pecking order at the club.

Paul Robinson raises question about Illan Meslier

Robinson says Meslier’s confidence “is shot” and that the young Frenchman would benefit from a fresh environment to reboot his career.

Robinson said:

“Meslier’s confidence is shot. Illan Meslier is a top young goalkeeper. I think people forget how young he actually is.

“Marcelo Bielsa gave Meslier an opportunity, and he’s played a lot of top-flight games. Once Sam Allardyce came in in the last few weeks of the Premier League season to try and save Leeds, the first thing he did was drop Meslier because you could see that his confidence was shot.

“He made a lot of high-profile errors, and the weight of the jersey at that time was too much for him.

“He was a young goalkeeper who, I liken it a little bit to myself, who’s never been scarred. When you’re a good quality young goalkeeper, everyone’s talking about you and your career is always on an upward trajectory, and you never have any kind of bad press or make a mistake.

“I’m very surprised, in all honesty, that he’s still at the club because I think he needed a fresh start. I think the club have obviously moved on from him. But I think there is a top-quality goalkeeper there. He’s on the fringes of the French squad.

“There’s a top-quality goalkeeper there whose confidence has just been shot to pieces, needs a fresh start, needs a new challenge, and I’m sure will go on again and do what he did for Leeds under Bielsa.”

Leeds United need to offload the goalkeeper

Illan Meslier of Leeds United FC (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Karl Darlow steadied the position for a spell, and the club later recruited Lucas Perri from Lyon as an additional option, although injuries have limited Perri’s availability so far.

Robinson’s view that Meslier “needs a fresh start” is not just sympathy, it’s a logical solution to the goalkeeper’s problems at Leeds.

Leeds now face a choice, commit to rebuilding Meslier’s confidence at Elland Road or allow him to find regular football elsewhere.

It appears like the goalkeeper would be offloaded soon