I have no real doubts over Leeds United's Championship promotion hopes but there is one clear problem
Leeds United lead the Championship but recent dropped point have highlighted a possible issue.
EFL pundit Don Goodman believes Daniel Farke has a problem on his hands regarding Illan Meslier, having seen the reaction of his Leeds United teammates at Hull City.
Meslier endured a torrid Saturday afternoon at the MKM Stadium 10 days ago as Leeds threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Championship strugglers Hull. The under-fire goalkeeper was caught in no man’s land for Abu Kamara’s early opener, fumbled a harmless header at the feet of Joao Pedro and failed to meet a corner that eventually led to Kamara’s late equaliser.
The reaction to Hull’s second goal in particular was raw to say the least, with alternative angles showing a furious Joe Rodon shouting at his teammate while Joel Piroe and Joe Rothwell turned away in disbelief. Meslier was benched for the visit of Harrogate Town - a pre-planned change and one of several - but Goodman believes a more permanent switch of goalkeeper could be on the cards.
"With Leeds, there's definitely a problem because I look at the reaction of Joe Rodon for instance when Illan Meslier made that obvious mistake (at Hull)," Goodman told Sky Sports’ Essential EFL podcast. "We [Gary Weaver and Goodman) were at the Stadium of Light when he misjudged the bounce of the ball and it ended up in the net.
“It was fascinating to see how particularly the likes of Pascal Struijk and people like that were rallying behind Illan Meslier and almost defending him and saying it took a strange, funny bounce. But then you see Joe Rodon's face when this mistake occurred (at Hull) and you just wonder whether for his own sake Daniel Farke may remove him from the firing line. It's not like they have a kid on the bench with no experience; they have Karl Darlow."
Meslier has been under intense pressure since that draw, with Farke openly critical of his goalkeeper’s performance in the build-up to Saturday’s FA Cup win over Harrogate Town. The German admitted his first-choice shot-stopper made a ‘decisive mistake’, adding there were ‘a few games he could have done better’.
Leeds could well have been three points clear at the top, but the optimist would suggest they came through an eight-game-in-four-week festive period unbeaten and remain top of the Championship anyway, whether it be by one point or three. And Goodman expects Farke’s side to kick on, with anything but automatic promotion a failure based on their current position.
"I have no real doubts about them," he added. "I don't think Leeds can get any worse than they are and that's the level they are at. I think they are only going to get better and they will get players back from injury. They may do a little bit of business in this window so I just see them going from strength to strength. Anything other than a top-two finish really would be categorised as a failure for Leeds United.”