Meslier or Robles?
As Sam Allardyce himself admitted yesterday, Illan Meslier’s fate is his biggest Leeds United decision this weekend. The French goalkeeper has looked shot to pieces for the past few weeks and after all of the talk about player psychology since arriving, the new head coach could be tempted to take his stopper out of the firing line.
At 32, Joel Robles is hardly over the hill and waiting for retirement. In goalkeeping terms, the Spaniard still has five or six years of top-level play in him if he so desires. However, he has not played regularly since a 22-game campaign with Real Betis in 2020/21.
The veteran has looked steady in his two senior appearances this season, but, perhaps more importantly, looks more like your conventional, traditional goalkeeper in the Allardyce mould. Meslier’s distribution and ability to play out from the back may not be such an advantage for the new boss.
READ MORE: Inside Allardyce's Leeds United first 48 hours with office one-to-ones, Skubala key, Keane training
Formation and system
There will only be so much we can learn from today’s game. Whatever Allardyce does with the team and however well they play, Manchester City are going to put them under sustained pressure and more than likely win the game by a large margin.
Who the new man selects and the formation he plays will still be telling, though. It will inform the direction we think he could take down the final three games, especially on some 50-50 selection calls.
Backroom roles
Karl Robinson and Robbie Keane also parachuted in alongside Allardyce this week. How vocal they are in the technical area and what roles they play in the warm-ups will be worth looking out for.
Signs of improvement, fight or organisation?
The going’s been wretched at Leeds for several weeks now, but even by their low standards last Sunday was atrocious. The Bournemouth loss resembled a white flag of a performance with zero fight, organisation or creativity.
Allardyce will have only had 72 hours in the job by the time this afternoon’s game kicks off, but he will hope to at least see some margins of improvement. There should at least be better signs of structure in the set-up, but what of the fight and drive to dig the team out of this rut?
The Leodensians in blue
Erling Haaland, now onto 35 goals in 31 league appearances for the season, is expected to once again face his hometown team this afternoon and try to improve his top-flight scoring record. On his visit to Elland Road in December he was evidently emotional and aware of the significance of what he was doing in front of fellow Leeds fans.
Will there be any nods to his Leeds allegiances today? And what of Kalvin Phillips? The Wortley boy was an unused substitute at Elland Road in December, but with Real Madrid around the corner for the champions and fixtures mounting up, Pep Guardiola could be tempted to give his number four what he wants.
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