Illan Meslier’s form was an unfortunate casualty of Leeds United’s slide towards the Premier League relegation zone this season. The Frenchman had undeniably been one of Leeds’ best over the first half of the campaign under Jesse Marsch.
Performances on the road against Liverpool and Newcastle United immediately spring to mind when considering the goalkeeper’s displays before the turn of the year, further establishing his status as one the Whites' most valuable and promising assets. However, his form fell off a cliff towards the back end of the campaign and as Leeds failed to find any sort of traction, his place in the side came under scrutiny.
As such, despite his early season heroics, Meslier finished the campaign on the bench and behind Joel Robles in the pecking order. It was one of Sam Allardyce’s first major decisions in the role and in truth, it was vindicated as Robles offered a degree of stability between the sticks.
