Leeds United goalkeeper Ilan Meslier has revealed how a conversation with a Premier League rival clued him into the fact that his height is a counter-intuitive drawback when it comes to trying to save penalties.
The 6’5” stopper does not boast an impressive record when the opposition step up to the penalty spot, but he believes he has been at a disadvantage because so few players have stuck to their usual routines in the face of his rangy frame.
It’s common practice these days for goalkeepers to do extensive research on where opposition penalty takers usually look to place the ball (not that it stops some people from reacting to it like it’s an act of unprecedented genius whenever it pays off, as some sections of the media did after Jordan Pickford’s penalty save against Leicester), but Meslier has found his own efforts on that front to be in vain.
