Leeds United head into the October international break frustrated that they did not claim all three points against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the Championship on Friday night.
The Whites appeared to be headed for an impressive 2-1 win on Wearside, after goals from Joel Piroe and Junior Firpo had given the away side the lead.
Unfortunately, Illan Meslier had a howler in the 97th minute as he allowed what seemed to be a harmless ball slowly bouncing towards him to slip past him and into the back of the net.
Leeds head coach Daniel Farke must now ruthlessly ditch the French goalkeeper from the starting XI when the side is back in action after the break.
Illan Meslier's Championship struggles
On the face of it, Meslier has conceded seven goals and kept five clean sheets in nine matches and that is an impressive defensive record for the Whites.
However, the 24-year-old dud has still managed to concede 1.47 more than the average goalkeeper would be expected to based on the xG of the shots on his goal, which also speaks to the structure of the team and the low-quality efforts they allow on their goal.
The former Lorient man, who completed just 47% of his attempted passes against the Black Cats, also ended the 2023/24 campaign with 4.49 more goals conceded than expected in the Championship, which shows that his weak shot-stopping this term is not an anomaly.
Farke must brutally bin him from the starting XI, allowing Karl Darlow to show what he can do, after the break. Meslier is not the only player who should be at risk of being dropped, though, as Joe Rodon continues to walk on thin ice.
Why Joe Rodon should be dropped
The Wales international has struggled at times since his permanent move to the club from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window, after his loan spell last term.
Meslier should absolutely take responsibility for the Sunderland equaliser but Rodon also made a rash decision in charging out of position to contest a header and lost it, which then allowed Alan Browne to send his effort, via Firpo’s head, towards the goalkeeper.
Losing duels has, unfortunately, become a habit for the centre-back this season. He currently ranks within the bottom 3% of centre-backs in the league for duel success rate (41.7%) and the bottom 3.6% for duels won (2.23) per 90.
Rodon lost all three of his aerial duels against Sunderland, including one for the stoppage-time equaliser, and has struggled in his duels throughout the season.
Appearances
9
9
Tackles + interceptions
0.7
2.5
Ground duel success rate
31%
56%
Aerial duel success rate
47%
71%
Error led to shot
1
0
Penalties committed
1
0
As you can see in the table above, Pascal Struijk has significantly outperformed the Welshman in a host of key defensive metrics this season, which suggests that the Dutch colossus has carried his partner at times.
Rodon has been far too weak against opposition attackers, which proved costly on Friday night, and must now be ruthlessly ditched from the team alongside Meslier, to either improve the team or to give them the push they need to improve their own performances.
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