Steve McManaman and Peter Crouch were left unimpressed on Amazon Prime after Illan Meslier won Save of the Year for Leeds United.
It was Meslier’s close-range save to his right-hand side from Abdoulaye Doucouré shot for Everton in November that got the nod, as the Leeds man beat the likes of Dean Henderson, Alex McCarthy and Vicente Guaita to the award.
Since Leeds’ promotion to the Premier League, Meslier has been a busy keeper between the sticks for a Marcelo Bielsa side that can hit you for six one day and then find themselves collecting the ball from the stands themselves the next.
Nonetheless, as Amazon were showing the Save of the Year, McManaman and Crouch were pretty adamant that Meslier’s save shouldn’t have been number one.
“Remember this one [Meslier’s save],” asked host Gabby Logan and after her question is met with silence, Alan Shearer responded by saying before laughing: “I think that was a no.”
McManaman stated as Meslier’s save was being shown: “I’ll remember it now though. That the best of the year that one,” he added whilst laughing and not being too convinced. “Ahhh, nooo. It’s right at him!”
Logan then added: “Leeds fans have been busy voting in.” before Crouch also added his pennies worth by saying: “Not sure about that actually.”
It could be argued that Meslier actually pulled off a better save during Leeds’ 1-0 win at Sheffield United earlier on in the campaign.
Either way, he is a keeper with a bright future and someone who uses his height and long-arms pretty well when dealing with difficult situations.
The fact that the 20-year-old is keeping former Real Madrid stopper Kiko Casilla away from the starting XI says a lot.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
