Michael Owen has singled out Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier for praise following Sunday’s draw with Manchester United at Elland Road.
Leeds recorded another very decent result in West Yorkshire this season by holding the Red Devils to a 0-0 draw.
This means that United join Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in becoming teams that have failed to beat Marcelo Bielsa’s side at Elland Road since their promotion from the Championship last term.
For all of the visitors’ talent and pressure, Meslier didn’t have much to do against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
But a brilliant finger-tip save to keep out a Marcus Rashford free kick on the stroke of half time was his best moment in an otherwise quiet game for the 21-year-old Frenchman, who joined Leeds for £5 million last summer after impressing on loan from Lorient last term.
And although Owen admitted that Meslier has made some mistakes this season – and he has – the Premier League legend stressed that he can see the young man getting so much better.
He told Optus Sport: “Don’t get me wrong, he’s made a couple of mistakes this season, but in general he’ll be delighted with his season. Leeds fans will be delighted. They’ve got a young up-and-coming keeper who’s only going to get better.”
Will Meslier improve? Undeniably, yes.
Twenty-one is young for any footballer, but it’s particularly young for a goalkeeper because it isn’t uncommon for players in that role to continue their careers well into their 30s.
You could argue that Meslier is more advanced and experienced than a lot of current world-class goalkeepers were at the same age and it’ll be genuinely interesting to see how he develops from here on in.
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