Former Leeds United striker Alan Smith says one Leeds player reminds him of a young David De Gea, the Manchester United legend who is one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history.
Leeds’ stars have been away on international duty this week, with three of them named in Wales’ squad to face England at Wembley on Thursday.
Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu all started in a 3-0 defeat, with Ampadu admitting the game “bruised” his side ahead of their all-important clash against Belgium next week.
“We came here with the highest expectations of ourselves. We wanted to put on a better performance and show what we can do, what we’ve been practising and what we’re capable of.
“But whether we like it or not, we have to go again on Monday and we know how big it is. So whether the morale’s gone or the ego is a little bit bruised we have to pick ourselves up as a team, which we will do.
“We’ve already spoken about that. It’s time to go again.”
Leeds’ Welsh core have all seen their careers leap forward under Daniel Farke’s leadership, but one man who cannot say the same is goalkeeper Illan Meslier, who lost his place in the team last season after a string of high profile errors.
Smith: Meslier reminds me of De Gea
Speaking to Football FanCast via the home of EPL odds, Smith was asked about Darlow’s emergence in place of the Frenchman: “It’s interesting because I have a bit of sympathy for Meslier, and I really liked him as a goalie. I know he made mistakes, but he was so young as well.
“He reminded me of David De Gea to be honest, in terms of his stature. When David first came to Man United, there was a lot of scrutiny, but obviously he went on to become an incredible goalkeeper and won their player of the year four times in five years, which is crazy.
“But when I look at Meslier, I feel like a lot of his mistakes were actually trying to do what the manager was asking him to do, in terms of playing out, hitting diagonal balls. He was definitely Leeds’ best goalkeeper with his feet and I think that had a huge emphasis, especially under Bielsa, and the way we would play. Maybe that’s changed now we’ve gone to the Premier League.
“Football’s quite cyclical, isn’t it, right? City now, they’ve just gone and got a giant in goal (Donnarumma), and decided to forget a footballer.
“Yeah, they’ve gone away from Ederson, who was both a great keeper and amazing with the ball at his feet. Normally the team with the best goalkeeper generally wins the league., and it’s interesting when you look back over history at how kind of often that happens.”
It’s fair to say Leeds were the exception to that rule last season, as they romped to a 100-point league title with a struggling Meslier in goal for most of the campaign, as the now 25 year-old made errors leading to goals against Swansea, Sheffield United and Sunderland.
That said, he has been a fantastic servant to the club since joining as a 19 year-old back in 2019 on an initial loan deal, and fans at Elland Road would love to see him back to his best once the 35 year-old Darlow moves on.