Worse than Meslier: Leeds must drop "anonymous" dud who was saved by Tanaka

Leeds United moved a whopping seven points clear of Burnley in third place in the Championship after they produced another impressive comeback to beat Sheffield United 3-1 at Bramall Lane.

The Whites found themselves 1-0 down at half-time, due to an own goal from Illan Meslier, but battled back to score three goals in the second half, two of which came within the last few minutes of normal time.

Junior Firpo, Ao Tanaka, and Joel Piroe stepped up to win the match for the West Yorkshire outfit, as they took another step towards automatic promotion to the Premier League this season.

Daniel Farke‘s side completed the league double over the Blades, having beaten them 2-0 at Elland Road earlier this season, and are now five points clear at the top, as the German head coach goes in search of his third title at this level.

Leeds United’s match-winners against Sheffield United

After Firpo planted a sublime header into the back of the net to make the game 1-1 in the 72nd minute, there was still plenty of time for either side to go on and find a winner.

Instead of, as you may expect, the home team using the crowd to push them on top in the match, Leeds controlled the game and continued to create chances, eventually taking the lead in the 88th minute.

Firpo, who had scored the equaliser, flicked the ball on and found Tanaka, whose fantastic header evaded the Sheffield United defenders attempting to make a clearance on the line – creating incredible scenes in the away end behind the goal.

A minute after the restart, the Whites found themselves 3-1 up after Piroe fired a fierce effort towards goal from 20 yards, which beat Michael Cooper, who may feel he should have done more to keep the shot out.

As you can see in the table above, the Dutch marksman is now level on goals with Norwich City winger Borja Sainz as the top scorer in the Championship this season, which illustrates how impressive he has been in front of goal for the Whites.

Whilst there were plenty of positives for Farke and Leeds, with Firpo, Piroe, and Tanaka’s heroics, there were also some disappointing individual displays, including Meslier’s.

Illan Meslier’s performance against Sheffield United

The French goalkeeper did not cover himself in glory in the first half against the Blades as his shaky moments in the opening 25 minutes or so set the tone for the rest of the team in the opening 45 minutes.

He fumbled multiple crosses into his penalty box and one cross that he failed to get to had to be cleared off the line by Ilia Gruev, who brilliantly got down to head the ball before it crossed the line to make it 1-0.

The former Lorient man was not so lucky a few minutes later, however, as Vinicius Souza’s header came back off the post and was diverted into his own net by Meslier, who palmed the ball back into the goal as it was bouncing back across the box.

Leeds United’s number one did, however, go on to make four saves in the match and won all three of his aerial battles, despite fumbling a couple of crosses in the first-half, which shows that it was not a completely dismal display by the shot-stopper.

As you can see in the table above, Meslier’s individual statistics are far from impressive, despite keeping 20 clean sheets, as he has slightly underperformed as a shot-stopper overall.

The Leeds star who should be dropped after Sheffield United

The French giant was not the worst performer on the pitch for the Whites, though, as Brenden Aaronson failed to step up to the mark in the number ten position.

Whilst the USA international may not be immediately dropped from the starting line-up, as the Whites do not have another natural attacking midfielder to slot into his role, Leeds may have to bin him from the team upon any potential promotion to the Premier League.

Aaronson was ranked as the worst-performing player in the Premier League by Sofascore when he was relegated with the club in the 2022/23 campaign and displays like his one against Sheffield United on Monday night do little to suggest he will fare any better next time around.

TEAMtalk writer James Marshment described the midfielder’s performance as “anonymous” and his statistics suggest that it was a fair description by the reporter.

The former Union Berlin loanee did not create any ‘big chances’ for his teammates and did not register a single shot on goal in his 58 minutes on the pitch, whilst he also lost five of his seven duels. He was even worse than Meslier, who at least made some saves to help the team out and only let in one goal, and did not do enough to justify his inclusion as a starter.

This shows that Aaronson was saved by Piroe and Tanaka’s late heroics after his uneventful showing left the Whites chasing the game heading into the final 30 minutes, as they were 1-0 down when he was substituted.

As you can see in the table above, the 24-year-old flop has struggled badly against the top sides in the Championship this season, with zero goal contributions in nine matches against the other teams in the current top six.

This suggests that Aaronson is not cut out to make the step up to the Premier League, despite his return of eight goals and two assists in the second tier, because he has lacked quality against top-quality opposition, which is what he would be up against in the top-flight.

Therefore, Leeds and Farke must bin the American lightweight, who has already failed once in the Premier League, if they earn promotion this season, as it does not appear as though he is ready to make the jump.

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