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(Reuters) – Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa defended goalkeeper Illan Meslier after the Frenchman suffered a nightmare game in a 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Spurs’ first goal came from a whimsical pass from Meslier, which was intercepted by Harry Winks before Ezgjan Alioski hit Steven Bergwijn inside the penalty area. Harry Kane converted the penalty.
Meslier then missed a Toby Alderweireld header over the line in the second half following a Son Heung-min corner kick.
It was an unusual performance from the Frenchman, who has been a standout player for the team this season. Bielsa said the 20-year-old should not be tried for a game.
“What we have to see is how the goalkeeper performs in all matches, not in one match,” Bielsa told reporters. “It was an undeniable mistake, but if you look back at all of our games, you’ll see how efficient Illan is with his feet.”
Leeds enjoyed a greater share of possession and created several scoring opportunities, but had to pay for their waste and attempts to play from behind.
“We had a good offensive production. Our opponents created only a few more opportunities than we did, which came from mistakes that we could have avoided,” Bielsa said.
“We lost a few balls when we were building from behind. We weren’t winning the second balls. The fundamental difference was efficiency, and the fact that his offensive game was due to mistakes that we could have avoided.”
The result left Leeds 12th in the Premier League with 23 points from 17 games. They visit Crawley from League Two (fourth tier) in the FA Cup on Sunday.
(Report from Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru: Edited by Neil Fullick)
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