Among the potential reinforcement areas listed by Daniel Farke in January, goalkeeper was not one of them. The Leeds United boss had faced calls to drop Illan Meslier following his blunder against Hull City early on in the winter transfer window, having also seen him concede a bizarre goal against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in October.
Farke stayed firm. Asked whether he had any doubts of including Meslier in his next line up, the manager replied: “No. Illan is a self-critical young man, who was also not happy with his performance, but it was also no coincidence he was in the team of the year last season at Championship level.
"We would be the first club in history who is panicking when you are sitting top of the league - and are nine or 10 games unbeaten - but then you change your No.1 goalkeeper just because of a poor game.”
Meslier repaid the faith shown in him by keeping six straight league clean sheets after the trip to Hull. Vital saves against Coventry City and Sunderland ended up being match-winning moments too.
This is exactly why Meslier splits opinion. The Frenchman can be pitch-perfect for long periods but his proneness to a lapse in judgement has cost Leeds points over the years. The defeat to Portsmouth was a case in point.
It’s easy to forget that before the mix-up that led to the goal, Meslier had played well. He’d made the right choice to catch and punch whichever was necessary and got down quickly to low efforts. Then, the much-feared lapse that cost the game.
Being a goalkeeper is brutal in that regard. Joel Piroe missed two gilt-edged chances that match, which equally cost his side. But as the adage goes, a striker can miss all but one and be the hero - a goalkeeper can save all but one and be the villain.
What was most concerning about the Portsmouth goal, compared to the errors against Hull and Sunderland, was the miscommunication between goalkeeper and defence. That they have been playing together for a while yet were not on the same page is a problem.
Those who have watched United regularly know that there have been several incidents like that which have not led to a goal, where supporters had their hearts in their mouths for a second or two but danger was averted.
If Leeds are to go up and to survive once there, the defence has to be as watertight as possible. That means limited individual errors, especially from the goalkeeper. Meslier was liable for a few last time Leeds were in the top flight and those have not stopped while in the Championship.
To be frank, Farke was right in not changing his number one mid-season, for several reasons. Karl Darlow is a magnificent back up but is not as agile as Meslier and also, what top quality goalkeeper is ever available in January?
Meslier made the Championship team of the season last year, and this campaign has already surpassed his regular-season clean sheet tally. Only Burnley’s James Trafford has kept more Championship clean sheets.
However, as generally for the squad, being the best in the Championship does not mean being good enough for the Premier League. United would need an overhaul with no areas barred from reinforcement. That includes the goalkeeper.
Perhaps, due to the nature of the role, this needs to become a higher priority than some other areas. After all, if you don’t concede, you can’t lose. It might be that Meslier does not leave the club, but his status as number one for the new campaign is under threat.
