"Laughing" - Daniel Farke reveals how Illan Meslier reacted to big Leeds United drop decision | OneFootball

The Whites boss has revealed Illan Meslier has taken his impending benching against Luton Town positively.

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has revealed goalkeeper Illan Meslier has taken the German’s decision to drop him for the Luton Town game well, with the Frenchman spotted laughing with his teammates ahead of the crunch clash.

The former Norwich boss admitted in his pre-match press conference for the meeting with the Hatters that Meslier would be replaced by Karl Darlow at Saturday lunchtime, after the 25-year-old made another costly error to drop two points against Swansea City last weekend.

Despite being backed for the number one jersey by Farke throughout this season, Meslier has made a series of clangers that have resulted in Leeds dropping points, and ultimately, putting them in a position where they could slip out of the automatic promotion places.

His first mistake of the campaign came against Sunderland last October, when he misjudged a deflected cross from Alan Browne, allowing the ball to slip past him and into the net, resulting in a 2-2 draw.

This was not a one-off event either, as further costly errors against Hull City and last weekend against Swansea have also led to dropped points.

Analysis suggests that Meslier’s mistakes have directly cost Leeds 10 points across five games during this term – a worrying statistic when every point is crucial in the promotion battle.

Without these mistakes, Leeds could have been sitting pretty at the top of the Championship tree and almost assured of a Premier League return.

Finally, Farke has decided to press the button and rotate his goalkeepers for their trip to Kenilworth Road, which is far from ideal with so few games left of the season.

Daniel Farke admits Ilian Meslier has had a positive reaction to goalkeeping axe

As per journalist Isaac Johnson on X, Daniel Farke believes he sensed some relief from Illan Meslier when he informed him of his decision to replace the Frenchman with Karl Darlow, revealing he saw Meslier laughing and joking with his teammates ahead of preparations for their visit to Luton.

Farke said: “I saw him today laughing with the boys today. I liked his response.”

The former Norwich boss also revealed he had made the decision to drop Meslier to protect the shot-stopper from further scrutiny.

Farke added: “I work with human beings. For Karl, he is buzzing. For Illan, it’s always a bit difficult to take. I think, in general, with a goalkeeper, it's important you don't change game to game, even after a few mistakes.

“[But] it's professional football, and you have to deliver and perform well to handle the pressure. The last time, he responded really well, with many good performances and several clean sheets.

“But also in last weeks we felt he could have done a bit better and obviously in the last game he was strongly involved in both goals. So for that, I have to make a decision and protect him a little bit.

“It feels like the spotlight is on him, and he’s a young man and the weight of the world is on his shoulders. That was my feeling this week."

Daniel Farke has made the correct call to boost Leeds United's promotion hopes

It was definitely the correct decision to take Illan Meslier out of the firing line, whose confidence appeared to be diminishing after each mistake he made.

Continuing to play someone who is so out of form can cause further unrest to the Leeds faithful and create more uncertainty to maintain a top two push.

Starting such an experienced head in Karl Darlow can help restore faith and trust in the Leeds backline, in order to push the club forward for the final seven games of the season to secure their place back in the Premier League.