Danny Murphy thinks Illan Meslier should have been ‘doing better’ during the set-play situations as Leeds United suffered a thrashing at the hands of their relegation rivals, Crystal Palace, on Sunday afternoon at Elland Road.
It was a tale of set-plays in the first half, with both teams struggling and conceding a goal each and Murphy being critical of the part Illan Meslier played during those first 45 minutes.
Whilst Patrick Bamford opened the scoring with a brilliantly-flicked header after 21 minutes in a dominant opening for the home team.
Javi Gracia’s side suffered a sucker blow at the end of the first half when Marc Guehi reacted quickest following a set-play situation.
It could be argued that Meslier should have been braver and more aggressive off his line, but Palace were knocking that door down well before Guehi scored and then they were duly punished.
Former Premier League midfielder Danny Murphy shared his thoughts on those set-piece struggles, as he told Premier League Productions (09/04/23 at 2:55 pm).
“Leeds are at the end of their own struggles, at set plays,” said Murphy. “This is a header Schlupp that is, I don’t know how he has missed it. It’s probably easier to score.
“Four yards out. The keeper should be coming up and doing better, as far as I am concerned.
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“They get another one, Ayew this time, a free header.
“Whether you do zonal or you do man-to-man. You need the desire to win balls and get ahead of people.”
AN AFTERNOON TO FORGET FOR LEEDS
When Leeds opened the scoring, the feeling amongst the Yorkshire crowd would have been one of high spirits.
They had every right to feel like that because they, didn’t just score the first goal, but the performance was dominant, and they probably deserved more goals.
But that goal at the end of the first half just deflated the whole team, and when they came out after the break, they were all over the shop and it turned out to be an afternoon to well and truly forget.
In other news, Liverpool transfer news: Barcelona plotting shock Thiago swoop
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