Leeds United took a 4-1 victory over Derby County at Pride Park at the weekend to make it two wins from two under Marcelo Bielsa.
Our unbeaten start to the year has gifted fans plenty of positives and there are a number of things that can easily be latched onto as the players continue to show improvement under the new gaffer and he continues getting his message across – not least some fine individual showings so far as some players seem to have found new gears to their performances.
One man who wasn’t so lucky at the weekend was young goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell. The 21-year-old was clearly at fault for what became Derby County’s consolation goal on the day, and bizarrely some fans are already calling for him to be replaced in the starting lineup.
I’d blame that purely on keeper tbh. Horrendous
— carl smith (@carlsmith_88) August 11, 2018
Blackman isn't better tbh watch him in pure season an he let in a shocker from a non league side, not to mention seen the same thing happen to prem keepers
— Kyle stansfield (@Kylestansfield4) August 13, 2018
Changed my mind. Take peacock off and put bamford on. Who needs a keeper ! Let's commit to attack attack attack
— Martin Roberts (@wowmart1974) August 11, 2018
No disrespect but we need a keeper, to far off his line. We can't compete when we are weak!
— Carlos (@StainlessSteed) August 11, 2018
Thats blackman in next week
— danny wilson (@beargryllz) August 11, 2018
Reactions in the moment can often be harsh in hindsight when the fulltime whistle is reached, and with plenty more calls for Jamal Blackman to come in, I think harsh is the right word here. Yes, he made a mistake, it happens. He’s also still young and developing but he’s undoubtedly shown his quality so fans shouldn’t throw their toys out of the pram when it comes to such an isolated error.
My guess is Bielsa was going to start with Blackman for the Bolton Wanderers EFL Cup clash anyway, so if BPF is dropped now I don’t think he’d take a confidence knock from it. Bielsa might now actually stick with him so he can more quickly shake off that error and get another game under his belt and hopefully a clean sheet for the boost that will bring.
After his performances last year though, he shouldn’t be overly concerned either way and I’m sure he’s been told to shake it off quickly as well and with Bielsa’s penchant for a video, he may have already been given a gag reel of errors by goalkeeping greats as they all make them.
He retains the faith of the majority of fans for me, and ultimately all that matters is whether he retains the faith of Bielsa, and I’m pretty sure he won’t overreact.