Following the heavy 4-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns last Saturday, there were a number of topics open for discussion for Leeds United fans in the aftermath of the game.
Individual players and their performances, head coach Marcelo Bielsa’s selection options as he deals with another round of injuries at the club and having conceded four, the topic of goalkeeper was always going to be open for debate again.
For a number of fans Bailey Peacock-Farrell has made mistakes, but not to the rate that requires an instant rest and they feel his bad days come when our defence has a bad day. Others believe, post West Brom in particular, it’s time for him to be taken out of the firing line and we should more see what on-loan Chelsea stopper Jamal Blackman can do.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds, former striker Noel Whelan was left to ask the question, are either of them first choice at a club with designs on promotion.
“Does Bielsa make the change, I am not sure. Peacock-Farrell’s going to be on international duty with Northern Ireland in the international break, he’s an international player. But saying that, is Peacock-Farrell or Jamal Blackman really a number 1 at a top Championship club.”
Blackman’s two EFL Cup appearances for us received mixed reviews as well with a number of fans feeling he could’ve done better with the three goals he conceded, but Bielsa doesn’t appear to be a manager who lurches on a single poor performance. He certainly hasn’t before so I see no reason why he would now unless BPF has an absolute mare for his country as well.
The Yorkshire Evening Post’s coverage of Bielsa’s words don’t suggest a change will be made, yet.
“He saved some goals. I don’t think he has a high percentage of responsibility for the defeat. I don’t like to talk deeply about good things or bad things by one individual player, especially after a game like this one and especially when we lost with such a difference in the score. But what I can tell you for sure is that our goalkeeper is not responsible for the defeat.”