Art of saving a one-on-one: The spread, the block, the smother and the wait - The Athletic 17/11/22
Phil Hay and Matt Pyzdrowski
There was no World Cup call-up for Illan Meslier, even in
the absence of AC Milan’s Mike Maignan, and no trip away with France’s
Under-21s either. Leeds United would have been thrilled to see Meslier in Qatar
but in the absence of that, common sense said that rest would do him good.
The French Under-21s have a friendly against Norway planned
for Saturday and Meslier, ordinarily, would have been part of the squad but
clubs were not obliged to release players for the fixture and the decision was
taken to sit him out, giving him a week’s holiday like most of Leeds’ dressing
room.
A break is something Meslier rarely gets. He has started 97
of Leeds’ last 100 league matches, missing one through COVID-19 and two more
after Marcelo Bielsa gave Kiko Casilla a brief go at the end of the 2020-21
season. As Meslier has grown, so too has his importance, an automatic name on
his club’s team sheet and a goalkeeper without any challenge to his position
for two and a half years.
In a tense Premier League season, he has been one of Leeds’
stronger performers, showing improvement to a degree that posed the question of
whether France might take him to the World Cup. The biggest strength that
shines through in his game — and more so as time goes on — is his quality
one-on-one and the knack of reprieving Leeds in exposed situations, the very
last line of defence.
Here, The Athletic’s goalkeeping expert Matt Pyzdrowski
assesses Meslier’s style and the way in which his understanding has developed.
What, one-on-one, makes the 22-year-old so good?
There are obvious differences between the way Leeds play for
Jesse Marsch and their methods of attack under their previous head coach,
Marcelo Bielsa, but they are similar in the sense that both coaches like to
suffocate teams in the opposition’s half. Their ideas might vary but in either
setup, their goalkeeper has to be very comfortable playing a high line. He has
to think proactively, one or two steps ahead of the play, and possess the
awareness to snuff out attacks, rather than simply reacting to what happens in
front of them.
Meslier is that sort of keeper and for all the importance
Marsch places on attacking principles, his defending concept is linked closely
to them. Without the ball, Meslier’s aggressive positioning is key to the
philosophy. Marsch has convinced his players they can keep a high line and
relentlessly press the opposition, all while having someone behind to protect
them. This is great in theory, of course, but difficult to put into practice
week after week, especially when a club is up against the threat of relegation.
Last season Leeds were very flaky. They conceded far too
many goals and it was hard to build momentum. Individually, that was true of
Meslier in goal. By the end he looked lethargic, tired and worn out, with an
over-reliance on him to bail the team out. Goalkeepers are human after all. His
play and confidence suffered as the year dragged on and even though Leeds
escaped relegation on the final day, it was clear that the shine of 2020-21 had
worn off badly.
That should not be taken as heavy criticism of Meslier. Like
anyone in those circumstances, he needed a break; an opportunity to analyse,
reset and concentrate on some of his inefficiencies, in time to reload for this
season. Once again, he was pushed hard by the club’s goalkeeping coach, Marcos
Abad, through new methods of training and redoubled efforts. Meslier is not a
player who likes to stand still or allows himself to think that as a Premier
League No 1 at the age of 22, the hard work is done.
🥶 Iceman in training! @MeslierIllan pic.twitter.com/4qwFZMDyT8
— Leeds United (@LUFC) July 19, 2022
His performances since August suggest his attention to
detail is paying off, even if Leeds’ concession rate is starting to spike
again. Through the first 14 league games, he looks more and more like the
definition of calm Leeds need. He has not been perfect but some of Leeds’
defending, particularly in wide areas, has given him little chance of rescuing
them from scorelines like their 4-3 defeat at Tottenham last weekend. All of
his actions — distribution, shot-stopping, cross management, communication and
emotional stability — have improved. Arguably, no area of his game has improved
more than his decision making in one-on-one situations.
This article will focus on Meslier’s performance against
Liverpool two weeks ago. It emphatically showed a keeper learning and
improving. Over 90 minutes, he was assured, switched on and in command in
several anxious situations, including three one-on-ones.
See the video below to give the full context of just how
superb his performance was.
🔦 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿#LUFC x @AMTAutoUK pic.twitter.com/fkrE1QIoXG
— Leeds United (@LUFC) November 1, 2022
What made his performance against Liverpool special, and the
thing that jumped out for any keeper analysing him, was each of his saves
one-on-one showcased the different techniques goalkeepers use in breakaway and
close-contact situations. It might seem as if these moments happen in a blur,
as if the whole thing comes down to chance or luck, but a huge amount relies on
the intelligence of Meslier and his ability to choose the right action with
split seconds to decide.
Generally speaking, a keeper has four options in one-on-one
situations. 1) spread — close the angle while throwing arms and legs towards or
in front of the ball; 2) block — close the angle with one knee up and the other
leg down to prevent nutmegs, arms low, facing the ball; 3) smother — close the
angle by throwing hands at the feet of the striker in an attempt to claim the
ball; or 4) wait closer to the goalline and react to the finish as it comes.
At his very best, Meslier’s reflexes in the tightest areas
really shine. While a keeper’s footwork gets them from point A to point B to
save shots from distance, a bigger factor in a one-on-one is the ability to
change direction quickly and make small adjustments at a moment’s notice.
What you get from Meslier when an opposition player goes
clear through are small footsteps in almost continuous contact with the ground,
giving him strong balance and allowing him to switch in any direction. Combined
with a rapid move off his line, his agility helps to make him difficult to
beat. He shoots his limbs toward the ball at a speed that strikers will not
expect.
When the opposition break through, Meslier has a defined
approach, remaining patient, keeping his chest and body square to the ball and
holding his ground. It is clearly in his head to stay as big as possible up
until the point where he has to commit. In the time it takes a forward to drop
his gaze and shoot, Meslier closes the space between them and limits the space
beyond him to the most narrow angles.
In one-on-ones, the best keepers are aggressive but very
calculated and in control. Rushing recklessly towards the ball could seem like
a good way to unsettle a striker but in truth, it causes more trouble than it
solves. There is a balance to be struck between reacting at speed and keeping a
clear mind.
In that respect, there are few better than Liverpool’s
Alisson but the Brazilian would find plenty to admire in Meslier’s skill set.
This was Meslier in the 13th minute of Leeds 2-1 win at Anfield, up against
Roberto Firmino as Jurgen Klopp’s side slipped through Marsch’s defence…
Rather than race out of his goal and open up a direct path beyond him, Meslier stays on his toes with his arms and hands low by his knees, creeping forward toward Firmino and picking the perfect moment to make his move.
It wasn’t until Firmino put his head down, signalling his intention to shoot, that Meslier pounced, moving towards the ball, dropping his trailing leg to the ground and launching his hands towards the finish. Suddenly, from that angle, Firmino had next to no chance of beating him.
The interesting thing about Meslier’s technique here is it
represents a hybrid between the smother and spread — very similar to what
Alisson often does in one-on-one situations. It is one of Alisson’s biggest
strengths and a reason why he is regarded as the gold standard in world
football when it comes to one-on-ones.
If Meslier had used the traditional spread against Firmino,
it’s possible he would have exposed his goal with the areas above and below his
arms, and the space between his legs. Had he used the traditional smother and
tried to take the ball off Firmino’s feet, Firmino would have been able to dink
the ball up and over. Without flexibility, he never would have covered the net
so efficiently while throwing both hands to make the save.
In the second half, it was his excellent use of the spread
technique that yielded a breathtaking save against Darwin Nunez and denied
Liverpool the lead at a crucial moment. This was his best save of the night.
Some attention here should be paid to a keeper’s starting
position in one-on-ones. It is influenced by several variables, including but
not limited to the positioning of the attackers, the positioning of the
defenders and where the pass or through ball originates. It is also determined
by the characteristics of a team’s style of play — a high line versus a low
block, for example, of which Leeds prefer the former.
In most cases, a keeper should be roughly around the edge of
his six-yard box. Anything more than that and they risk exposing their goal to
a chip or an easily placed shot. Alternatively, they can be dribbled around.
Any deeper and they will be less able to close down the attacker, and the aim
of the keeper in one-on-ones is always to minimise space and angles.
Meslier’s initial positioning just above his six-yard box was crucial in denying Nunez…
With Leeds’ defence frantically running backwards toward their goal, Mo Salah lays a pass perfectly into space for the onrushing Nunez…
Meslier’s reaction to the danger is instant and rather than wait to see what Nunez elects to do, he takes off on a dead sprint toward the ball…
As a keeper, you want to make yourself big while using the
spread technique — chest and head square, arms wide at your side and feet a
shoulder-width apart — when closing down the attacker. In order to make the
save, it’s important to keep your frame as big as possible for as long as
possible.
But even when you get the technique right, your timing also
needs to be perfect. Advance too quickly and launch yourself at the attacker
and you risk colliding with your opponent and conceding a penalty. Arrive too
late and you’re in no-man’s land, unable to impact the play, leading to
clear-cut chances and easy goals. Success and failure comes down to the finest
of margins but in this instance, he eliminated the space perfectly as Nunez
shaped to score.
Meslier’s final one-on-one save at Anfield may have not been his most difficult but in some ways it was his most important, showing how well his decision-making in crucial moments is developing….
This is an opportunity for Salah, five minutes from time and
if it goes in, Liverpool most likely win the game. Had Meslier elected to
spread, block or smother here then he would not have been effective in closing
space or angles. He would have inadvertently made the goal bigger by creating
vulnerability between his legs and around his arms. The odds would have been
massively in Salah’s favour.
But just as Salah pulls his left foot back to shoot, Meslier brings his hands up slightly and sets himself. This, at the critical stage of a match, is where you really see what a goalkeeper is made of. The result is in the balance and Leeds desperately need the points. Under pressure, Meslier gets everything right, down to the smallest detail, allowing his reflexes to work for him…
With the ball flying at goal, he flings out his left leg and pushes it around the post to safety, a brilliant stop that keeps the score level and entirely down to his split-second judgement…
From there, Leeds snatched a dramatic win through Crysencio
Summerville’s finish but it was telling that Meslier took the man-of-the-match
award, the right choice at the end of a massive performance. It was not merely
the saves that stood out but the manner and skill of them.
Matches for the memory of ours. Day to remember the daily work and all those who are in this group @leedsunited Team victory in #Anfield Come on! 🥊 pic.twitter.com/K4Gg1pvlx6
— Marcos Abad (@marcosabad_EDP) October 29, 2022
This isn’t to say that Meslier hasn’t made mistakes or won’t in the future. Every keeper, including Alisson, gets the intricacies of the job wrong from time to time. While the real blame for Spurs’ winning goal last Saturday lay elsewhere, Meslier arguably made the wrong call by attempting to quell Dejan Kulusevski with the spread technique at his near post. Kulusevski lacked a good angle to shoot but Meslier committing meant he could not recover when the ball went inside and found Rodrigo Bentancur.
Meslier using three totally different techniques with clarity of thought against Liverpool demonstrated the growth in his game.
He might not be in France’s World Cup squad but on recent
evidence, his time will come. On that front he is looking to replace Hugo
Lloris, Tottenham’s No 1, but if his development continues on this trajectory,
in a few years’ time it might not be Alisson we talk about as the king of
one-on-ones. Meslier might hold the title instead.
