Meeke is going to 40, he drives since Colin McRae era. You can do all you want, make him miss events, or give support and trust, he will not change his driving style.
I don't think that Matton is doing this to help Meeke, I think he is thinking of future and wants to give more space possible to Mikkelsen, especially in the development of the car.

The point is that in my opinion he made a mistake at the beginning of the season saying "if Mikkelsen and Latvala call me I will answer only because I am polite". He didn't see this coming and maybe he should...