Legendary Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has given his assessment on the Red Devils’ new shot stopper Senne Lammens.
Goalkeeper Lammens joined United for £18.2million in the summer transfer window, replacing flop Andre Onana, who departed for Trabzonspor on loan in the same window.
But he had to wait until the weekend to make his debut, initially playing back-up to Altay Bayindir until making the step up to the side’s No 1 in the 2-0 win over Sunderland at the weekend.
Though he only had three saves to make at Old Trafford, the 23-year-old looked assured as he commanded his box and played with the ball at his feet in what was a successful debut.
That led to chants of ‘are you Schmeichel in disguise?’ from sections of the home fans, which were played to the legendary Dane – who made 398 appearances for the Red Devils by 5 Live on Monday.
Schmeichel laughed as he listened to the chant, and was then asked for his thoughts by host Mark Chapman.
Peter Schmeichel has given his verdict on Manchester United’s new £18.2m goalkeeper Senne Lammens
Lemmens has been brought into be United’s new first choice but had to wait until the weekend for his debut
‘Thank you for playing that,’ Schmeichel began, chuckling away.
He added: ‘You think about the goalkeeping that we have had over the last couple of years and how many goals we have conceded from errors from goalkeepers. What was it, nine errors already this season?
‘That’s a lot, it’s too much. I go back to when I played – my instruction was – and I think it was the same think with [Edwin van der Sar] and David De Gea, we had to save the team 10 points a season, not give them away.
‘That’s what we have got used to in the last couple of years – goalkeepers giving goals away, and therefore we’re losing points. So it’s nice to see first of all a clean sheet, then a really good and solid goalkeeping performance.’
It is a change of tune from Schmeichel, who initially questioned the recruitment of Lammens.
He told SunSport through Sky Bet last month: ‘We should have signed Emi Martinez. In fact, we should have gone for Gianluigi Donnarumma when we had the chance.
‘With Martinez, everything was lined up and that felt like really good news, because he’s exactly the kind of goalkeeper Manchester…