PETER SCHMEICHEL has softened his stance on Manchester United’s new goalkeeper Senne Lammens after the 23-year-old impressed on his debut and got fans singing his name.
Lammens made his first appearance for United in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Sunderland, stepping in as No.1 after starting the season behind Altay Bayindir.
And while the Belgian wasn’t heavily tested, he looked assured throughout, keeping a clean sheet and showing composure with the ball at his feet.
A section of the Old Trafford crowd even broke into the chant: “Are you Schmeichel in disguise?”, a nod to the Danish legend, who made 398 appearances for the club.
Reacting to the chant on BBC 5 Live, Schmeichel laughed before offering his take on Lammens’ display.
He smiled and said: “Thank you for playing that.
“It’s nice to finally see a solid performance and a clean sheet.We’ve conceded far too many goals from goalkeeping mistakes – I think it’s nine already this season. That’s a lot.
“When I played – and I’m sure it was the same for Van der Sar and De Gea – the expectation was to save the team 10 points a season, not give them away.
“So it’s encouraging to see a keeper come in and do the basics well.”
The comments mark a notable shift from Schmeichel’s earlier criticism of United’s goalkeeping recruitment.
He told SunSport through Sky Bet last month, he had questioned the signing of Lammens altogether.
He said: “We should have signed Emi Martinez.
“In fact, we should have gone for Donnarumma when the opportunity was there.With Martinez, everything seemed to be lined up. He felt like the right profile for the club.”
At the time, Schmeichel admitted he wasn’t familiar with Lammens before the transfer.
He added: “I hadn’t heard of him until the links emerged. Yes, his stats were impressive in Belgium with Antwerp but stats don’t tell you how a player reacts to pressure and the pressure at Manchester United is like nowhere else.”
Schmeichel had labelled the deal a ‘risk’, preferring more proven options.
But after a steady first showing, Lammens may be starting to answer some of those questions and even winning over one of the club’s most iconic voices.
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