WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KASPER SCHMEICHEL
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
As I said earlier today, I think, in a week or two, most fans will look back on last night’s 1-1 draw with Red Star Belgrade as a decent point away from home.
However, there’s still a lot of discontent out there today, and having watched the match back in full, I can see why many fans feel we could and should have taken all three points.
One player who has come in for particular criticism both in the press and among Celtic supporters today is our first-choice goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel.
Should Kasper Schmeichel be Dropped?
Now, I should it make it very clear. Kasper Schmeichel is a top-class goalkeeper. At this point, that’s beyond dispute.
He’s been a consistent performer for Denmark at the very highest levels in World Cups and European Championships for close to 20 years now. He’s won The English Premier League and he’s a player who certainly doesn’t need to justify his place in the team to me, or anyone else.
However, this is, in all likelihood, his final season as a top-flight professional footballer. I expect he will quit international football after next summer’s World Cup. I think it’s possible he may well quit football altogether, choosing to go out at the very highest level.
If we’re being brutally honest, Schmeichel hasn’t been the same since that shoulder injury towards the end of last season. His Cup Final blunder could happen to any goalkeeper, even the very best of them.
It’s one of those freak occurrences that often happen on those days when the fates just aren’t in your favor. I certainly don’t see that alone as a basis for dropping him.
But Aberdeen knew exactly where to place their penalty kicks when the time came. For all his effort, big Kasper barely got near any of them.
Still, we all hoped and believed that a good pre-season and some recuperation time would get him back to the sensational form he showed for most of last season at Celtic.
It seems to be more than just a fitness issue at this point though. Last night, I felt Schmeichel’s decision making was questionable on a number of occasions. Had he not tried, and subsequently failed to claim that speculative cross for Red Star’s equalizer, then Arnautovic may well not have converted the chance that followed.
Cameron Carter-Vickers wasn’t blameless either. Despite a series of superb interceptions, particularly in the later stages when Red Star were pressing for a winner, he was badly caught out of position for that equalizing goal. You can get away with lapses like that in Scotland, but not in Europe, not even in the second-tier competition that is The Europa League.
Anyway, I digress.
I think we’ve seen enough of Viljami Sinisalo now to confirm that he has the ability, and perhaps more importantly the strength of character to become Celtic’s first choice goalkeeper.
Has that time now come?
Kasper Schmeichel has looked shaky for the past few games now. Indecision in going for crosses, misplaced passes out from the back, distribution that has, at times been sorely lacking.
Perhaps we should try rotating him out for a couple of games. Like I said, he is a world-class goalkeeper, but age catches up to us all eventually. Viljami Sinisalo is young, hungry and ready to prove himself. Kasper Schmeichel has nothing left to prove to anyone.
We already seem to be running with Sinisalo as our cup goalkeeper this season.
Whether he starts against the Ibrox £1.49ers in November will finally confirm the validity of this theory.
I think Celtic may benefit from accelerating his gradual phasing into the number 1 role. Kasper Schmeichel certainly doesn’t deserve to be cast aside, he’s still a superb goalkeeper and a massive presence on the pitch and in the dressing room.
However, it’s time to step up our preparations for the post-Kasper Schmeichel era at Celtic. Sinisalo should get more game time, and soon.