Leicester in safe hands with Schmeichel

Behind almost every great team, has usually been an equally apt goalkeeper. The Premier League has certainly had a history of great goalkeepers too. From the original legends like David Seaman and Peter Schmeichel, to the newer guard of Petr Cech and Hugo Lloris, a line-up that also includes strong England representation in Joe Hart and Jack Butland. There have been phenomenal saves this season and some games have felt like a battle of the goalkeepers. Whether or not a goalkeeper is hailed as the hero or the villain can hinge on the fraction of a fingertip. More often than not, if they make a mistake it results in a goal and it’s the thing that everybody remembers. In Kasper Schmeichel, the Foxes have somebody that they trust implicitly.

At the start of the year, Kasper Schmeichel made his 200th appearance for Leicester City and in 2016 enters his fifth year at the club. We knew we’d got a bargain when we bought him from Leeds for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £1 million, but I don’t think any of us expected to be able to keep him for this many seasons. In 2016 so far, he’s kept four clean sheets out of five in the league and deserves an equal portion of the credit. When we signed Kasper he was only 24 years old, having made some tough but savvy career moves to ensure he was playing regular football. Sensing that chances at Manchester City were slim, stuck behind Joe Hart, and feeling out of love with football, he took the plunge to drop down a few leagues to join Notts County. It was a big coup for the Nottinghamshire club, though they did have what appeared to be fairly hefty financial backing and Sven Goran Eriksson as manager at the time. A class above the others in the league, it was only a matter of time before a club higher up came knocking. Championship club Leeds United signed him in 2010 after it all went pear shaped at County, and it started well for him. Finding himself out of favour for reasons unknown less than a year later, it wasn’t a surprise that Eriksson put a bid in for him almost immediately after taking over at Leicester. For Schmeichel, it was important to feel wanted again after Leeds had dropped him and lost faith.

Despite a small blip in his first month with the Foxes, sent off for a second yellow card away at rivals, Nottingham Forest, for unsporting behaviour, he came good quickly. He made one of his most impressive saves during his first season at close range against Portsmouth (watch it here, it’s 20 seconds in) and kept 17 clean sheets in 52 performances, as well as saving four penalties. He was quickly becoming a fan favourite and for good reason. In his next two seasons, he kept a further 36 clean sheets from 99 games played. Already garnering praise from his managers and colleagues, he was a vital part of Leicester’s push to get back to the Premier League.

Perhaps his most important season for us came in our Championship winning season, where he kept 18 clean sheets and also notched up a goal. The Foxes weren’t exactly suffering a dip in form at the time but found themselves trailing 1-0 at home to Yeovil Town. With just minutes left and us hammering the away side, we got a corner and up came Kasper Schmeichel. Make no mistake, he won that header and scored that goal, but it appeared to have potentially not crossed the line and Chris Wood made sure that a goal would be counted from the rebound. Goal line technology would have ruled in the Dane’s favour and as far as the club, and fans, are concerned, this was Kasper’s goal. It may have only got us a point on the night but marked his first, and only, professional goal. Who doesn’t love a goalkeeper coming up in the dying seconds for a corner?

Last season was a mixed one for Schmeichel. Making just 24 appearances in total, it’s the least we’ve seen of the Dane since signing him. Injury ruled him out from December until midway into the second half of the season. He certainly came back at a key time though, just as the Foxes were pushing for the great escape. Still picking up six clean sheets for the season, it could have been worse. This season he’s back to his best, putting in some of his most impressive games and really making a name for himself at this level. He’s already made 23 appearances with 7 clean sheets, which considering it took us two months to get our first this season, is impressive. He should easily top last season’s record and the only disappointment is that he won’t be at the Euros in the summer as Denmark failed to make the cut.

Now one of the more experienced and senior players in the squad, Kasper’s role is even more crucial. He’s part of what is becoming a well established back-line for Leicester and it’s good to see him passing on knowledge to the youngsters. Now vice-captain, he’s already worn the armband twice this season in both FA Cup games against Tottenham. In the replay at the King Power, he was a commanding presence and despite the overall lacklustre team performance, did well in his own role. Nurturing youngster Ben Chilwell and screaming encouragement throughout, he tried his best. Not that you ever get any less from the goalkeeper.

The view of a goalkeeper can be quite an odd one. For a player, it’s probably the closest you get to being a fan, and Schmeichel certainly reacts like one. His facial expressions and body language often mirror my own depending on whether or not we’ve scored a goal or done something not so clever. His goal celebrations over his Leicester career have always been entertaining, even if he spends most of them on his own or looking at the crowd. Not averse to telling the referee or linesman what he thinks, he manages to be still be popular with both. It’s the charm of a goalkeeper I suppose.

Often I wonder if we take Schmeichel for granted? As mentioned above, people always remember that one save that a goalkeeper should have made, or when they got a decision wrong. No goalkeeper will go through their career without at least one mistake or so a season, but they will usually balance that out over the course of a season, and a lot of that can go unnoticed. There’s been a criticism that perhaps he punches too often when he could catch, or that his goal-kicks could be more consistent. There’s an argument for both at times, but this also takes away everything that he does do so well for us. He has a fairly long-range, and powerful, punch and sometimes there is a need for this if you are surrounded or under pressure. It offers breathing space and in a team like ours that has pace in abundance, it could set one of our attacking players off on their way. His goal-kicks have been mixed this season, but his distribution has not all been bad. If you recall, his fast distribution against Manchester United set Christian Fuchs loose and led to Jamie Vardy’s record-breaking goal.

Delivering a man-of-the-match performance at the end of December against former club, Manchester City, Schmeichel is enjoying his football and Leicester’s situation this season. He has a pretty solid back-line he can depend on in Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan, Robert Huth and Christian Fuchs. As a Foxes fan, this is the best defensive combination we’ve seen for a while. I was reminded of that fact recently by looking back at our line-up just ten years ago in a 1-0 loss to Plymouth Argyle. Our back-line that day consisted of Rab Douglas in goal, with a young Richard Stearman, Alan Maybury, Paddy McCarthy and Nils-Eric Johansson ahead of him. Times have changed and we’re blessed to have a defense that we can both count on and who have really become a unit. While our attacking players have been getting much of the attention and credit, these five have gone more quietly about their business yet played a vital role in why Leicester top the Premier League.

In terms of his overall game, Schmeichel is the strongest all-round ‘keeper that we’ve had in quite a while. A main factor for me is that he constantly displays a sense of calm. Rarely do I panic if he’s in a one-on-one situation with a striker, or if the opposition fire long range shots as he never does himself. He’s become reliable and if he doesn’t seem concerned about an incoming shot or ball, then nor do I. So is the level of trust I have when watching him; and it’s clear his defenders feel the same way as they are always happy to pass back or generally leave the ball for him if needed. One of his saves that stands out to evidence this was against then Leeds United striker, Ross McCormack, who was bearing down on him but he responded with an impressive save he made using his whole body (gif below).

It’s difficult to list every one of Schmeichel’s key saves, as there’s quite a few that have saved us from dropping points over the years. However, one that always springs to mind is his penalty save against Middlesbrough in 2013. After snow threatened to call the whole thing off, David Nugent had put the Foxes ahead and three points looked certain as we went past the ninety minute mark. However, a penalty awarded to Middlesbrough in extra time could have easily saw us drop two points. Up stepped Martin Emnes, but Schmeichel’s stop was powerful and the celebrations were even sweeter.

Rumours have surrounded Kasper Schmeichel’s Leicester future almost since the end of his first season. There have been several points where you felt we’d be hard-pressed to hang onto him, but here he still is. He’s one of our longest serving players now and will likely want to see out what he helped to start and is still a part of. With Leicester’s targets reset and the impossible looking to be within reach, he may well have no need to move anywhere. Naturally the Manchester United rumours will likely remain, particularly if De Gea is to leave, but Foxes fans shouldn’t worry too much. Schmeichel’s happiness and love for the club are clear and while he’s giving us the best years of his career, we’re helping him in the process.

There’s little argument that of our recent goalkeepers, he’s at the top. Easily the best in my years of attending games, he’ll likely go down a club legend for his service to us, particularly if we do defy the odds and achieve a top four position this year. Whether or not he will ever overtake Peter Shilton or Gordon Banks in a Leicester all-time eleven remains to be seen, but age and the future Leicester are aiming for certainly both play in Schmeichel’s favour. Still just 29 years old, he has another ten years of playing time potentially and could well become our club captain one day. His service for us has been invaluable and while some people are still obsessed with comparing him to his father; there’s only one Schmeichel for Leicester, and we look to be in safe hands with him.