Scotland’s impressive win over Denmark this week is continuing to be analysed, and it’s not good news for Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
That’s at least if the latest from Bold is anything to go by. Their editor in chief Michel Wikkelsø Davidsen singled out the Celtic goalkeeper for criticism today, alongside Brian Riemer.
Schmeichel had a tough evening against the Scots, to say the least. Alongside conceding an overhead kick to Scott McTominay, there was also the indignation of being chipped from the halfway line as well. Never mind conceding four goals overall.
Celtic stopper is still the best option
The Celtic goalkeeper was at fault for some of those goals and Davidsen thinks it was a performance which highlighted a major problem overall for the Danish.
“The last two games against Belarus and Scotland have been a cavalcade of big, personal mistakes,” he said.
“It would be too long a column to mention them all, so I’ll stick to the ones at Hampden Park.
“Mikkel Damsgaard’s clearance before Scott McTominay’s magical scissor kick goal. Rasmus Nissen Kristensen’s red card. A Scottish goal directly from a corner kick. Morten Hjulmand’s clearance. Kasper Schmeichel’s positioning.
“And let’s stick to the last point. Because Kasper Schmeichel is a problem for the Danish national team. He is, after all, the Danish goalkeeper who is at the highest level. That is, gets regular playing time.
“On paper, he is Denmark’s best goalkeeper. And that is the problem. That Denmark does not have a better goalkeeper who plays regularly. Because that is the weakest point of the Danish national team. There is simply a lack of important saves.”
Whether that leads to changes for Denmark in future, remains to be seen. Schmeichel is an undisputed legend for them at this point, having held the goalkeeper role for more than a decade.
Now, though, he’s being seen as a problem and the Celtic goalkeeper’s performance in Scotland this week hasn’t helped things. The pressure is on, and it appears he needs to stand up when the World Cup play-offs arrive in March.
Martin O’Neill may need to put an arm around the shoulder of his goalkeeper ahead of Celtic’s upcoming matches.
