Kasper Schmeichel has taken life to Celtic with ease.
When Joe Hart retired from football during the summer of 2024, he left a big void between Celtic’s sticks, but it has been filled in an outstanding manner by Denmark’s number one.
It was an interesting road Celtic went down to bring in Schmeichel, because the 38-year-old is at the end of his career, and it’s a move that was clearly a short-term option.
Nobody can doubt Schmeichel’s success at Celtic, but there is one part of his game that Charlie Mulgrew is irritated by, and it’s a growing problem in the modern game.
Charlie Mulgrew on Kasper Schmeichel’s playing out from the back
In recent years, this new style of playing out from the back, centre-backs splitting, and goalkeepers acting like midfielders, is spreading like wildfire.
But somebody like Brendan Rodgers has been playing this way since 2010, and his success with Swansea City; therefore, it isn’t a surprise that his teams play out from the back in an extreme manner.
However, Mulgrew told Go Radio that teams are ‘overplaying’ in the modern game, and he used Schmeichel as an example, including how he is ‘touching the ball a million times’ during games.
“You can’t have too many backwards and sideways passes,” said Mulgrew about the modern game. “It’s not enjoyable to watch.
“I don’t like Schmeichel touching the ball a million times. I just don’t like it. I understand that teams nowadays, rather than back in the 90s, if you look at a game back in the 90s, the game is so stretched that there is so much space to play in between the two teams.
“But these days, teams are more defensively organised, and they may get back, so there isn’t much space. I can understand maybe having a bit of a spell at the back.
“But then, there are eventually going to be chances to play forward, and you can overplay, I think.”
Schmeichel’s passing stats for Celtic last season
Celtic dominate the ball in most of the games they play, and then the opposing team sits back and shuts down every space possible in their defensive third.
So, undoubtedly, the players in green and white colours are going to touch the ball more than most, and that was certainly the case with Schmeichel last season.
- Schmeichel’s Premiership games for Celtic last season: 30
- Average passes per game: 33.6
- Passing Accuracy %: 94.2
- Schmeichel’s Champions League games: 10
- Average passes per game: 35.5
- Passing Accuracy %: 85.9
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