Gary Neville has been given a goalkeeping tactical masterclass by Celtic stopper Kasper Schmeichel.
Schmeichel appeared on the latest episode of Neville’s Stick to Football podcast alongside former Celtic midfielder Roy Keane, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, ex-Man City star Jill Scott and Arsenal hero Ian Wright.
Schmeichel’s retirement plans were discussed, as well as the goalkeeper’s unique experience of signing and playing for Celtic over the past eight months or so.
The Hoops No.1 also expressed his frustration to Carragher about why he was ‘annoyed’ at the end of Celtic 5-1 Aberdeen recently despite the thumping victory.
The conversation eventually moved onto goalkeeping tactics which, understandably for ex-Manchester United right-back and Sky Sports pundit Neville, isn’t his strongest area of expertise.
Kasper Schmeichel explains Celtic ‘tactical chess’ to Gary Neville
Neville showed Kasper and the panel a clip of Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez standing with the ball at his feet with no pressure from the opposition.
The Argentinian was making no attempt to play the ball forward and this utterly confused Neville as to what the thinking behind it was.
Of course, Kasper was able to explain before revealing the key difference between Aston Villa and Celtic in terms of building out from the back and enticing the press from the opposition.
Kasper essentially labelled it ‘tactical chess’ with the conversation going as follows:
Gary Neville: “Kasper, that is one minute of football where Emi Martinez is literally stood on the ball for 35 seconds and just rolled his foot over it.
“I mean, can you try and convince me what the strategy and thinking behind that is? What is the strategy behind that?!
Kasper Schmeichel: “That’s Unai Emery, we played them in the Champions League and that was a big feature of it. The second you jump towards him, that’s when the pass comes.
“I mean, at Celtic, we play it a bit differently. We do a similar thing but from the centre-halves. So when I get the ball, I’m not standing on it, I’m giving it to the centre-half and then they’re waiting for the movement (press from opposition).
“It’s tactical chess, that’s basically what it is. The whole point of it is to make people move out of position, just like (Roberto) De Zerbi used to do (at Brighton).
“The goalkeeper would stand and wait – wait, wait, wait – and then pop it off and that means there’s a free man, particularly if they are marking man to man.”
Kasper isn’t just a Celtic ‘spectator’
The role of a goalkeeper has changed massively in modern times, with stoppers now expected to be comfortable with the ball at their feet and display a range of passing abilities.
Of course, Celtic are going to dominate the ball in attacking areas for the majority of games played throughout a season.
And that naturally means Schmeichel may come across as a lonely figure at times as he watches his outfield teammates deliver at the other end of the park.
But speaking in early December, Schmeichel argued how he is rarely a spectator at the Hoops because of the way Brendan Rodgers likes to play the game.
He says he sees a lot of the ball at his feet and that is a big part of his role at Celtic. He explained after a 3-0 win over Hibs: “I have definitely not been a spectator.
“Goalkeeping has evolved and you rarely have games when you have a lot of saves. Everything is usually with your feet these days.
“I think that’s the role I play here but my job essentially is to keep the ball out of the net and today was a good day.
“It is all about winning. Clean sheets are nice but they are not the most important thing. It is not the end of the world if it doesn’t happen. It always gives you a platform to go and win.
“My job is to keep my team in the game and it is up to the outfield players to finish the game off.”
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