Kasper Schmeichel has enjoyed an excellent start to his Celtic career in the Scottish Premiership so far this season.
The big Dane has played seven games and conceded just one goal as Schmeichel helps Celtic remain unbeaten domestically this season.
However, it seems that when it comes to facing a better-quality opposition, Richard Dunne believes that the Celtic goalkeeper just doesn’t look the same.
Speaking prior to Schmeichel appearing in Denmark’s defeat to Spain, the Republic of Ireland legend Dunne says the Celtic goalkeeper is now doing something at Parkhead he never used to at his other clubs.
‘Amazing’ Kasper Schmeichel looks ‘sluggish’ at Celtic
Referring back to Celtic’s Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund, Dunne believes that Schmeichel is starting to slow down and at 37, has told the big Dane that there are now different aspects of his game he needs to focus on.
Dunne told Virgin Media Sport, “Kasper has been amazing. He’s had a fantastic career, and he’s played in some really big clubs. He’s won the Premier League, he’s won an FA Cup, he’s played in the Champions League, and now he’s come and found himself playing for Celtic to come in to replace Joe Hart.
“I think at 37 you need to be very careful. You need to keep that mobility and that agility and what Kasper has always done when he’s been in goal, he’s been reactive to saves.
“He’s really sharp on his line. And just going back to the Dortmund game that we watched a few weeks ago he wasn’t the sort of Kasper Schmeichel that we’ve been we’ve seen in previous years.
“He looked a little bit sluggish. Wasn’t as quick getting down to certain things and I think in the moment you look at it and you think are they huge mistakes or not? Probably not.
“But then the more you analyze it, and you get closer into it and look at it deeper, sometimes his position is not right. He’s not reading the shot correctly. He’s not reacting.”
Why Kasper Schmeichel had an off night for Celtic in Dortmund
At 37, Kasper Schmeichel is clearly coming to the end of his illustrious career and Dunne reckons that is why the Celtic stopper struggled against the elite strike force of Dortmund.
Dunne continued, “Obviously when you get older, you’re not as conditioned as you used to be. You can’t train as hard as you used to.
“And Kasper’s had a really good season. He’s done really well in the league. When you go and play in the Champions League it’s a level up, obviously, playing against Spain is a level up, and you’re playing against against better strikers and that.
“And he just looked a little bit sluggish, a little bit rusty. He didn’t look as sharp as he should be. He’s normally a player who, when he has the ball at his feet, you can trust but he was taking chances as were the whole Celtic team.
“I mean, it’s a different story with Denmark where they have a defence who’s organized, who’s structured, who defend deep.
“In that one game, Celtic weren’t great defensively. They were really poor and normally Kasper will get them out of a lot of trouble.
“And just on that evening, he didn’t and that’s why I just think at 37 years of age, you need to be at your sharpest, you need to try hard and you need to make sure everything’s perfect and he just didn’t look bang on it that night.”
Conceding seven goals in the Champions League is certainly not what Schmeichel is used to. The biggest defeat before that night in Dortmund was a 5-0 drubbing by Porto when Schmeichel was at his peak with Leicester.
Even with Denmark, the most the Celtic ‘keeper had conceded was four against the Netherlands in a 4-2 defeat back in 2022.
And whilst he won’t be on the end of a result like Dortmund’s domestically in Scotland, Atalanta awaits Celtic next week and Schmeichel will be keen to avoid a repeat of what he suffered at the hands of Nuri Sahin’s side.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
